Play is not only fun, but also essential to a child’s growth and development! Play is one of the primary ways children learn and develop. Unstructured play helps to build a child’s self-worth by giving them a sense of their own strengths as well as the ability to feel good about themselves. Young children also develop important life skills through the power of play. They enhance their language skills, creativity, and social skills. Play nurtures imagination and gives children a sense of adventure. Through this, they learn essential skills like problem-solving, cooperation, sharing and more. Below we are going to demonstrate just three essential benefits (although we could list hundreds!) of play.
Cognitive Abilities
Play is essential for healthy brain development. When children are young, they start learning and building cognitive skills like attentiveness, reasoning, retaining information, and motor skills. Parenting for Brain indicates that studies have even shown that children who play increased their language and social and emotional stability from 33% to 67% ! It also has been shown that the children who play have a better memory and learn faster.
Art of Communication
Children talk and listen as they play, which helps them develop language and listening skills. Play also assists in learning how to recognize facial expressions and body language. Children figure out how to initiate and carry conversations, and how to express their thoughts and desires while playing. Not to mention, children who engage in pretend type of play tend to have more sophisticated levels of interaction with others.
Physicality
We all know all the benefits of active lifestyles for adults, and the same applies to children! Active play is critical for kids’ physical development. It helps children improve their coordination, balance, gross-motor skills, and fine-motor skills. It also helps children use up their natural stores of energy which promotes better eating and sleeping habits. And remember, while we have just shown 3 benefits of play, there are many more that are still being studied. One thing is for sure, it’s hard to argue that play is not a great thing!
Playing isn’t all just fun and games- it actually has some pretty great benefits too! A perfect way to get kids playing is getting them outside to do so! Playing outside gives children the added bonus of fresh air combined with exercise for a healthy, stress-reducing way to have fun. Looking for the right playground equipment for your school, church, park, or daycare? Playground Outfitters is here to help. Call to speak with an expert today.
