It is necessary that kids have free time to play. Because of hectic routines, time schedules, and lots of other responsibilities and demands, it becomes very important that children have sufficient time to play. Let’s go through some reasons why children should have sufficient play time.
- As per clinical research, playing is very important for the development of children because it helps in the physical, emotional, social, and cognitive health of the children. Playing is essential to help out children in the development of social skills. Playing helps the children in healthy development as it permits them to convey their conscious as well as unconscious experiences about their feelings of life and also things which are happening around them.
- Playing is very important for neurological development of the child. Through play, children’s brains get developed and playing strengthens a lot of neuronal connections, which might fade away or deteriorate, if not utilized.
- According to the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights, the play is the right of every child due to its significance in child development.
- Playing helps the children to adjust with the school and also improves their eagerness to learn. If children are permitted to play the way they like to, their concentration improves with superior attention spans, and develop their educational skills.
- Overscheduled family life generally leads to lesser time for good parent-child relations. Many families are benefitted from less rushed routines which allow the children to play freely. Your child’s behaviour and your family life both will improve if more play time is given to your child on regular basis. When the parents play with their children, they get a chance to be with their children and interact with them at their level. As a result, the parent-child relationship and your family life will improve.
- Children find out how to make decisions, share, solve conflicts, be self-confident, and work with groups through unstructured play. While a few children quickly get these skills, most children can develop these social skills by playing with the other children. Playing alone will also help child gaining self-confidence, boldness, decision making expertise, and more.
- Play helps children to express, identify, and think about feelings. Children usually follow what their mother or father do or what their friends do. Because of these daily life experiences, children certainly have feelings regarding these events. Children have become more responsible for their own as well as others’ feelings, how to handle feelings by conveying them, and also work through the emotions, because of play.
- Children can enjoy life experiences with free play. Children can’t see things in the same way as we adults do, therefore they can utilize play to have a better understanding of definite life experiences.
- Parents can support children, who experience a broad range of problems through learning, how to have fun with them through any particular way, using chosen toys. These problems include emotional problems, speech problems, persistent developmental disorders, parental separation, mental retardation, relocation, at-risk situations, abuse/neglect, immigration, chronic illness, mental health analysis, social difficulties, foster/adoption issues, disabilities, hyperactivity, adjustment difficulties, learning difficulties, and detection of violence. Parents can help out their children with these kinds of problems using particular toys and particular kinds of interactions. Nevertheless, there are therapeutic interventions also that any therapist can help parents for best suiting child’s situation like filial treatment, parent-child communication therapy, and involvements in play therapy.
- Parents can considerably develop relationships with the children through discovering how to take part in children play with a particular way using chosen toys. When the parents become children with their kinds and concentrate on them, their association with children will improve immensely. It’s not necessary that the playing time should be fixed at some particular time in the day. It could be only a few minutes, however, doing these kinds of play daily or almost on the everyday basis can be very helpful for the parent-child relationships.
It is clear that with growing competition every day, you want to see your child success ding everywhere. In the past, playtime of children was only involved in playing different kinds of indoor as well as outdoor games. Indoor games like Snakes & Ladders, Ludo, Carom, and different types of board and card games are accessible to them. There are many games available which can develop their minds like Scrabble, Monopoly, Battleship, Pelmanism, Chess, and Chinese checkers.
If you are fed up with the indoor games, there are many outdoor games which are thrilling. Hopscotch, Jump rope, Hide-and-Seek, and Frisbee are some of the examples. Other enormously popular games include playing Pitthoo, Marbles, Kite Flying, and Gilli Danda. Cycling, Cricket, football, and Badminton are all-time favourites.
Importance of Playing
Both indoor, as well as outdoor games, significantly contribute to the general development of a child. Indoor games improve psychomotor coordination, reasoning, and analytical skills. They help in building vocabulary and memory. Outdoor games help children in boosting their body strength and stamina. These games also inspire them with the spirit of strong teamwork and competition. At times, kids spend time in the free play and playing some unique games. This normally improves their creative thinking and ability.
Games of Today
Today, the idea of games has drastically changed. Digital devices have replaced the indoor-outdoor games. Now children get pleasure and satisfaction through T.V., computers, laptops, mobiles and gaming consoles. Children are also magnetized by different cartoon shows on television and games accessible on mobile phones and the Internet.
For a few parents, playtime is a headache whereas, for some, it means of improving the mental and physical capabilities of children. However, playing is necessary for a child’s development. So what can you do about that? Here are some steps that you may take for managing your child’s playtime:
- Everyday Activity: Make sure that playing becomes a primary part of a child’s everyday routine. The good option is to have playtime in everyday routine for your child no matter he is kid or youngster. Make the play time, a fundamental part of the routine and stick to it. Study the kinds of games that your child loves to play if he is attached with indoor/outdoor games? Examine if he likes to spend time playing mind challenging games or physical endurance testing games? Does he favour playing cricket over chess etc. Support him for playing games that he loves. Take some time out from your busy schedule and energetically take part in games that your child loves to play.
- Quality Time: Playtime needs to be fun for your children. Do not push your child for playing games of your liking. Playtime is very important part of child’s growth. Allow him to choose the game he wants to play. Just observe that they use a definite time period for play.
Advantages of Playing
- Counter Dullness and Depression: Play is the finest escape from dullness and monotony. Many children spoil their time by not doing anything at home. Some children waste time watching television and playing different video games. Those children generally suffer from problems like depression, obesity, and dullness. Cleverly tell your children about risky effects of using too much T.V. and digital games. As an alternative, persuade your children to use their extra time for playing indoor and outdoor games. This is the best way to counter monotony and depression.
- Career in Sports: Sports may prove to be a booming career option. It might sound odd; however the sports your child loves to play, can prove to be a flourishing career option. It is observed many times that well-known sportspersons have made their wonderful career with the games that they played when they were children.
- Other Uses: Playtime is the tool to enhance skills. Games can do marvels for children that are physically feeble or are getting recovered from some illness. Children who are suffering from a gentle type of flat-foot are benefitted from outdoor games as well as going through problems set in the parks. Different word and memory games may be used for enhancing vocabulary skills and mind power of your children.
Children’s playtime is a serious subject. As parents, we should think that playtime is an essential part of children’s life. But with today’s education system, it looks like children are very busy the whole day. So, it is parents’ responsibility to identify what role they can play to schedule play time in children’s lives, so that it becomes safe, suitable, an important part of children’s everyday life. When you make a decision about what are the limits of playtime for your children, you can still have some questions. Children that don’t get sufficient time to imitate or taking charge of the world surrounding them indicates signs of anguish. The same thing is true with children that are continuously pushed further than their limits. Signs of anxiety include avoiding people, nervousness, lacking desire, headaches, disrupted sleep, stomach aches, and depression.
