The Importance of Playtime for Toddlers

Joy

• Playtimes are some of the most joyful moments your toddler experiences. Be it jumping ropes or catching ball, or running around the home after you or her pet, your child pours herself into play and enjoys every bit of it. More than the play, it is your participation that makes a big difference to her, as she is receiving what she needs the most -- your company. Such playtimes contribute to strengthened parent-child relationships.

Physical and Mental Competencies

• A toddler learns to use his senses of vision, hearing and touch to explore objects and spaces. He also learn to adjust his limb and body movement to accomplish the task at hand. Mentally, observation develops as the toddler watches you demonstrating an activity and he does the same. He learns to count as you teach him with toys and games, and explores shapes and structures as you introduce him to ring and block games. His mind begins to grasp words as he listens to audio CDs or you reciting rhymes and alphabet songs, laying a foundation for developing his language skills.

Imagination and General Knowledge

• Playtime is an opportunity for toddlers to channel their creative energies. They make their own artworks with play dough, creating new structures and shapes; they paint on paper what they see or imagine, in their own choice of colors. As you play out stories from storybooks, your toddler learns about people, places and things in the world he lives in. For example, a pretend game about a hospital helps him understand that there are people called doctors, nurses and attendants, who help other people become well; play revolving around a jungle concept tells him that there are places called jungles where animals reside and he learns about animal behavior as well.

Overall Health

• Physical play activities help your toddler to stay active and healthy. Outdoor sunlight stimulates vitamin D formation in the body and strengthens body immunity. Spending time with nature increases creativity in kids and their ability as well to handle stressful situations better, according to Richard Louv, author of "Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder." Playing outdoors in green spaces such as parks or backyards also increases kids' concentration, say Andrea Faber Taylor and Frances Kuo of the University of Illinois.