Where has all the playtime gone?

It’s vitally important for your children’s development. Make sure they’re getting enough.

Research shows that around 30 years ago in a small US town, children spent 75% of their ‘free time’ playing. In the same town today, children spend less than 25% of their free time playing.

When last did your children spend time chasing after each other, play-playing “houseyhouse” in a tent made from blankets and cushions, making mud pies, or creating imaginary games in the garden or bush? Was it yesterday? Last week? Can’t remember?

THE BABY ‘RAT RACE’

Often, we feel as though we’re failing as parents if our children aren’t stimulated through structured educational activities throughout the day.

We want to give our children the best academic start, so we schedule their early education programme with baby singing, music, arts and crafts, swimming lessons and foreign language learning for toddlers. “Many parents hold the false belief that structured programmes are more beneficial than free play,” observes Professor Cora Burnett, at the department of sport and movement studies at the University of Johannesburg. “Parents spend lots of money on extra programmes. With limited time, quality time means actual engagement and teaching rather than discovering. The ‘rat race’ has also taken its toll. Children today are packaged for intense afterwork ‘quality time’,” she explains. And then, by the time holidays roll around, we are often too burnt out to enter into our toddler’s world of magical childdirected play.

We know that babies’ brains are primed for learning, and we have so much information about the mechanics of early education.

Couple this with the fact that we’re also very aware that the world we live in is becoming increasingly competitive, and it’s no wonder so many of us are on a mission to raise little baby geniuses.

HANDS-OFF IS OKAY TOO!

We need to start thinking differently about leisure time with our children. If you feel guilty for spending half an hour sitting in a chair outside while your children play freely nearby, don’t. Children learn more than we think while engaging in free self-expressive play – this is valuable time spent.

Play is “essential to development because it contributes to the cognitive, physical, social and emotional well-being of children and youth” the American Academy of Pediatrics note in a report on the importance of play.

In fact, free play is so important to childhood development that the United Nations has declared it a basic human right in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. There is even an international organisation, the International Play Association, which aims to protect, preserve and promote a child’s right to play.

WHY FREE PLAY IS SO IMPORTANT

Free play teaches your child how to use her imagination, be creative and flexible, and it improves physical fitness and health.

Research shows that too many adultdirected, structured activities can lead to increased anxiety and depression in children and young adults. Professor Roger Hart, the United Nations representative at the International Play Association and co-director of the Children’s Environment Research Group at the City University of New York Graduate Centre, says “Children need the freedom to initiate and direct their own play. If this is restricted, they could grow up to have little creativity and resourcefulness. Also, child-led play with other children, unmediated by adults, offers children opportunities to learn to be socially competent with peers, and this is also a fundamental component of healthy development.”

NOT ENOUGH PLAY TIME

Sadly, children in developed countries have far less time for free play than they used to. Prof. Hart’s research shows that around 30 years ago in a small US town, children spent 75 percent of their “free time” playing. In the same town today, children spend less than 25 percent of their free time playing.

In the more affluent communities, children attend playgroups or a crèche with structured programmes and also have “ample opportunities for free play,” explains Prof. Burnett. But “play at the park is limited” due to safety concerns, so they mostly play at home or in safe, confined play areas in school playgrounds. Formal education-based activities, working parents, the changing family structure, the demands of a modern lifestyle and increased TV viewing also limit child-driven play.

In the poorer communities, free play is often hampered by more dangerous environments, as well as by young children having family duties and responsibilities far beyond what’s age appropriate.

If children do not get ample opportunity to enjoy child-driven free play, Prof. Burnett explains that they may experience these negative effects:

■ A lack of physical development

■ Poor motor-skill development

■ Poor reading and writing skills

■ Relatively poor self-esteem

■ Apathy (from an inactive lifestyle)

■ Obesity

■ A lack of social skills (such as trust, sharing and caring)

■ A lack of intellectual stimulation, development and problem-solving.

GREAT WAYS FOR TODDLERS TO PLAY

PLAY DOUGH This develops eyehand coordination with both large and small muscle groups; is soothing and relaxing and allows for tension release (when she pounds on the dough); helps your child learn how to manipulate tools like scissors, knife and fork, and allows for feelings of accomplishment construction. Dough can help with problem solving, spatial awareness, and teaches your child to work either independently or with a friend.

PAINTING AND DRAWING Physical strength and eye-hand coordination are improved; spatial awareness and body control takes place, as does an awareness of left-to-right directionality, and your toddler learns to share available tools and wait her turn.

FANTASY PLAY Your child learns social awareness through role playing and acts out experiences that are meaningful to her in a safe, nonthreatening way. Fantasy play also helps your toddler to follow rules and use equipment safely and sensibly. She learns about perceptual constancy when observing objects from a different perspective, and it helps her to gain physical strength.

IN THE SAND PIT OR WATER TROUGH

This is a relaxing time for your child, and she is free to explore and learn about the properties of water in her own way. It helps with counting and size. RIDING AND

PULLING WAGONS

This helps your child to learn about cooperation with others. It also improves eye-hand coordination, physical strength, body control and gross motor skills in general. Quite simply, it’s also brilliant fun!