Importance of Play By Ms. Nethra

Play is rarely associated with learning. For most people, learning involves acquiring a specific new skill, such as memorizing the alphabet, counting, writing, etc. They often believe that playing is only for fun and involves no actual learning. However according to studies, playing is learning. Children learn through playful experiences.

There is more to play than just fun and games – the benefits of play are innumerable. Here I categorise the many benefits into 6 groups:

Physical: Play is critical for a child’s physical development. It helps hone their coordination, balance, gross motor, and fine motor skills. Play helps children stay active, and use up their energy which promotes better eating and sleeping habits.

Emotional: During play, children learn to cope with emotions like fear, anger, frustration. They also practice empathy and understanding. Play also helps build their confidence and self-perception.

Social: Cooperative play helps children hone their social skills, it helps them learn how to collaborate and compromise with others, respond to other’s feelings, share, show affection, resolve conflicts, adhere to rules, etc.

Cognitive: Children learn to think, read, remember, reason and pay attention through play. One of the best ways to stimulate brain development and reinforce these valuable skills is by playing with your child as they explore objects and physical spaces, and learn to process sights and sounds.  

Creative: Play gives children a chance to truly let their imaginations run wild and create worlds of their own that they have control over. Play provides children the freedom to explore new possibilities and think outside the box, to come up with unique ideas as well as creative solutions to the challenges they face.

Communication: Play allows children to exchange thoughts, information, or messages by speech, actions, signals, or writing. They come to recognize facial expressions and body language. Pretend play, role play, and word-based games help children improve their vocabulary, language, and literacy skills.

Play is not just fun, but essential for a child’s healthy development and learning. It is very valuable to children. So run, sing, and dance with your children. Play games and have fun!