Play vital to stimulate the senses
So I’m sitting at home on a Wednesday evening and come across 60 minutes on TV, an interesting episode around letting the kids be kids in a chaotic environment.
When you walk into any kohanga, daycare or play group, you’ll find toddling superheroes battling imaginary monsters. We take it for granted that young children play and, especially, pretend. Why do they spend so much time in fantasy worlds?
Young children can learn so much so quickly. Where does pretending come in? It relates to what philosophers call ‘‘ counterfactual’’ thinking, like Einstein wondering what would happen if a train went at the speed of light.
But hang on, play is not just essential for kids; it can be an important source of relaxation and stimulation for adults as well. Playing with your romantic partner, co- workers, pets, friends, and children is a sure ( and fun) way to fuel your imagination, creativity, problemsolving abilities, and improve your mental health. And actively playing with your kids will not only improve your own mood and wellbeing, it will make your kids smarter, better adjusted and less stressed.
In our hectic, modern lives, many of us focus so heavily on work and family commitments that we never seem to have time for pure fun. Somewhere between childhood and adulthood, we’ve stopped playing. Just because we’re adults, that doesn’t mean we have to take ourselves so seriously and make life all about work.
The focus of play is on the actual experience, not on accomplishing any goal. There doesn’t need to be any point to the activity beyond having fun and enjoying yourself. Play could be simply goofing off with friends, sharing jokes with a coworker, throwing a frisbee on the beach or going for a bike ride with your whanau.
Play is essential for developing social, emotional, cognitive and physical skills in children. In fact, far from being a waste of time or just a fun distraction, play is a time when your child is often learning the most. Play develops social skills and stimulates a child’s imagination.
As well as aiding your child’s development, play can also bring you closer together and strengthen the parent-child bond that will last a lifetime.