Let Them Play!
Today’s life, with two working parents, has completely changed the family pattern and lifestyle.
Among these changes, we can see that more and more often, parents enroll their children in a large number of extra-curricular activities to occupy them during their free time.
One of the sad consequences is that children play less and less while in their early years, play is a fundamental part of their learning, and therefore of their development.
Through play, children learn about themselves and their relationship with those around them. The game offers them stress-free moments, where they progress at their own pace, and thanks to which they can practice their new skills, take risks, express themselves and explore their creativity, feel independent, be curious, or even solve their problems.
The game allows children to get to know the world better through relevant interactions. For a child, playing means taking on challenges, having fun, and learning new ways of doing things.
From the point of view of adults, play is also a way to develop and practice skills that will be needed in the future, such as social behaviors, motor and cognitive skills.
The benefits of playing
1. Intrinsic motivation / internet unity
We see that a child is immersed in the game when he pays more attention to the process than to the product of the game itself. What does that mean ?
For example, a child may have no qualms about destroying a sandcastle they just built. This is mainly due to the fact that building a sandcastle has a much higher value for the child than the end result.
2. Internal control
We must keep this in mind: play is a unique situation for the child, because it allows him to enjoy a moment of his own, a space in which he can exercise some control over the child. the activity he does, which he doesn’t get the chance to do most of the time, because adults rule his life.
3. The freedom to step out of reality
Children are often very focused when playing, and do not pay attention to anything else. During this process of concentration, the child becomes relatively alien to external structures.
Most health professionals, such as occupational therapists, psychomotor therapists, educators, and psychologists use play as a therapeutic tool when working with children.
Let them play!
It is important to take a step back to think about what we want for our children, and to stop overprotecting or stimulating them with an excessive amount of activity.
It doesn’t matter whether they are the smartest, whether they speak several languages, whether they participate in chess competitions.
Why don’t we let children be children? Playing allows them to develop their sense of curiosity, helps them discover and strengthen specific talents, and much more.
Play with several
It is essential to give them the opportunity to play with other children as often as possible. It goes without saying that television and video games do not make their imaginations work because they are passive games.
On the contrary, when they play outside, in the open air, and with little friends, their imagination has no limit. Children who are given a margin of freedom create their own games, set up their own dynamics, and even establish some rules between them.
If you want your kids to work their imaginations and get creative, give them the chance to play freely as often as possible.
To do this, offer them simple toys that appeal to their cognitive and motor skills, that is to say toys that they can assemble and disassemble or that will allow them to be inventive and to use their imagination.
Finally, the most important thing is that the child is the protagonist, the one who directs the game, and that the toy is only a simple tool at the service of his imagination .
