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Why should they play?

why should the children play?

When babies are small, we introduce black and white books with patterns, before moving on to the more colourful books later in their first year. We instinctively play peek-a-boo with them, and they love objects that make a noise from about 6 months old. All of these games help our babies learn – from helping them to see better to learning about object permanence, to cause and effect. The games we play with our little ones help them learn all about the world around them.

As children get older, they learn to play both independently and in groups (think social skills), they learn how to share and negotiate with their playmates, they learn how to narrate and imagine, they learn fine motor skills (colouring and painting) and gross motor skills (playing with a ball, jumping and running). When children play, whether with mom and dad, siblings or friends at school, all of these skills are being honed.

But, if this play doesn’t happen, or doesn’t happen often, learners lose these skills.

They become addicted to their screens. They don’t know how to talk to other children, they struggle to distinguish between reality and tv shows, and their fine and gross motor skills leave a lot to be desired. If you haven’t seen the video of the 4-year child screaming for her ipad (there are many but here’s one from 10 years ago), it’s a dire warning to parents about the power of screen addiction.

Many developed countries are re-thinking their screen policies, and some are banning screens in schools. Even some phone companies are encouraging parents not to purchase phones for their children. The well-known school in the UK, Eton college, has encouraged parents to purchase a basic “dumbphones” with only call and sms capabilities to protect learners from bullying and the many dangers of screen addiction.

Now, I am not saying all screen time is bad,

there are many incredible apps out there that can help children learn. But they need to have more than just academic skills to make it through life. Just like chocolate is delicious and a piece or two can be good for you (dark chocolate is good for studying) too much chocolate is not a good thing and could cause diabetes, and obesity (not on its own, but in conjunction with other bad eating habits); screens can have some benefits, but they can also be very toxic for children of any age.

So, how do we help our children ween themselves from the screen?

How do we encourage them to play, and what do they play with? As parents and teachers, we often feel overwhelmed by the amount of options available to us. You can use anything to encourage play – we don’t need anything fancy. Open-ended toys like a blank sheet of paper and some crayons can offer endless hours of fun, building blocks are also a great open-ended option for play. Dolls are great for imagination and social play. Play with rocks (its my 2-year-olds favourite thing) and have races outside. There are so many great options that you don’t need to prep, you just need to cheer and begin the fun 😉 Often you just have to begin the fun, your children will follow your lead and take over soon enough.

So, let them play, and help them learn.

Still wondering how to effectively help our children play?

Join us for a webinar on the 30th of September at 10.00 a.m. ( a recording will be made available after the webinar as well).

Sign up today:

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