IMPORTANCE OF PLAY FOR KIDS
“Play gives children a chance to practice what they are learning”
– Fred Rogers
Albert Einstein once said “Play is the highest form of research”. Play is the platform that provides kids with interacting with fellow beings understand their culture, familiarize with the nature and lifestyles of different kind of people. Play helps develop the motor skills, social skills, physical development, mental wellbeing and much more. Play is perhaps the better method of learning and which is also the generally most enjoyed time by the kids.
PLAY BOOSTS THE MOTOR SKILLS IN KIDS:
As play definitely require motor skills or movement, kids run, jump etc and develop their motor skills. Kids might find it boring to do work outs or exercises but if it is a game or a sort of play, they are observed to be keener and shows a lot of enthusiasm.
PLAY PAVES WAY FOR SOCIAL INTERACTIONS:
Play is where kids see other people mostly kids of their age group. This gives them exposure to observe what and how other kids do, play, talk and behave. A new world outside their family is been open to them. They learn to ask for things; they learn to take turns and they develop their social and communication skills.
PLAY TEACHES KIDS PATIENCE AND COMPASSION ALONG WITH UNITY AND TEAM SPIRIT:
Kids are pampered by parents and elders at home and they mostly have no chance to share things with anyone at home. But at the play field, they learnt to be patient enough to wait for their turn to use the toys or other equipments of play. They learn to help the co-players and help them if they fall down or get injured. They take baby steps in the path of compassion. They learn to play in groups and hence understand the strength of unity and the spirit of being in a team.
KIDS LEARN TO FACE COMPETITIONS:
The world is becoming more and more competitive and we need to increase the speed of our pace to cope up with the world. Kids through play and games face for the first time the vibes of competition. They learn to compete and work hard oriented in the right direction and so as to achieve their goal.
PLAY INCREASES THE CONCENTRATION:
Play makes kid focus on the target or goal and thus inherently increases the concentration power of kids which will be very much helpful for kids not just in games but also in their academics.
PLAY ALSO BOOSTS BRAIN DEVELOPMENT:
Do you know that playing daily along with physical development also boosts the brain development. Play acts as a catalyst for the brain development. Games also makes kids think and think more about sketching ways to win and reach the goal. They learn to devise plans and that all lead to the functioning of the brain.
PLAY REDUCES STRESS:
Play is a good tool to reduce stress and for having mental and physical wellbeing. Like adults, kids are also seen to suffer from depression and anxiety issues as per scientific studies and surveys. Kids being confined inside home after school and teachers taking classes during play hours will be detrimental to the mental wellbeing of the kid along with that of the physical and motor development. Hence, kids must be let to play after school hours. Also teachers should organise ample amount of time at preschools for playing games. Hello Kids founder Pritam Agarwal says that they never take toll on the playing hours of kids for anything else including academics as play is as important as lessons for the overall development of kids.
PLAY WIDENS THE IMAGINATION OF KIDS:
Play is also a method to widen the horizons of kids’ imagination. Kids do role play or imagine situations and just play according to the circumstances that they created with their imagination. That’s fun for kids and also make them imagine situations and also imagine how to respond to or behave in such scenario. This might also help kids become good in writing or acting which might also throw open the possibilities of a profession in future.
PLAY KINDLES CREATIVITY IN KIDS:
Play also kindles creativity in kids that they will learn to clay model or create playing stuff and that make them more creative. They also create sequences to play and might even make up rhymes etc for part of the plays. These all paves way to making kids creative.
PLAY ALSO MAKES POSSIBLE LEARNING MANY BASIC THINGS:
Play also helps kids learn many new basic things at the ground or play station. They learn the name of colours. They learn about soil, ground, sunrises and sunsets, rain, machines, motors, rules of game, physics theories related to games, force, speed etc. Kids learn numbers and counting and much faster and effortlessly at play field.
KIDS SEE NATURE AT PLAY:
Kids perhaps merge with nature is during the play time. They love plants, rain and animals. They chase butterflies and listen to birds chirping. They learn to analyse time with the sun’s position. They learn many basic phenomenons like rainbow, acid rain, clouds etc during play time.
GIVE KIDS THE BEST TOYS:
Build blocks are observed as the best toys for kids by several studies as the lessons that these blocks teach kids are many. It teaches kids to construct forts, parks, embankments etc which might encourage them to be ambitious to be engineers, designers or painters in future. Building blocks train kids to be patient and also instils in them creativity. Also ensure that your kids must be given choices to select their toys. Never bring any gender discrimination in giving toys to kids. Give your son barbies and dolls if that are what he prefers over a remote car. Give your daughter a machine gun toy if she chooses it over a doll.
Play time is the happy time for kids. Teachers and parents must take extra care that every kid participates in the games and activities and enjoys the play time. If not, they must be asked for the reason and resolve it for them. Play provides kids with a lot of benefits and hence it shouldn’t be skipped and kids must always be entertained and encouraged to play.
See Also: Physical Development in Early Childhood: An Overview
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