How to Encourage Play
Do you remember building forts in the backyard, climbing trees, riding bikes or playing kick the can? Do you remember playing dress up, building mud pies or flying kites? If you remember playing without adult supervision, then you're probably older than 40. Studies show that such unstructured play has declined by 40 percent since the 1970s. Free play is disappearing from kids' lives. Between swimming lessons for 3-year-olds, homework for 5-year-olds, soccer practice for 6-year-olds, after-school religious training, music lessons, tutoring, traveling baseball teams, jump rope teams, after-school care, both parents working and the many other activities organized by adults-there isn't much time left in the day or on the weekend for kids to play. Yet free play is essential for learning and stress reduction. Here are six ways to provide opportunities for kids to play.
Instructions
Build Blanket Forts. Make Play Dates. Move Bodies. Explore Wide Open Spaces. Create a Playful Environment.
No fancy equipment is needed for free play. A sand box, a pale of water and a few sticks can lead to hours of rich experiences. A tub of wooden blocks can become a skyscraper or a truck. It is through free play that children develop imagination. Children can entertain themselves for hours in a blanket fort built in a living room.
Make sure that your child has playmates. A child needs opportunities to associate with a variety of children. Through play, kids gain social skills. For example, a withdrawn child who plays with a more outgoing playmate will learn new skills by watching. Kids benefit greatly from imitating each other. A child who is fearful about going down the slide will more eagerly follow a playmate than respond to the coaxing of a parent.
Physical activity is good for children. When climbing a tree, kicking the can or jumping in a pile of leaves, a child not only feels the pleasure of exercise, he gains gross and fine motor skills which help him feel self-assured and confident. Every child needs to experience the pleasures of climbing trees, jumping in piles of leaves or walking barefoot in the grass.
Outdoor play develops different skills than indoor play. Outdoors a child jump, run, be noisy and get dirty. Whether a child is running around and shouting or sitting quietly looking for bugs in the grass, each outdoor activity allows him the joy of following his whims. In warm weather children can splash in the water; in cold weather they can see their breath.
If you provide simple materials, kids will discover the fun of being creative. A box of crayons and a pile of paper, a box of high heels and old hats, wooden utensils and blocks, simple musical instruments like a drum or a whistle, all spark children's interest. Play is the work of childhood, essential for mental and physical development and well-being.
