With the abundance of toys, electronics, books, and ever-growing streaming services, you might assume that children nowadays have it made. If you remember back to your childhood and recount the numerous times you were forced to “play outside” or “find something to do”, you might also assume that growing up in this current era would be phenomenal. The American Academy of Pediatrics might disagree with you on that.
The building blocks like playtime and imagination are getting left behind due to all of these new activities.
This article discusses playing and imagination, their benefits for child development, and how you as the parent can foster that needed environment.
Jump to Sections:
- What is Play?
- What is Imagination?
- Benefits of Play and Imagination for Development
- Distractions and Barriers
- How to Foster Play and Imagination
- Sources and Further Reading
What is Play?
Play is an integral part of child development. What seems like a way to pass the time is one of the most beneficial activities your child will participate in.
During play, children find imagination, creativity, social skills, and even how to navigate their environment. It is also where they build resiliency, patience, empathy, and teamwork skills. Plus, exercise and refining of motor skills are also beneficial.
When it comes to playing, there are a few different types. Of course, many of these are overlapping and will be used in conjunction with one another, but it is nice to see how the different areas affect child develop
Structured
Structured play is pretty common. This includes anything where guidelines or rules are set beforehand. Examples include board games, music lessons, and organized sports. Typically adult supervision is present or in the immediate area. There is little to no leeway.
Unstructured
Unstructured play is also called child-led play. Children set the rules, or have no rules, and leave everything up to their creativity and imagination. Building forts, dress-up, and playing on a playground are all examples of this. Parents may be around to ensure safety and fairness, but they offer no sort of structure or rules.
Imaginative
Imaginative play can be a part of unstructured play, but it can also be its own thing. Things like playing make-believe, acting out dream scenarios, or creating made-up worlds are a few ideas. However, a child’s imagination can be pretty complex, so rule nothing out.
Social
This is any play where other children are present and actively engaging in some sort of group play. During social play, cooperation, teamwork, patience, and sharing can be learned or built upon. Examples are sports, attending playdates, or school time activities.
Physical
Physical play is any play time spent doing physical activities. This can be done alone or with friends and can include things like dancing, running, climbing, or jumping.
Creative
A personal favorite, creative time is when children are given a chance to create things, just like it says. This can be painting, drawing, or even using building blocks to come up with cool building designs or anything else they can think of.
Sensory
Sensory just means that it allows children to use primary sensorimotor functions. The objective is to make them use, develop, and strengthen their taste, touch, smell, sight, and sound. This can be done by playing with sand, water, playdough, and musical instruments.
Educational
Activities that count as educational play should focus on or cover skills like reading, writing, and math. There are tons of great activities and toys that are geared toward this goal. Puzzles, educational games, and any STEM-related toys or activities are a great place to start.
Related Post: 10 Exciting Activities To Do With Your Child
What is Imagination?
Imagination is the ability to create new ideas, scenarios, images, and concepts in the mind that do not exist. It allows children to think critically, problem-solve, and explore worlds and perspectives that they may never get the chance to otherwise.
Imagination is a huge step in cognitive development, as creativity sparks progress in many areas. Problem-solving and innovation are the most affected. These skills assist them even throughout adulthood as they take on more and more complex challenges.
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”
Eleanor Roosevelt
Benefits of Play and Imagination for Development
According to the AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics), research shows that “developmentally appropriate play with parents and peers is a singular opportunity to promote the social-emotional, cognitive, language, and self-regulation skills that build executive function and a prosocial brain“. In other words, play is crucial for a child’s all-around development.
Notice that the AAP stated “parents and peers”. Parents, your interactions with your children are a key factor in how they develop skills. Sure, the peer part is just as important, but as this is a site for parents I want to make sure you caught that. Playing with your children is important.
Emotional Regulation
A huge part of playing, especially group activities, is that sometimes you can lose a game or the group may not share your ideas. This can be a pretty brutal event for some children. This is why it is great.
