Help your kids learn through play
PARENTING isn’t just about looking after your kids – it’s about having fun and playing too. And through that play, babies, tots and youngsters can learn crucial life lessons.
Through smiling, singing, modelling, imitation and games, for example, young children can learn about social interaction. Even simply playing with common household items – like cups, empty containers and pans – they’ll be learning about objects’ feel and quality, and what can be done with them.
Learning a range of socioemotional and cognitive skills, including self-regulation and language, is also an important part of child development – and this can be practiced through early interactions with others, including parent-child play.
Evidence also shows that secure attachment and bonding with a parent, which often occurs during parent-child play, is important for a child’s emotional wellbeing, including stress and anxiety reduction.
“Research has firmly established that the early years are a critical stage of child development, during which there’s a huge opportunity to shape a child’s growth and learning potential,” says Sarah Bouchie, head of the Learning Through Play in Early Childhood programme at The LEGO Foundation. “As children’s first playmates and teachers, parents have the chance to give them a head-start on learning through play that will last beyond their earliest years.”
And parents overwhelmingly want to get stuck in and play.
Recent data collected from almost 13,000 mums and dads for the
LEGO Play Well report found 89% say they enjoy playtime as much as their child does, 94% think play helps them get to know their child better, and 91% also believe play time is good for their own wellbeing.
WHAT IS PLAYFUL PARENTING?
GOOD news – being a playful parent really doesn’t need a lot of time or toys. Quality play moments can happen during everyday routines, such as cooking, feeding, bath-time and bedtime, using readily available materials such as tissue paper and cardboard, which can be used as toys.
After some ideas? After studying research and parentchild experiences, the LEGO Foundation teamed up with play experts – they suggest playful parenting (particularly for children from birth to three years of age) should involve one or more of these five characteristics...