For a child to stay healthy, physically as well as mentally, Playing is very important. Play is simply the act which children love to do and simultaneously learn. It is one of the significant parts the of Foundation stage development. Babies and toddlers explore and discover new things daily with the magic of play. Various forms of play enrich a child’s body, brain, and life in meaningful ways. It is beneficial in enhancing the overall development of a child. Play is the activities done for recreational pleasure and enjoyment.
Why Is Play Crucial Part In Children’s Life?
- It helps the physical growth of children.
- Social development of children happens when they play with friends and learn to share.
- Growth of cognitive development.
- They stay emotionally fit and active.
- It is the best way to keep your kids engaged.
- Children develop their creativity when they do art and craft play.
- Their sense develops beautifully when they do sensory play.
- With the help of play, the Imagination of the child takes shape.
- With physical games like football or merely running or jumping, they develop sportsman spirit and become adventurous.
- They become problem solvers when they play in a group or work as a team in a particular game.
What Do You Learn From Play Type
- Playing with building blocks helps the children to learn about different shapes and sizes.
- Playing with puzzles develops their thinking skills, sequencing, and reasoning.
- Clay dough play helps in sensory play. It develops the recognition and concept of colors.
- Slime is a new innovative play famous nowadays. With this play, kids learn to sense and feel.
- Doing Drawing and coloring is the best part of free play. In this way, they can bring their imagination into shape. They learn to save and utilize things when doing artwork with waste items.
- With sand play and water play, the child begins to learn about knowing the world and all basics of science and experiments.
- Pretend play helps to know the interest of your child. In this way, they get the best time to express their feeling out of pretend play.
- Playing with balls and other physical games, children learn to coordinate, perform as a team, and share with other game players. How to have a sportsman spirit? They learn flexibility.
Types Of Play:
Indoor Play
It involves playing with objects and toys and letting your baby experiment with the items available with him/ her. It is used to develop a sense of abstract thinking in your child.
Outdoor Play
This involves outdoor physical activities and games that every child loves to play. This is the most fun way of learning for a child. Outdoor games build strength in your child, both physical and mental strength. It raises your child’s spirits, builds confidence, and encourages the quality of risk-taking in them.
Pretend
In this type of play, children explore their imagination by experimenting with whatever objects or toys are available. This enhances their thought process and helps them become more creative.
Playful Learning Ideas:
Playful learning is a potent tool to make your child learn and explore new things in a fun way. Here are a few age-specific ideas for your child’s playful learning:
Birth To 6 Months(Play)
- The first act of the play for your child can be his smile. Responding with a smile means playing along with it. This will help develop an emotional skill in your baby.
- Showing bright toys and objects to your child is another right way for the early playful learning. Kids tend to attract to bright colors and items. Let them have the toys and see what they do with it. This is good for experimentation learning.
- Swinging the baby slowly can be enjoyable for him/her. This might even make your baby smile, which also helps them develop emotional skills and see the things around them from different angles.
7-12 Months Of Age
- Mumbling small and easy words in front of your baby can be used as a way of playful learning. This helps babies with their speech and remarks.
- Point out things in front of them and try talking to them the same way they babble. This way, your child can develop a sense of figuring out who is who or what is what.
- Play peek-a-boo with them. Babies usually tend to enjoy when someone plays peek-a-boo with them, and they also laugh at it. This helps them recognize the people around them.
- Show them their selves in the mirror. Their facial expressions can playfully fascinate them.
1-3 Years Of Age(Play)
- Choose the right playschool for your child. Make sure it offers your child all the opportunities for learning and includes unstructured playtime, which will let your child follow his/ her curiosity and help become more inquisitive.
- Physical activities like walking, jumping, running, etc. can make children learn about their bodies and movements, so indulging in such activities is also a good idea for playful learning.
- Pretend play is best suited for this age group because the mind starts developing between 1-3, so make-believe play games are the right choice for your child.
- Singing and humming rhythms with your child is a fun way of learning too.
4-6 Years Of Age
- Outdoor games are best suited for this age group. The physical strength development is booming in the age of 4-6 years. Take your child to the park and let him make new friends or try the small rides in the park. These are the very fun activities that your child will love doing.
- Playing houses and make-believe sets like a doctor set or kitchen set can also be used for playful learning. They make your child learn how things work around the house and new things about their role while playing with the set like a doctor while playing with the doctor set.
- Introducing digital media to your child using age-appropriate ways can help your child learn about technical things. They also know more about the virtual world and its benefits. This is beneficial only when introduced in a certain way and with certain screen time limits.
- Tell stories to your child and playfully ask questions. This helps them enhance their learning ability. Also, give them time and roles to think about and enact imaginary scenes or roles.
- Let them make friends and indulge in social interaction at school. This way, your child can explore more in school than just academics.
Play Stimulates Intelligence
Play helps to develop many skills in children. While playing, the Development of the brain takes place simultaneously. To develop the early foundation of kids in the early years, perfect toys as per age, materials, and sensory playing are good options. Many studies support the early introduction of playing in babies, leading to higher IQ levels when they are adults.
Cheers For Playing
- When parents play with their children, that is the strongest connection they can build while playing.
- Playing leads to develop a positive aura around your child, which he’s in proper growth and development and finally has proper family goals accomplished as a team.
- Play memories are the best gift we as parents can give to our beloved children, which they will cherish forever.
- While pretend-playing, they get the chance to take the lead to solve problems associated with the game.
- It is best to keep your kids emotionally healthy. They feel relaxed and calm when they play. It’s their form in which they reduce their stress by playing.
- Fantasy play helps in building and managing fame and appreciation. When they get good feedback, they can balance it.
Keep Playing!
Playful learning enhances every aspect of your child’s life more fun way. Children tend to enjoy playing, and sometimes, it also acts as a stress buster. Play helps to control temper and regulate emotions. Unstructured play with near and dear ones helps in developing social skills. It distracts them from the things which make them upset and helps build emotional resilience. Playing is a crucial part of your child’s life, and you have to ensure that he/she has it all.