All About Play
The Importance of PlaySome adults do not see the importance of play, however playing is important to the development of babies and children. Play teaches infants and children about the world around them, it teaches them how to use their body, how to solve problems and how to express their emotions. Play teaches children how to communicate and work with others, it teaches them to solve problems and it inspires them to use their imagination. Play is an essential part of life and is a crucial part of bringing up happy and healthy children.
The Do's and Don'ts of PlayDo variety and repetition, thses are an important part of play and will help your child learn.
Do let children control their own play and play alone some of the time. Children do need to learn how to play alone as they will not always have someone to play with. Do notice what your child concentrates on as this is a clue to what interests your child. Do allow young girls to play with young boys' roles and young boys to play young girls' roles. This is normal. Don't compete with your children. |
Pretend PlayThere is value to pretend play.
It allows children to come to terms with their feelings, change the power balance, fulfil some unacceptable wishes, make sense of their social environment, develop feelings of mastery and control, learns concepts and symbols, and learn from their mistakes. How to pretend play: Use one thing to represent another. Support, but never force pretend play. Give children control of their make believe play. Resist temptation to impose order on childrens' pretend play. Act playfully yourself. Pretend doesn't have to be real. Provide games with rules; taking turns, leaders. |