I don’t mean that it is great that your child lost or had a hard time playing with others. What I do mean is that it is great your child is learning to control and deal with emotions. Emotions are powerful and as a young child, can be difficult to master. Learning what they are and how to correctly deal with them early on can set them up for success as they grow older.
Language Development
For this one, I will use my daughter as an example. She is currently a year old and knows no words except the usual momma, papa, and maybe yes and no on occasion. During playdates with other children who are in the same boat, she communicates with them.
Looking on as a parent I can not even begin to tell you what they are saying, but I know what concepts they are trying to say. This is so amazing to watch.
They are learning communication skills much earlier than they are learning English.
The AAP mentions that this is a huge milestone. They are not only learning to approach one another, but learning to convey their needs and wants to others. This can be seen with requesting food from a parent, grabbing their diaper to tell you it needs changing, or bringing toys to a friend to let them know they want to play.
Distractions and Barriers
With so many outlets and devices now, it can go without being said that there are too many distractions. For children especially, but also parents. From technology to a lack of time, there may be a lack of play and imagination in your child’s day. That is alright though because knowing that these barriers and distractions exist can help us find solutions to mitigate them or get rid of them entirely.
Excessive Screen Time
We cover this one in depth in our Screen Time article, which I highly recommend checking out. The gist of the discussion is this. Technology is an amazing tool, but it requires serious moderation. Children can get so caught up in videos, video games, cool apps, or whatever else they can find. This takes away from them being children. By removing the excessive screen time, we can help get them more engaged in playing, being creative and imaginative, and even being social.
Lack of Time
This one is sadly becoming more and more common. Children are doing so much when it comes to school and social events. Parents are busier than ever with work and making ends meet. As a result, free time and playtime can be the first to go when the schedule gets too full.
I get it! We have all been there at least once and the week has just been horrendous and we do not feel like we have time for playing and relaxing. We have to find the time. Our children need it.
Adult-Led Activities
We mentioned what structured play was earlier and how children have little to no say in the rules. Just as unstructured play is referred to as child-led play, structured play can also be called adult-led play.
These activities are great every now and then. They are time parents are spending with their children and I am all for that. However, children need freedom and creativity to make the most out of their time.
What you may see as time well spent with your child may not be the most well-spent time for their imagination and development.
How to Foster Play and Imagination
Taking into account everything we just talked about, we should be focused on creating a more creative environment for our children. Finding the time to allow them to be themselves and play with imagination at the forefront is such an easy task.
Distractions like screen time and technology are easily avoidable by setting parental controls or setting tech-free zones and times in the house. Remove the possibility of overstepping by allowing a more child-led time instead of you setting the rules and agendas.
The goal as parents is to set an environment that encourages creativity, exploration, imagination, and of course, fun! We do this by providing a space, and time for our children. Also, engaging with your children and participating in their imagination is a great way to bond with them and encourage them.
Dress up as an astronaut and pretend you are going to space. Or set up a tent in the backyard and wonder what it would be like to be somewhere else. Push the boundaries of imagination with your children. They need it, but so do you!
Sources
“The Power of Play: A Pediatric Role in Enhancing Development in Young Children” by American Academy of Pediatrics, Journal, 2018
https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/142/3/e20182058/38649/The-Power-of-Play-A-Pediatric-Role-in-Enhancing?autologincheck=redirected
“The Lifelong Effects of Early Childhood Adversity and Toxic Stress” by Jack P. Shonkoff et al., American Academy of Pediatrics, 2012
“Physical Activity Opportunities in US Early Child Care Programs” by AAP, Research Journal, 2022
“How Play Helps Children’s Development” by NIDirect.gov.uk, Scholarly Article, 2021
Further Reading
“The Work of the Imagination” by Paul L. Harris
“The Self-Driven Child: The Science and Sense of Giving Your Kids More Control Over Their Lives” by William Stixrud and Ned Johnson
