The Benefits Of Creative Play In Children
Encouraging children to play is one way to enhance their learning and development. In contrast, a traditional structure where the child cannot have the initiative in the game will not be the best way for children to reach their full potential or to achieve that they can really learn in life through direct interaction with the environment.
If children played throughout their childhood, they would be ready for life and would have better basic skills to handle life. But of course, this game is not being in front of a screen or following instructions given by others, creative play is the best way to prepare children for success and above all, so that they themselves can enhance their self-esteem and emotional well-being. .
Parents’ anxiety for children to learn academic content ahead of time can put much-needed playtime that children need aside. Parents must learn to overcome these obstacles and fears, allowing children to have a natural development, trusting in their possibilities and abilities.
Children are biologically designed to be curious, so creative play should be something that is added to their daily schedule, it should even be the most important activity they have to do on a daily basis. Even more important than academic activities. Children must have time to be children, to play and enjoy their reality.
From birth, children want to know and understand everything around them. They also always want to be successful and that is why they love to be the first in everything. They are continually challenging themselves to better achieve and learn anything, even if it is based on trial and error. To achieve this learning is done through a biological process implanted within them that we call ‘playing’.
There is a large body of research supporting the positive effects of creative play. Studies link creative play to better development of language, physical, cognitive level and social development. Parents must take into account the importance of creative play for children to develop successfully, leaving aside more sedentary games such as screen games.
The importance and benefits of creative play
The most effective form of play, in terms of growth and learning, is on their own initiative, self-directed play, that is, creative play, where the child is the protagonist of what he is doing and can choose his own rules and way of playing . You can start the game with the children to give them a little guide, but then go out of their game to promote their own rules.
For example, a two-year-old can build a tower of blocks but will need some guidance and encouragement from the adult so that he feels interest and joy in creating and learning. Once this is achieved, it will be when it is necessary to progressively exit the game and that in this way the little one feels the pleasure and satisfaction of creating his own game, even if it is under the watchful eye of his parents.
When the game, on the other hand, is too guided by others (such as adults), the child will have too much dependence on the evaluation and this will cause a huge lack of self-confidence and a loss of interest in doing things for himself. It is necessary to avoid that the child constantly depends on the evaluation of the adult or that he bases his success on the expectations of the parents. So if this happens you could lose touch with what really interests you.
The benefits of creative play, as you have seen throughout this article, are many, such as: increased creativity, enhancement of imagination, development of areas of interest, improvement in language, communication, memory, concentration. , better motor skills and abilities, active play, cognitive development, social and emotional development, etc.
