Why is Play Important for Children?

As parents, we want the best for our baby playing, and we do everything in our power to provide all, from the highest quality nutrition to education, access to various information, and so on. We can see how the world is becoming increasingly competitive and how it is more and more difficult to find an adequate place once a person enters adulthood. Overwhelmed with concerns about the future, lots of parents put the main focus on their kids’ education and the most important years of child development. And not just formal, but they also burden the children with a bunch of extracurricular activities often even before they start elementary school.

There is so much pressure on children to excel in all they do that it is often forgotten that the most important thing is to let them be free to play.

Children need to be able to play with their peers. Not only that, it makes them happy, but it is also the best way how children learn. If you buy some good toys for toddlers and observe your little one playing with their friends, you will be surprised by how much they have been learning through play.

Before we go down to why is play important and why children play, let’s look at some effects of play deprivation. Numerous studies have shown that children who didn’t have much chance to play have lower self-esteem, higher risk of depression later in life are more likely to become addicts, and so on.

Now you might be one of those parents who think that your kid isn’t deprived of play because all these activities you enrolled them to like soccer or acting include playing. While that is partially true, we are talking here about games that children organize without supervision from adults. Believe it or not, there are numerous benefits of unstructured play that you didn’t even think about.

• Kids develop their own interests through different types of plays
• Playing contributes to children learning to make decisions, follow the rules, control their emotions, solve problems, etc.
• Various children’s plays enable them to get connected and make friends
• Playtime can also be a time for learning. A lot of toys for toddlers are designed in a way that they learn while having fun.

This is funny, but there are a lot of folks out there who think that babies eat, poop, sleep and cry and there isn’t anything fun you can do with them. That’s not true, as babies are interested in playing from the moment they arrive in this world, and there are many ways how to play with babies. Indeed their vision is a bit blurry, so you have to bring toys closer, and of course, you can’t immediately give them toys for toddlers, but they will be very interested in things you have to show them. Their hearing is well developed, so you can use toys that produce sounds at the begging. Talking about the importance of play for babies, it is good to point out that it will not only contribute to physical but also cognitive, creative, and social development.

Do you find yourself wondering how to play with kids? You are surely not alone there, but don’t worry since there are children’s free game options that can be entertaining for the entire family. If you got toys for toddlers, you could create a bunch of toddler learning games.

You should know that from birth till age 3 or 4 is considered as the most important years for child development.

There are many things you can do with your toddler like play doctor, cook together, play with colors, etc. All of these will keep both you and they entertained, plus they will have a lot of opportunities to learn till the time when kids stop playing with toys.

What is Free Play in Early Childhood?

It is what is usually happening when you see children playing together. Free play includes all unsupervised, unstructured games that children invent on their own. Because they decided everything from what and how to do to when to stop kids are usually highly motivated to play.

• Free play enhances a child’s imagination and curiosity
• Promotes personal, social and emotional development
• Improves cognitive and problem-solving skills
• Leads to better physical development
• Improves language skills
• Leads to better focus in the classroom
• Makes children happy

What Are Structured Activities for Toddlers?

These are any games that require toys for toddlers like building blocks, puzzles, and so on and have to follow certain sets of rules. Also, sports like soccer, baseball, and many of the cognitive activities for preschoolers fit into the category of structured play.

This is important because participating in these kinds of activities builds their problem-solving skills, helps them work toward their goals, and teaches them about active listening.

Why is Imagination Important for Kids?

Most children are naturally curious and imaginative. They use their imagination to play, so they turn their room into a wild jungle, bed into a pirate boat, and or build their castle with best toys for toddlers. Sometimes parents become worried that their kids spend too much time in the fantasy world. However, it is crucial to let the kids use their imagination as much as possible. This way, they are developing psychological and emotional capacities to understand the world that surrounds them and their role in it. Creativity helps them to solve problems, think creatively, using best educational toys for toddlers and develop, and maybe even do something to change the world later in life.

Kids don’t just play with their toys for toddlers all day long. While playing, they often interact with adults, other kids, animals, nature, and so on. They learn through this interaction by understanding their own emotions as well as those of others. Most importantly, they are learning by using their imagination and curiosity, and that’s why play is essential for preschoolers as well.

Why is Sensory Play for Babies Important?

Again, babies learn a lot through their senses. It is proven that sensory play improves language skills, cognitive skills, excellent motor skills, etc. Sensory toys for babies, as well as bottles and sensory toys for toddlers, enable kids to explore, create, imagine and learn while relying on their senses.

What is Associative Play?

You never heard of associative play? Think again! We are sure you know about it. What we call associative play is a form of social game for children where a group of kids, usual preschoolers, participates in similar activities. There are no rules, or organization or a leader, everybody does things in their way. But the point is that they do it together. For example, they can ride bicycles together or dance, play with best toys for 2-year old girl and older kids, the great variety of choice. They can also use toys for toddlers to participate in these kinds of games.

Why is Outdoor Play Important?

Besides the fact, they get a chance to spend time in the fresh air and learn more about nature; outdoor play is important for the physical development of a child. When they are engaged in outdoor activities, they are improving their strength, balance, ability to run, jump, climb and so on.

As you can see, there are plenty of reasons why play is essential for children. Of course, they must receive high-quality education to be as ready for adulthood as possible, but let’s not forget that they are children, and they deserve to have a happy childhood before anything else. We hope that we inspire you to spend more time playing with your kids. Grab those toys for toddlers and enjoy the games at parenthoodroutine.com.