Most children love to play. Whether they play inside or outside, or they play alone or with other children, it is easy for children to spend hours playing. But playing is not just for fun because playing is also important for your child’s development and the learning of important life skills. Encouraging your children to play, and especially play in an active way, is important and a good way to help them get ahead in life. Playing is so important for your child that it has been recognized as a right of every child no matter what background the child comes from. When playing, children learn many important life skills that can be very useful throughout life when they grow up to be young people and eventually adults. When children play, it is also important to think about the environment that they play in. Using natural playgrounds is a particularly good way of getting your kids to play in an active way. If you want to know more about the benefits of active play, then keep on reading this article where we have listed five different benefits of active play for children and you can also have a look on Kompan.us.
Physical benefits
Active play is a great way for children to develop their physical skills. It helps with coordination, gross-motor skills, fine-motor skills and balance. In general living, an active lifestyle has a ton of benefits for both yours and your kids health. Also, active play helps kids use all of their natural stores of energy and fosters better sleeping and eating habits. By being active as a kid, your child gets some great habits that they will hopefully take with them into adulthood. By playing actively, children learn that sometimes it is not only a bad thing to fall and get hurt because they will without a doubt try this again later on in life. Besides this, active play also reduces the risk of child obesity. It is important for your child to grow up strong and healthy because it will most likely result in them living longer. When children play actively, they use a lot of energy which will reduce the risk of obesity. By making sure that children engage in active play, it is possible to reduce any risk of obesity.
Social benefits
Engaging in active play with other kids helps your child to grow their social skills. Throughout life, your child is going to meet and interact with many different people from many different backgrounds, and therefore it is important to have a basic understanding of social expectations and how to interact in different social situations. Playing in groups helps children figure out group dynamics as well as it helps them learn how to compromise and collaborate with other people. It also helps to recognize and respond to other people’s feelings, to share and show affection and to stick to the rules as well as to resolve conflicts. These are important lessons for children to learn as they grow up and head into adult life. That is, active play can actually help your child to become more well-behaved while also having fun and growing their social circle. Therefore it is extremely important not to underestimate the importance of active play because your child will develop a lot of social skills that are crucial for living in the world that surrounds us.
Creative benefits
Active play and playing in general gives your child a chance to let their imagination run wild. While playing, children can create worlds of their own, explore new possibilities and think outside the box. Children learn to come up with great new ideas and creative solutions, fostering an active imagination that will be useful throughout their entire life. Coming up with creative solutions can be useful in many different situations where it is necessary to make the best out of just a few things. When children engage in active play, they develop skills in conceptualizing, brainstorming and exercising critical thinking skills which shouldn’t be underestimated. The earlier children learn these creative skills, the more they can benefit from it later on in life. Therefore it is very important to let children unfold their creativity through active playing, and it is important that parents encourage children to think in a creative way.
Emotional benefits
Children playing actively learn to regulate their feelings during their play. They learn to cope with their emotions when playing and acting out scenarios. It’s a great way for them to practice understanding and empathy as well. Playing actively and acquiring new skills or building on existing ones can help give children a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction. This can be a great way to help build their self-perception and make them more confident in themselves. By engaging in active play, children will learn how to cope with their emotions as they act out different feelings such as fear, frustration and anger. Throughout life, it is important to be able to know how to regulate your feelings because this way it is easier to set boundaries for yourself and to figure out what kind of person you want to be in this world.
Cognitive benefits
Besides from the other benefits listed above, active play also has cognitive benefits for your child. When children are born, they spend the first three years developing their brain at a faster rate than at any other stages in their lives. From very early on, children develop some important cognitive skills such as remembering, reasoning and paying attention. By playing actively, your child’s brain will develop even further which will make them more prepared for when they face any problem or challenge later on in life. Active play reinforces childrens’ memory and it helps to understand cause and effect. Therefore it is important to boost your child’s brain development early on in life, and active play is a great way to do this.
