by Kimberly Cleckenr

Created on: June 14, 2010

Play is most crucial for a child’s emotional, social, cognitive and physical growth. Letting a child go outside and play is one of the best ways a parent can provide for a child’s health. It is the way a child learns about his or her body and the world the around them. A mixture of creative, imaginative and active play makes a perfectly balanced diet of play for a child.  

Some children prefer creative play while others choose imaginative play or active play. There is nothing wrong with a child liking a particular toy or game, but play that is balanced is better for overall development. Basically, it is good for a child to play in many different ways. Play helps children to understand the environment around them and also gives them the opportunity to learn and practice skills.

There are four basic types of play that increase levels of a child’s sophistication and social interaction.

Solitary play. This type of play takes place alone, usually with toys, and is separate from other children and what they are doing.

Cooperative. This play occurs as children join together to achieve one particular goal, such as building a castle as each child builds one part of it.

Parallel play. Involves children who are playing the same game or activity side by side but have very little interaction between them.

Associative play. This play is similar to parallel play but has increased interaction levels of interaction in terms of turn-taking, sharing and interest in what other children are doing.

As a child grows and advances into toddler years, play becomes more complex and imaginative. Qualities and key skills are exercised, such as creativity, curiosity, independence and problem-solving. This can also be a place for a child to explore values and feelings while developing social skills.

Play can be very serious for some children while making a great contribution to development in many different ways. A child learns all about himself and what they are able to do. Play helps a child learn how to make friends, enjoy someone's company and discover what is around him. A child has so much fun while playing and at the very same time is discovering, exercising and developing physically and emotionally. That is what makes it so wonderful.

Even though there are numerous benefits of a child playing, time given to a child for play has been drastically reduced for some children. This has even affected school-aged children who have had their free play time reduced to increase time for academics. It is important that we make sure our children are getting the proper amount of play time they need for their bodies to grow and develop as they should.

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