I recently read an article on the importance of play in maintaining a healthy relationship with your child. It is not ground-breaking or even super recent (it was published in 2007). But I thought the article was amazing. It offered excellent ideas on how to really increase the quality of the time you spend with your child.
“Play is essential to development because it contributes to the cognitive, physical, social, and emotional well-being of children” (Ginsburg, K. R., 2007). Free-play (unscheduled, independent, nonscreen time) is important! It is a great way for kids to discover and learn; free-play promotes healthy, fit kids.
Get in on your child’s free-play!
Give your kids a lot of time for free-play; be careful not to squeeze too many things into your child’s schedule.
Kids need time to explore and play with a variety of things, show your kids how new things are used, it is also ok to think outside of the box.
Play with the things your child is interested in…wait for your child to show you what/how they want to play.
Encourage your kids to play with toys that use imagination and don’t just “entertain”. (Blocks or dolls are great options imagination toys.)
Promote active play. Limit the use of passive entertainment (TV, movies, computers, electronic gaming devices).
Try getting on the floor and playing with your child down at his level and at his pace (generally much slower than yours).
Schedule a time (or several times) each day to explore books with your kids.
Playgroups are great for kids around 2.5 to 3 years old to learn how to play with other kids.
Ideas taken from Ginsburg, K.R. (2007). The importance of play in promoting healthy child development and maintaining strong parent-child bonds. Pediatrics, 119, 182-188.
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