In the life of a child, just about everything is controlled by the adults around them. The time they go to school, what they do in school, what they do at home, what they eat, everything. Children hardly ever have time to play freely, and that time is decreasing as time goes on. Free time for children to play has many benefits to their growth and development. In this blog, we’ll discuss the reasons why play is a great benefit to your child.
Frees them of a schedule.
With all of the structure in the daily life of a child, it’s a good time for them to be “free” of their schedule for a short time. Between school and extracurriculars, most kids are left without time to play. And by “play”, we mean run around outside, pretend, laugh, dance, etc. This doesn’t include passive play like video games, movies, or TV. And it also doesn’t include play that is controlled by adults. Structured free time has taken over some of the free play time that children should have. Children need to have a time and space to exercise their growing imaginations and bodies, and to feel in control for a short time. If you are a parent who finds yourself constantly driving your child to and fro, your child may be overscheduled.
Promotes healthy brain development.
Playing freely strengthens their developing brains. It gives them the space to exercise their creativity and develop their imagination, dexterity, decision-making skills, and social skills. Through exploring their environment, playing adult roles and scenarios, and interacting with one another, their imaginations, confidence, social skills, and problem solving skills are strengthened. This development space is crucial for helping them develop into themselves.
Helps build their confidence.
Because they are interacting with one another and being physically active, free play is a great way to strengthen their confidence. As children grow, they need to be in situations where they are freely exercising their imaginations’ capacity, and developing relationships with one another at the same time. Giving them the chance to interact and make friends with other children in a play setting, help them to know from a young age that they are likeable by other kids, and therefore increases their confidence. Playgrounds specifically are a great confidence builder because they are big to young children. Once they are able to jump up onto a certain platform, or cross the monkey bars all the way, whatever it is, their confidence is built up that much more.
Strengthens their imagination.
What better place to use their imaginations than the park or playground? A time for free play is open season for their imagination to take flight and grow. They control the games they play, and their imaginations have the space to run wild. It’s only when space is created to exercise their imaginations that their imaginations are able to grow stronger. Not to mention, they have FUN.
Gives them exercise.
Physical activity for children helps to set them up for health in the future and prevents obesity. Establishing healthy habits early on is crucial in the health of children, so that when they get older they know how to keep themselves healthy. Regular exercise is a big part of that. If you give children space to run around, most likely they will let out all of their pent up energy and run around through play, and not even realize that it’s exercise. Not to mention physical activity helps to reduce stress in children, and helps them grow emotionally.
Want to build a playground for your school or organization? Call J.C. Walker & Sons today to learn more about our playground installation services and what we can do for you. We look forward to hearing from you.