"Play is a wholly absorbing activity from which logic, social skills, memory, fulfilment and values are derived. It is not a negligible aspect of human development, to be relegated to a leisurely pursuit, but in fact lies at the root of our nature. Play encompasses humour, art, bodily wellbeing, human relationships, awareness of one's environment and sense of self. It is an indication of mental health. The longer we play, the better we learn." Christopher Clouder and Janni Nicol from Creative Play for your Baby[3]

FROM ONE TO THREE

Being a role model

Stages of development

Warmth, clothing and shoes for young children

Environment of the young child

Diet and nutrition after one

Creating rhythm and rituals

Creating a home life through the year

Toys and the importance of play

Using the toilet

Giving choices and reasoning

Discipline and speaking to the child

Playgroups

TOYS AND THE IMPORTANCE OF PLAY

Playing is of vital importance for the young child for development in the social realm, cognitive development, bodily co-ordination and ability, and for emotional wellbeing.[1] After the first year and a half of learning to stand upright, play becomes the new main task in a child's life. In play the child repeats and imitates what she experiences around her, she creates experiential learning situations, interactions and negotiations with others, and very importantly, she learns to concentrate on an activity and complete projects. Today's often hurried lifestyle can be stressful for children and can frequently rob the child of precious playing time. It is important to leave children time and create situations where free play is possible.

The Doll's Supper by Evert Pieters

How can we encourage play? Having toys be visible on shelves make them much more accessible to young children than having them hidden in a basket or box. It is sometimes helpful to engage with the toys oneself and place them or put them away gently and with respect. Little children especially like to participate in saying goodnight to the toys by putting each one in its place: "Goodnight little box, goodnight chestnuts, let's put you in your bowl, goodnight cow..."

Young children are very happy to be able to engage in what an adult is doing, they love to have tasks and 'work' to do. A child of two will likely want to imitate or join in everything we do. Though it requires more patience, we can support the child’s interest by providing her some way of helping if possible. For example, giving her a sponge for washing dishes with you, a small broom for sweeping time, or have her give you clothes to hang up to dry or to put in the washing machine.

Two children at the sea shore

by Mary Cassat

“Play is so important to optimal child development that it has been recognized by the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights as a right of every child.” Kenneth R. Ginsburg [2]

If the child is restless, it can sometimes be helpful to fully engage yourself in an activity of your own and allow the child to participate if he wishes. Or you can start a play activity with them for a moment, for example by putting pinecones in a basket, bringing out a pot with a lid and a wooden spoon, or putting dolls in their bed, to create interest in toys or what is there.

Butterfly boy by Julia Cairns

What toys best serve play? The first years, the sensory, real, natural world holds plenty of interest for the young child's exploration needs. Many toys made today for the young child are very loud, visually as well as audibly, and often limited in their play function and interpretation. For your own sanity as well as the child's play abilities, you may try to avoid battery-operated toys that dictate what they are, or have a very limited function. The simpler and the more open to interpretation the toys, the more a child can develop their own interests and imagination and use the toys in manifold ways. For example, a small piece of cloth can be a blanket, a hat, a tablecloth, a duster, a big piece of fabric can be a river, a roof for a house, a drape for a throne... Found things like a piece of driftwood, chestnuts, and pine cones are wonderful to transfer from one container to another, dump out and pick up. Use wood or metal containers from the kitchen with a wooden spoon to make 'pinecone soup' or outside, use different containers to pour water in, or sand. You can make or find simple dolls made of cloth with non-expressive features that leave more up to the imagination, such as Waldorf dolls, and find wooden figures or rolling toys with gentle shapes and few details.

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Copyright © Julie Le Gal Brodeur 2009         Updated July 28, 2010