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For children, playing is more than just fun and games, it's a vital part of their development. Yet are kids today playing enough? asks Robin Barker.
Child development experts often refer to children's play as their "work". This sounds very serious, but you're bound to have noticed that a lot of the time your child is very serious when play involves puzzles, building, dressing up, pretending to be mothers/fathers/teachers/nurses/doctors, drawing and so on. At other times, play is fun and laughter - jumping in puddles, swimming, climbing and making messes.
There is a general concern today that many children may not be playing and using their imaginations as much as children from past generations did. Why is this?
Too much time spent in adult-organised structured activities. With the best will in the world, many parents start rushing their children (often barely out of their toddler years) from one activity to another (violin, drama, gym, musical appreciation, French) leaving little time and space for their children to use their own considerable resources to explore life's possibilities on their own.
Han-in-hand with the structured activities is the increasing pressure to achieve, not only academically, but in extra-curricular activities as well.
Too much screen time, whether it's television, DVDs or computer games. While a limited amount of screen time may have some benefits, overall screen-watching/computer game-playing has the potential to rob children of their natural energy and the time they need to explore the world and find out things for themselves. It can also interfere with the development of fantasy, imagination, reading, creativity and other hobbies and interests.
Loss of freedom to roam safely. I'm sure people of recent generations are sick of hearing about the TV-free, often car-free, era of the 50's, when children roamed the countryside from daybreak to dark, walked miles to school and spent endless hours constructing complicated games that ran serial-fashion over entire school holidays. As a child of the 50's, i can vouch for this being so and, while there was plenty about that era that was far from ideal, this aspect of childhood was something many of us from that time value hugely. While children today have many advantages the 50's generation didn't have, the loss of this freedom for many children is a downside of modern childhood.
THE VALUE OF PLAY
Through play, a child finds out about himself - what is inside and outside his body, and where he is in relation to the world and the people around him. This starts from birth, as soon as a baby gazes into his mother's eyes and smiles, and grasps her finger.
Play teaches a child what he can and can't do - he can pretend to drive an imaginary car made from a cardboard box, but not a real car yet - and what his strengths and weaknesses are.
Playing helps a child learn new concepts, such as up and down, hot and cold, and shapes and how they fit.
Play helps your child relive experiences and work out what is real and not real.
Play teaches him how to express feelings, acquire a wider use of language and experiment with social relationships and other forms of communication.
While your child is playing, he is strengthening his muscles, improving coordination and letting off excess energy.
Many play activities involve tasting, which hone the senses and heighten the enjoyment of the game.
Much of children's play is for the sheer pleasure of sensation - touching, feeling and the thrill of moving their arms, legs, fingers and toes.
LONG TERM BENEFITS
Great boost to physical development. Rough-and-tumble active play enhances children's sensorimotor development and is a natural preventative for childhood obesity. Through sensorimotor play, children learn about themselves and their world by feeling, hearing and seeing, and by the way they move and the way other people and objects move around them. Toddlers revel in body movement and exploration of the great outdoors. Young children run and skip for the joy of it, while older Children modify their motor activites into increasingly complex, co-ordinated activites, such as races, ball games, rollerskating and bike riding.
Essential for healthy intellectual development. Play lays the foundation for good reading and writing skills. Through exploration and manipulation, children learn colours, shapes and sizes, textures and the significance of objects, which helps them develop abstract scientific and mathematical concepts. Play provides a means to help children develop creative problem-solving skills.
Optimises social and emotional learning. Through play with others, a child learns how to make friends and how to behave and solve the problems associated with friendships (painful though this may be at times). He learns how to give an take, and, eventually, to assume responsibility for his actions. Some research suggests that social make-believe play increases co-operation and empathy, decreases aggression and promotes better emotional and social health.
Makes us all happy. Healthy children of all ages love to play if they're given the space, the opportunity and the time. Child development experts even go so far as to say that plenty of time for childhood play is a key factor leading to happiness in adulthood.
HELPING OUR CHILDREN PLAY
Set firm limits about the number of hours of screen time permitted each day. Stick to the rules as often as possible. It's good for children to learn to use their own resources to deal with boredom. They don't have to be entertained morning, noon and night.
Children will follow their parents' lead when parents stay firm about what it is they want to happen. Keep computers and screens out of children's bedrooms. Be a role model. Limit your own viewing and computer game-playing. Let your children see you reading, listening to music and taking part in other activites.
Read to your children every day from babyhood. Make sure there are plenty of suitable books on hand.
Overscheduled lives are often more about adult aspirations and lifestyles than about giving children what they really need. One or two easily managed suitable activities that children enjoy are enough. More importantly, children need constant, available parents who love them dearly and have enough self-confidence to know they can provide most of the things their children need to develop in their own way at their own pace.
Make sure there are plenty of simple playthings around for make-believe. Wood, boxes, balls, dolls, sand, clay, dress-up clothes, kitchen utensils, watering cans, a chalkboard or old sheets all inspire creativity. Find time most days for outdoor play, where children can run, climb, ride bikes, find hiding places and play pretend places.
Supervise and participate to get things going. Older children usually only need a kick-start and can be pretty much left to get on with it. Toddlers and pre-schoolers need more adult participation and fairly close supervision as well, to keep the lid on the squabbles.
Children love real work - chores about the house, such as cooking, gardening and sweeping, often get them started in their own play.
Robin Barker is the author of Baby Love and The Mighty Toddler. This article has been reproduced with the permission of The Australian Women's Weekly. It was published in the June 2006 issue. Neither Robin Barker nor The Australian Women’s Weekly endorses the products advertised on this website. | 
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