The importance of unstructured play
Are your kids’ days packed with clubs, music lessons and after-school activities? Despite experts demonstrating its wide-reaching benefits, unstructured play with no specific learning objective is quickly becoming an endangered pastime. Here are just a few reasons to throw out the schedule:
- Social skills & communication: Free play allows children to develop core social skills, so they can work collaboratively, share, negotiate, resolve problems and voice their own opinions and needs.
- Confidence & imagination: Through physical activity, children are given a space to try new things, test their limits and build confidence.
- Decision-making skills: When play is child-driven, children move at their own pace, practice making decisions and ultimately engage in the passions they wish to pursue.
- Literacy: Through play, children learn and practice new sounds. They listen to others and expand their imagination and vocabulary through role play.
- Bonding: Whether it’s role play, a sing-along or jumping jacks, play offers a wonderful opportunity for adults to engage fully with their children.
- Key motor skills: When children play freely, they develop their motor skills, co-ordination, balance and spatial awareness. They also improve their physical health, leading to increased strength and fitness and improved health.
Ready to down tools for the day and start playing?