In some aspects of life, play can be looked down upon as wasteful of time. What's necessary to believe is that play teaches children. It excites their creativity and strengthens their mind and physical body.
Play is vital to a child's healthy brain development. Interacting with their environment and others of all ages, helps them learn important critical thinking and social skills.
Parental Interactions
Playing peek-a-boo and making silly faces with your baby strengthens their bond with you, but also causes a sense of security within the child. It lets them know they are cared for and safe. The same goes for siblings, grandparents and caregivers. Reading a story in different voices or acting it out also stimulates their brain. Cuddle time is very important to newborns and babies in order for them to develop healthy attachments.
Emotional Benefits
When playing with baby, interact with their expressions and teach them appropriate expression to match their emotional state. When they stick out their tongue, mimic them and smile. Baby will learn important information about expressions through this type of play. They same goes for when they are learning to speak. Laying the foundation of appropriate emotional responses will make it easier for them to verbally express their emotions instead of having a tantrum.
Physical Benefits
Play promotes growth, physically. Playing with toys, running, climbing trees, or playing games all encourage body growth and strengthens the bones. Playing catch is an excellent way to learn fine motor skills and hand to eye coordination.
There are so many options for physical play that encouraging your child to explore is an important way to help them grow. Dexterity and agility gain a boost as well through climbing and move objects. The more agile they become, the more their inner confidence soars.
Choose play appropriate for their age. Older children can be taught games to play with their friends, which encourages working together and understanding how social groups function. All of these actions promote their feeling of independence.
Promote playtime
Get them excited about something. Encourage them to explore, but teach them the basic rules of safety. Touch, sight and smell are important factors in a child's learning phases.
Encourage them to play pretend with their toys, after reading books with a parent, or create their own fantasy world. Through experimentation, children will learn what motivates them and what passions they may want to continue to pursue.
Playtime and social development as a result will improve their behaviors in a school environment. It increases their interest in learning and provides an excellent outlet from more "boring" learning in class. Balancing work and play will be an important part of your child's life once they begin their academic careers. Teaching them this lesson with further their ability to prioritize when the time comes.
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