Power of Play

Are you dropping your child off at preschool and wondering if he's getting enough stimulation? Are they doing enough reading? Maybe it looks like they are just playing all the time. ell, surprise! According to many experts, that's just what they should be doing.

Caution: Little Scientists at Play

For children, play is work. When a baby drops a block or rolls a ball, he's really a tiny scientist. What will happen to the block? Will it bounce? Will it break? His interaction with the block is a process of discovery that's critical to learning about the world around him. Older children may learn different concepts from the same block.How many small blocks fit on a large block? The most basic toys can create learning opportunities for children of various ages.

Play with Friends

Not only is play the basis of beginning academic skills, it's also the basis of social skills. According to Vanessa Gallo, program director of Gymboree Play and Music, "Sometime between twelve and eighteen months, children begin to use toys and objects for more than just a function, but as tools for initiating social interactions." Children begin by playing in parallel - watching one another play and playing near one another. These early interactions will form the basis for their earliest social interactions.

Pretend Play

Toys that have open-ended uses, are the ones that children come back to time and time again - they'll have longevity that other passive toys won't have. This imaginative play is critical to your child's development. According to Yale University child development psychologists Dorothy and Jerome Singer, "A critical feature of adult life is our ability to create stories about possible futures and ways of attaining our goals. Children need to get an early start in such inner storytelling and mental manipulation of various situations." So those blocks, tea sets, train sets and dollhouses may actually impact your child's future success and happiness.

Getting the Play Your Child Needs?

So, how can you encourage the play that your baby needs. Join a playgroup, schedule regular play dates, or take your child to a play program. "Gymboree offers developmentally appropriate play, music and art classes for your child. Creative activities, equipment, toys and props change from class to class to ensure a maximum challenge for your child whether four weeks or four years of age," says Gallo. "Trained Gymboree teachers facilitate activities that you can experience with your child, and introduce children to parallel play activities that will eventually evolve into cooperative, self-initiated play." So if it looks like your child is just playing all day - be glad. That's precisely what he needs to do in order to learn and grow.