Don't Stop Playing

How much time do you purposefully spend playing with your six month to six year old child? Believe it or not over the last two decades child's play has decreased 50%. However, years of research has shown that during early childhood stages of growth, children develop skills that they can only get through play. Early childhood play is also crucial to the phys­i­cal, intel­lec­tual, and social-emotional devel­op­ment at all ages, especially from six months to six years of age. 

The decline of early childhood play can be linked to the pressures that have been place on educators and parents mainly through policy makers that early academics will lead to a greater success in life. Although some studies conclude that some children may benefit from a greater diet of academics than play, it is not true in most cases. Some of the problems that research has discovered in the study of academia vs play is that the lack of self-initiated forms of play, imaginative play, the development of social skills and loving interactive play have actually resulted in a higher level anx­i­ety and neg­a­tive atti­tudes in chil­dren. Research also reveals that children who have had a large portion of play time removed from their daily schedule and have had it replaced with academic studies, in most incidences, show little to no advan­tages in read­ing and math achieve­ment over children who have a fair amount of daily play time.

Another thing to consider, play is motivated by pleasure not pressure and it cannot be legislated because it is a natural response that opens the door to early childhood development. This is where educational toys play a major role in both academic and play time for children. Educational toys provide a venue for children to expand their imagination, enhance their motor shills, increase their curiosity, stimulate their creativity, and promote learning while having fun. They also promote interaction between adults and children. Research shows that learning is enhanced when adults participate in daily play with children. 

As children play, their young minds are stimulated which encourages them to interact and explore the world around them. Their play is actually preparing them for future tasks and adulthood. Another benefit of introducing educational toys into a child's daily play time during their early years is that they can provide the stimulation and experiences that create a foundation of learning and growing.

Play gives children a chance to practice what they are learning....They have to play with what they know to be true in order to find out more, and then they can use what they learn in new forms of play.
--Fred Rogers of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood