Family fun time in our house involves a lot of playing from crazy high intense activity to imaginative adventures. This time together not only brings us closer as a family but through various forms of play my babies are developing important skills.
There is a common misconception about play time. Many adults believe that play is all about fun and games without realizing all the benefits. Play has an important role in developing well-rounded kids. I worked as the Marketing Director for a group of Early Education Centers, so I am very familiar with the key benefits and want to share them with you because I can see these unsolicited learnings in my own kids.
The six skills developed through self-directed play: physical, emotional, social, cognitive, creative and communication.
Our son loves to pretend to read to his little sister. He only knows some sight words now, so when he is “reading” he is making up the story based on the pictures and her reactions. Pretend play is especially important for children’s communication development and literacy. He is not only pretend playing he is also role-playing as the dad reading to his little girl. We over hear him repeating things we say to them. So this fun playtime for both of them is reinforcing language and literacy skills.
The Genius of Play – Creating good communicators!
One of the best ways to stimulate brain development and reinforce cognitive skills by playing with our children as they explore new objects.
Self-directed play gives kids the opportunity to grow their decision-making skills. I like to use blocks with my daughter to see how she decides to use them. It is interesting to see how she decides to use them. In this case, she decided to build a “princess castle.” She put a lot of thought in each block she placed. I could even see how she became nervous with her decision of where to place the blocks at the top. And when it did fall we had to overcome emotions to try again but with a different solution. This simple time of playing with building blocks was helping her cognitive and emotional skills.
The Genius of Play – Boosting brain development!
The Genius of Play provides families with information and inspiration they need to make play an important part of their child’s day. Through play, kids develop physical skills, improve cognitive abilities, learn communication and social skills, process and express emotions, and increase creativity. Join the movement to bring more play into children’s lives as well as the developmental benefits that play has to offer.