How often have we heard parents lamenting about their children not wanting to study, and only wanting to play ? And these aren’t 17 year olds, mind you. The children may be as young as 4 or 5. It breaks my heart to hear of such statements. A child, or anyone for that matter, should be allowed to play. For it is through play that connections are made, and creativity is born. A lot of. thinking goes into play. If you were to watch a child at play, you can catch snippets of conversations between the pieces, and observe the sequence of events unfold .These aren’t random. They have been carefully thought of and executed. Now imagine this child saying ” mummy! look what I built ! Isn’t it pretty? This is where this car goes, and……..” only to be interrupted by the parent with ” enough playing already. Go and study your alphabets and numbers.”
Can you imagine the crestfallen look on the child’s face? The aching feeling deep inside as he realises his parent does not share his enthusiasm or appreciate his achievement ?
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child Article 31 states that ” every child has the right to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts.” 1 May 2012
He uses his hands, and sometimes legs. This develops both fine and gross motor skills
He thinks of what he wants to do, and finds ways to execute his plans.
He gets frustrated when things don’t go his way, and tries to work through them. This helps him develop problem solving skills
He formulates a plan, and a story line. This helps him develop and expand on his creativity and imagination.
He engages a playmate, be it a sibling, a classmate, or a random child in the playground. This helps him develop social skills.
He learns to share and take turns in play. This helps him develop his negotiation skills, and expand his vocabulary.
He has fun ! this is priceless
He will be tired after playing, especially physical play. This will most likely result in better appetite and a good night’s sleep.
Parents who play with their children develop a good relationship. Children who are close to their parents are less likely to keep secrets and more likely to share their daily routines and concerns.
Play can be divided into 2 categories; free (unstructured) or structured
Free play is creative and open ended , while structured play is goal oriented, and generally involves logic to solve problems.
Free play allows a child to explore possibilities and problems without the fear of making mistakes. This in turn encourages out of the box solutions. It also promotes creativity.
Structured play is goal oriented. One uses logic to solve problems or accomplish something. Examples of structured play are Lego (R),where the. child follows a set of instructions to build something, card games, football or other team sports.
Building blocks such as Lego (R) can be classified under both free play as well as structured play, depending on how it is used.
In short, play is not only fun, it is also productive and educational. Play is also not only for children. Families who play together, stay together. So, go play !
