Ideas for Playful Parenting

If you've ever felt torn between washing the dinner dishes and playing dolls with your daughter, you shouldn't, says "Playful Parenting" author, Lawrence J. Cohen. Cohen, a licensed psychologist who specializes in children and children's play therapy, believes taking that extra time to get down on the floor and just play is the most effective way of communicating with her. Playful parenting re-establishes connections with kids through the types of playful activities they enjoy.

  1. Maintain a Sense of Humor

    • In the immortal words of Bill Cosby: "Fatherhood is pretending the present you love most is soap-on-a-rope." Keeping a healthy sense of humor is vital for parents wanting to inject more play into their day. You can distract even the whiniest child by making him laugh, and once he's laughing, maybe he'll forget it's your fault his stuffed alligator is missing. The playful parent smoothly transitions from an exasperated mom, who's ready to yell, to famed alligator hunter -- calm and assured -- complete with a silly hat and flashlight for searching under dusty beds. Cohen calls this "following the giggles." Doesn't that sound better than, "Stop that whining this instant!"

    Keep it Educational

    • To be truly playful parenting, your forays into fun should have a purpose. Just sitting on the floor playing action figures is OK, but if the action figures are parachuting into the toy box, then that's called cleaning up, and when you do it this way, it's cleaning up in a playful parenting style. You can use this tactic all around the house, wherever a kid mess needs to be conquered.

    Tread Lightly

    • It might be your first inclination to send your whole brood off to separate rooms when the staring, poking, pushing escalates into a living room cage match. Cohen's advice? "Step in, but with a light touch." Grab a throw pillow. With a little ingenuity, you can get in, start a harmless pillow fight and get out again before anyone realizes the distraction was just that. Think MacGuyver. He never sent anyone to their room.

    Enjoy the Ride

    • Possibly the biggest advantage to being more playful and less heavy-handed with your child is that it feels good. No mom ever got satisfaction from sending a teary-eyed child to the corner to cry it out. For years, parents have secretly wanted a reason to pretend that shaving the family dog really wasn't such a terrible idea after all. Thanks to Larry Cohen, playful parenting gives us that out.

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