Play for children is so important. Everyday freedoms everyday adventures is the theme for this year’s Playday, the national day for play in the UK, which highlights the importance for children and teenagers to enjoy freedom and have adventure in their play.
Since having my son sixteen months ago, encouraging him to play and explore the different environments around him has suddenly become one of the main focuses of my daily life.
Why is play important?
- Playing is fun and is central to children’s happiness
- Playing helps children’s physical, mental and emotional health and well-being
- Playing boosts children’s resilience, enabling them to cope with stress, anxiety and challenges
- Playing supports children to develop confidence, creativity and problem-solving skills
- Playing contributes to children’s learning and development. –Playday.org
How I encourage play at home
During maternity leave I tried to maintain a regular weekly schedule of baby classes and groups (such as Little Learners messy play) so that we had plenty of opportunities to get out of the house.
Now we’re past the time of attending classes and particularly in the wake of Covid-19, the majority of Austin’s play is at home with plenty of trips to local play parks.
I sometimes panic that Austin hasn’t enough toys (he does) and I try to source a few new additions (I’m really missing charity shops at the moment but I love eBay and Facebook Marketplace as alternatives).
Exploring through play
I really enjoy watching Austin playing and noticing anything different he is doing. For example, he has a growing fascination with wheels and for a time that involved sitting and twisting wheels on toys, and spinning round shaped objects, but now that he can crawl and walk (and just be everywhere!), he has learnt that he can also push these toys along different surfaces.
I also watch how Austin plays with shapes, and he loves putting objects such as building blocks and jam jar lids into other larger objects such as boxes. Sometimes he even just gets things out of his toy crates just to put them away again.
He also does of course just makes as much mess as he can!
Boredom is good
I have very clear memories as a kid of times I was bored, clock watching (probably because I was waiting for something specific on TV) and I would be at a loss for what to do while I waited.
This was long before the digital era we’re now in, and I think many people -myself included sometimes- forget that it’s okay to be bored. Austin isn’t quite at an age whereby boredom would really affect him, because he’s either cuddled up with me watching something, outside running about, or playing with toys or sat reading a book.
We also need to remember that his day is a lot shorter than ours when you take into consideration his nap and bedtime.
When I see some of the things my other mum friends are doing with their children, sometimes I feel pressure about whether I am doing enough with Austin and I have to remind myself that I am. He doesn’t need to be highly engaged in activities all the time and he needs the freedom to explore play on his own.
Play for children: little adventures
Both my husband and I, either separately or together as a family, love taking Austin out on walks, trips to the local play parks, and most recently to a local farm. Now that he is walking, little adventures really are core to each day.
While the weather is good and the days (mostly) warm, it really is all about making the most of being outside, both in the garden and further afield. The most wonderful things about children, is how fascinating they find everything, things as adults we often have forgotten to appreciate.
How do you encourage play with your children?
Until next time x
