It's child's play
Q. Sometimes I really feel there is less and less time for my children to just be able to play on their own. Should I be worried?
A. Childhood play is an essential part of children’s growth and development. Over and over again we see research results that back this up. It is crucial for our children’s social, emotional, physical and cognitive growth. Sometimes the expectations on us as parents and how or how much we are providing in organised activities and material means etc for our children takes us beyond where we really want to or need to be. Trusting our instincts as parents is sometimes scary and seems to go against what the popular trend looks to be. Asking questions such as the one you have will often help you to find the confidence to change what you believe isn’t working.
A recent U.S. study shows that since the late 1970s there’s been a 25% drop in the children’s free play and a 50% drop in unstructured outdoor activities. This was due to the fact that again since the late 1970s kids time in organized, adult-supervised sports have doubled and that the average U.S. child is now “plugged-in” to some kind of digital device–not including mobile phones and texts –71/2 hours a day!
Below I have listed 12 scientific benefits of play as given by parenting expert Dr Michele Borba. It can help to give us as parents the confidence to set limits for our families that will help to allow more free-time for our children to ‘be’:
Play boosts children’s creativity and imagination. Play gives children the chance to invent, build, expand, explore and develop a whole different part of the brain.
Play stretches our children’s attention span. Playing outdoors just 30 minutes a day increases child’s ability to focus and pay attention.
Play boosts self-confidence and self-regulation. Kids learn to become masters of their own destiny without an adult directing, pushing, managing or scheduling.
Play forges friendships, strengthens social competence and teaches social skills. Undirected play allows kids to learn how to work in groups, share, negotiate, communicate and develop core social skills they need not only now but for the rest of their lives.
Play helps kids learn to enjoy just being in their own company, entertain themselves and develop identity. Ease that guilt when your kid says, “I’m bored, Mum!”
Play reduces children’s anxiety and diminishes stress. A study published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry shows that play is also critical for our children’s emotional health because it helps kids work through anxiety and reduce stress.
Play creates joyful memories of childhood. Come on, no kid is going to remember the car pools and worksheets but the swings, jumping in leaves, playing leapfrog in the mud, blowing bubbles, building forts–those are the unforgettable childhood moments.
Play boosts physical health and reduces risk of obesity. Henry Joseph Legere, MD, author of Raising Healthy Eaters points out: “Rises in screen time have led to the rise of a sedentary lifestyle for our children. In 1982, the childhood obesity prevalence in the United States was actually less than 4 percent. By 2004, that number had grown to about 30 percent.”
Play expands our kids’ minds and neurological development. Self-initiated play improves skills such as guessing, figuring, interpreting and is important to brain development and learning
Play builds new competencies, leadership skills, teaches lifelong hobbies, and develops resilience. “Play is what allows kids to manipulate their environment,” says a report written by Kenneth Ginsburg, M.D. of the AAP, “And how you manipulate your environment is about how you begin to take control, how you begin to develop your senses, how you view the world.”
