Take a stroll through your local park and you’ll see children playing happily all around.
The parents, if present at all, will likely be engaged in conversation with each other, or more likely deeply entrenched in the latest happenings on their smart phones.
A similar scenario likely plays out at home, with the children either playing together, or being held captive by some type of a screen, while mom makes dinner, does laundry, cleans up, or works.
As a mom, even if you’re a stay at home mom, if you were to track the time you spent actually playing with your child, you may be just a little embarrassed and unhappy with the results.
It’s not that we don’t love our kids (they are our world), not that we’re bad moms, and not even that we don’t want to play with our kids.
It’s just that we’re busy. And, they’re busy.
And many days we do good to feed them, provide them with clean clothes, get them to where they need to be on time, and find out a little bit about how their day went.
As important as these things obviously are, making time to play with your child is just as crucial to her physical and emotional development.
Scheduling Play Time With Your Child
It may be that the only way you’ll find time to play with your child is if you schedule it.
And while your schedule is already full, there’s a popular-because-it’s-true saying that “we have time for the things we make time for.”
And this one is important enough to make time for.
“Scheduling” play time may sound a little artificial and manufactured at first, but your child will look forward to this promised time with him, and it will save you the frustration of getting to the end of yet another day without getting that play time in.
Why Play is Important Enough to Schedule
Playing with your child is the best way to develop life-long bonds with her. This bonding will result in a family that communicates better and is more supportive of each other.
While playing with other kids obviously has an important role in your child’s development, playing with you is different and special.
Perhaps the most compelling reason to make time to play with your child is that she wants to play with you!
Next time you’re observing play at the park, if you get lucky and see a parent playing with her child, you’ll notice how much fun they’re having, and see how other kids are also drawn to join in the fun with the adult, even though she’s a stranger.
Your child’s play with you is different than peer play, and is a special time for her (and for you).
She’ll learn from you as her role model during play, and will be anxious to engage in pretend play with you that will build her self-esteem, social skills, and communication.
From a scientific point of view, playing with your child has been shown to release oxytocin in the brain, a chemical that is crucial to bonding and that causes us to feel love, empathy, and happiness. Basically, it's a cure for depression.
What to Play With Your Child
Let your child direct the play, but don’t be shy about also chiming in with your suggestions and contributions that keep things fun and have everyone laughing.
Playing with your child is a time when you throw caution to the wind and don’t give a second thought to what you look like, how you sound, or how ridiculous the whole scene may appear to an outsider.
Use every opportunity you find during play to “teach” your child valuable lessons, while the only thing he sees happening is lots of fun with mom.
For younger kids, get down on the floor with them. They love to roll around with you, have you “airplane” them by putting your feet on their stomach and holding their hands, and having you be a special animal or monster that’s chasing them.
As your kids get a little older, family game night is a perfect tradition to start.
Learning different games, how to follow rules, and how to win and lose graciously are all invaluable lessons that will come in addition to the fun to be had during a high stakes game of Monopoly or the frustrating Candyland journey to the Candy Castle without getting tripped up by Lord Licorice.
Engage in outdoor play with your child as often as possible too. This may be playing at the playground with him (and without your phone!), taking in a hike or just a walk around the block, or heading to a baseball game together as he gets older and develops such interests.
Once you start the tradition of playing with your child, you’ll find there’s never a shortage of things- to do.
Invite Kids Party Characters to Play With You
When it’s time to party, don’t forget to invite your child’s favorite characters by booking your next party at KidsPartyCharacters.com. With over 200 characters to choose from, your child’s satisfaction is guaranteed.
At Kids Party Characters we’re strong believers in play. You won’t find our characters sitting on the sidelines.
Instead, they’re the life of the party and will put on a show that will leave your child and her guests with a lifetime of memories.
Check out our packages that include all the favorites like cotton candy, face painting, and balloon twisting at KidsPartyCharacters.com.
Also connect with us on Facebook for daily updates and to see how we bring magic to children’s parties in so many ways.
No comments:
Post a Comment