The importance of play for children
Playing has a wide range of physical, mental, emotional and social health benefits for children. Far from being useless fun, children’s games that have no purpose lead to harming the physical, mental, cognitive, emotional and social growth of children, and for this reason, it is recognized as a key component in the health of future generations and predecessors.
Make the body healthy
Playing is necessary for the development of a healthy and strong body in childhood. Children learn many things while playing, including gross motor skills, flexibility, and balance skills that they will need throughout their lives. Playing outdoors and exposure to sunlight, in natural environments and fresh air, make children enjoy good physical health, which greatly affects the formation of their bones and the strength of their immune system.
In addition to increasing physical activity, playing has many benefits:
- leads to increased muscle strength
- Good functions of the heart and lungs
- It helps in the prevention of obesity, diabetes and high cholesterol
The number of children suffering from chronic diseases such as asthma, obesity and diabetes is increasing rapidly. This research shows that through the strategy of increasing playing time, it is possible to take steps in the fight against chronic and infectious diseases in children.
It leads to the health of the brain and mind
Play is an integral part of the neurodevelopment of animals and young children. Research shows that the amount of play in mice is directly related to the rate of brain development, especially the cerebellum (an area related to motor control). It seems that the game plays an important role in the formation of the adult brain with the ability to improve muscle control.
The conversations that happen between children and adults during play also lead to the strengthening of neural connections in different parts of the brain, which are vital for language learning.
Play leads to strengthening children’s emotional intelligence and self-esteem
Imagine that you are a child in the fourth year of life and that you are building a tower. Suddenly, the last child climbs to Al-Thamin Tower and dies. What are you doing? Do you know your teacher? Or are you telling this child that his actions conflict with the rules? Tabaki cardamom
We often see situations like this in unstructured play situations and it is important to help children learn to control their emotions and express them. Children who do not speak can express their opinions, experiences and frustrations during play. It helps the emotional intelligence that is developed during the child’s play to recognize social situations and relationships throughout his life and guidance.
In addition to developing emotional intelligence, play helps children develop self-confidence. With the increase of children’s self-confidence and flexibility, they can find their place in this universe and face future challenges.
It leads to friendly relations
I am researching my emotional intelligence while helping children to play and establish relationships with their peers. Friendship relationships have a huge impact on the improvement process and human life. Breaking friendships in preschool age goes a long way towards improving children’s social and emotional skills and strengthening the sense of belonging, while adult friendships provide a strong support network and help reduce stress.
I believe that the unstructured nature of children’s play builds neural circuits in the front of the brain, which help the brain (and the child) deal with complex social interactions.
Creating a healthy relationship between parents and children
The path of children’s growth and development is directly related to the level of communication between parents and their children, and one of the main ways to develop these relationships is play. When parents play with their children, they send a simple message to the child: You are important to me. The undeniable attention that parents give to their children over time allows the child to know that they are appreciated, teaches parents how to actively communicate with the child, and allows parents to provide guidance in providing this context. Therefore, the game can be the cornerstone in establishing healthy and stable relationships between parents and children.
Teach children to cooperate
When children participate in unconditional play, they learn basic skills about how to cooperate with others. Instead of relying on rules and regulations and regulating their experiences, they must work with their peers to create and achieve common goals. This cooperation includes participation, negotiation and conflict resolution. The ability to cooperate with others and the skills acquired during play help people better control their personal interactions throughout their lives at school, work, and family environments.
Teaching problem solving skills to children
Play encourages children to develop a concept called divergent thinking, which refers to the ability to generate ideas through the exploration of many possible solutions. On the other hand, it includes solving convergent problems, solving a problem with a single solution. While solving convergent problems is emphasized in the classroom and in traditional IQ tests, solving divergent problems is related to creativity and is more applicable in the diverse and complex world we live in.
The difference in problem-solving ability, which is strengthened during play, helps in justifying the path of the real child, as well as encouraging good performance in standardized tests.
Encouraging creativity in play
Many people think that creativity is a special skill available only to the lucky few, such as artists and musicians. However, the truth is that all human beings can be creative, and play is a method we can use to stimulate our innate creativity.
Creativity is a healthy way for children to express their feelings and reflect on their experiences.
Reduces stress
Unfortunately, modern life is full of mental stress and can quickly overwhelm us if we fail to engage in stress-reducing activities. While meditation techniques, such as meditation, have their place in stress management, play is also important but underappreciated as a means of reducing the impact of daily stress on our lives, health, and relationships. control of mujahideen events.
Learning through play
Play is one of the main ways for children to learn and develop. Playing helps the child to know his abilities and to be self-satisfied, and leads to self-satisfaction. Because games are fun for children, children are often attracted to them. Play is very important for a child’s development, so it is considered an important part of a child’s development in the first years, and he learns many things along the way. Therefore, young children can acquire many skills while playing. They develop their language, their emotions, their creativity, and their social skills. The game also helps to develop imagination and give the child a sense of adventure. In this way, they can learn basic skills such as problem solving, working with others, sharing, and more. This in turn helps them to develop the ability to concentrate as well.
Useful games for learning
Providing children with a variety of games helps them learn in the following ways:
- Playing with sand and water can be a wonderful introduction to science and mathematics, for example learning that water is liquid and not solid, and it can be measured in containers of different sizes.
- Playing with play dough or plasticine, drawing pictures, dressing up, and playing with dolls can encourage children to be creative, imaginative, and express their feelings.
- It can help you create construction blocks, combinations, and shapes in determining different shapes and sizes, arranging things, and creating logic.
- Playing ball games, dancing, running, and climbing help to develop strength, flexibility, and coordination skills.
- Games help you match with others and share your things.
- It helps singing and playing simple musical instruments in developing rhythm and listening to it and improving it.
Important points about children’s toys
It is important that learning be enjoyable in this era. Therefore, it must be related to the actions of those who love them. They find unusual ways to use verbs. For a small child, the basics are not only for building towers, you can hire paint without a brush! Show them how to complete things, but they also try if they want to do it.
My children learn through all their senses, including taste, touch, sight, hearing, and smell. They watch my people around them and imitate my words and behavior.
Don’t put too much pressure on your child. Children grow in their own way and at their own time. Try not to compare with the last children. You can also encourage them to read me while reading their books. Look at the pictures together; This helps young children to understand the words.
I also like to talk a lot with them about daily activities while cooking or cleaning. This gives you an opportunity to teach them how the equipment works and they can ask you questions. For many, “Why?” ready
Harmful effects of encouraging children to play
While children’s play greatly increases their survival and the quality of their lives, the lack of play has serious consequences for their physical, mental and emotional health. “The deprivation of play” is a term used to describe the negative developmental, emotional, and social consequences of playing.
Unfortunately, with today’s fast-paced lifestyles, the reduction of time spent in school for recreation, and the increase in focus on academic education and high-risk sports activities for children, children are left with little time to prepare for the world of work, enhance creativity, and play irregularly.
In the last sense, the lack of play in children makes them depressed, unhealthy and less intelligent. In other words, all work and lack of play make children depressed and unhealthy and have a lower IQ. Can you be the answer to children’s increased anxiety, anxiety, depression, and low grades in science and mathematics, a “recipe” for more play? The answer is “Yes, definitely”. In fact, adding extra recess time to school programs for children can help improve academic skills, improve classroom behavior, and many of the cognitive, emotional, and social processes mentioned above.
