When we say something is “child’s play,” we mean something that’s easy and simple.
In truth, there’s a lot going on when kids are at play. It’s an activity that has a host of physical and psychological benefits for children:
1. It Helps Them Behave
According to a 2009 study in the journal Pediatrics, children who get a break for recess tend to act up less in the classroom. The study looked at two groups of 8 and 9-year-old students and found that the ones who got more than 15 minutes of playground time each day behaved better than kids who got no recess time.
2. It Makes Them Grow
Playing teaches children to learn awareness of other people’s feelings, to socialize, and to regulate their emotions. By learning to play well with others, kids develop the skills to live well with others.
3. It Helps Them Exercise
Outdoor play activities such as tree-climbing, a game of tag, jumping on a trampoline or swinging on a swing set are all designed to get children moving. And that’s good for two reasons: First, children should spend at least an hour a day engaged in some enjoyable physical activity. Secondly, there’s evidence that active children grow up to be active – and thus healthier – adults.
4. It Helps Them Learn
In 2009, the Journal of School Health published a study that showed that kids who excelled at physical activity tests were more likely to do well on academic tests.
5. It Makes Them Happy
All children have a natural inclination to play. It makes them happy and makes them feel safer. And just like you might need a break to get a cup of coffee every morning, your kids need a break from their routine as well.
There are a number of different ways for kids to play. Beth Ricci, writing on the natural living website Keeper of the Home, lists a few different ways to stimulate a child’s creativity when they play:
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Making art, whether it’s coloring in coloring books or creating their own projects.
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Playing in nature. This could mean outdoor play activities such as playing in the mud, looking for bugs and animals or jumping in a newly-raked pile of leaves.
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Dressing up in old clothes.
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Building things -- whether it’s with blocks, Lincoln Logs, Tinker Toys or Legos – lets kids create their own little words while also develop problem-solving skills.
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Kids enjoy doing grown up things, and toys such as play kitchens, doctor kits, and tool benches let them indulge this side of their imagination.
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Handicrafts, whether that means learning to knit, sew, play an instrument, or working with Play-Doh or clay.
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Open-ended play. “My kids embark on global adventures on a daily basis, involving their backpacks, perhaps a flashlight or a stuffed animal and the couch cushions,” Ricci writes. “They use things like dolls and puppets and lunchboxes and laundry baskets to create intricate scenarios and stories that occupy them for hours.”
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Physical play. As we’ve said before, moving is learning, and kids can still find ways to be creative while they’re out running around.
If you’re looking for ways to get your kids to be more active, visit Swingset & Toy Warehouse. We’ve spent the past three decades promoting the benefits of outdoor play.
Visit us online or at one of our four New Jersey locations to learn more about our wooden and vinyl swing sets, trampolines and basketball hoops.
And then step back and let your kids have fun. In the words of British educator Charlotte Mason (whom Ricci quotes in her article):
“Boys and girls must have time to invent episodes, carry on adventures, live heroic lives, lay sieges and carry forts, even if the fortress be an old armchair; and in these affairs the elders must neither meddle nor make.”
