Why play is important for children?

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by lily ryan

Children like to play, they need to run, chase, ride, skip and jump. The more they play, the more they want to play again.

Play is important for Children because it practices their linguistic, cognitive and social skills and contributes to their general personality development. Children use their minds while playing, because they are thinking and acting as if they were another person. When they make such a transformation, they are taking a step forward abstract thinking in that they are freeing their thoughts from a focus on concrete objects. Play is also associated with creativity, especially the ability to be less literal and more flexible in one's thinking.

Vygotskian who was a famous Russian psychologist wrote, "In play a child always above his average age, above his daily behavior; in play it is as though he were a head taller than himself".

There are four types of play that reflect increasing levels of Children's social interaction and sophistication.

Solitary play is a play that take place alone, often with toys, and is independent of what other children are doing.

Parallel play involves children engaged in the same game or activity side by side but with very little interaction or common influence.

Associative play is much like parallel play but with increased levels of interaction in terms of sharing, turn-taking and general interest in what others are doing.

Cooperative play occurs when Children join and work together to achieve a common goal, such as building a large castle with each child building a part of the structure.

Play have become quite indispensable to Children's life, However, in order to motivate Children to learn from the games they are playing, Adults have responsibility to choose right playing method and age-appropriate games for the children. They are important elements to support the development of Children's play.

The place to go for age-appropriate games and game instructions is Kids Games For Playing.

lily ryan is playgroup teacher in hk international school and she got degree on children early education. Check her website www.kids-games-for-playing.com to grab the best play ideas for your little one.

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