Children can learn about their surroundings, adopt interaction skills, and learn about themselves through play. Different types of unstructured play for children’s different stages can seamlessly help achieve holistic development – physical, cognitive, emotional, and social.
Hence, it is a fact that the role of play in helping children attain holistic growth and development is noteworthy. But, it is a sad reality that physical activities have been cut down due to the introduction of the digitally addictive world to children. Hence, it is the responsibility of schools, especially preschools, to frame their curriculum in such a manner that playing with peer groups constitutes a major part of their School in Singapore time.
How Play Can Help Attain Holistic Development in Children
1. Active Play Helps Children Develop Social Skills
Interacting with peers during playtime is an excellent natural process allowing children to grab important socialising lessons. Schools must realise this benefit and incorporate play in every activity possible to let children pick socialising skills. Preschool education in Singapore revolves around this concept and institutes like the One World International School give extra importance to play while framing their curriculum.
2. It Develops and Enhances Physical Skills
Children are usually active, so it is important to utilise their physical energy to help them grow. Physical activities like running, tumbling, climbing, and jumping help them develop muscle, bone, stamina, and motor skills. Playing with peers also helps in making children understand the importance of coordination. Staying active helps children stay healthier and focused. So physical tasks should be naturally incorporated into the school curriculum. It will allow teachers and parents to know about children’s sports skills and knacks that they would nurture later on.
3. It Develops Interaction and Communication Skills
Playing together helps students verbally communicate with each other and understand others’ verbal interactions and react accordingly. All these results contribute to their analytical and cognitive skills. They also learn to react and respond to the non-verbal language of their friends.
3. Play Helps in Building Confidence
Playtime helps build confidence in children and also develops a sense of community and belongingness. When they perform well in games and other play activities, they get a taste of accomplishment that helps develop their confidence. Playfully, children realise their inner strength and potential, and later become confident performers.
4. Play and Creativity are Interrelated
When children learn to play with new toys or interact with a new environment or peer groups, they automatically put their creativity and imagination to work. This helps them mould things according to their understanding and intelligence. This interrelation of play and creativity helps enhance children’s imagination. Children also learn how to solve a problem and plan activities for a better outcome.
How to Encourage Children to Participate in Physical Outdoor Activities?
Just making space for playful activities in the school curriculum is not enough to make the best use of this wonderful learning medium. Children have a shorter attention span. So games and play activities must be planned in such a way that they find them enjoyable and interesting rather than feeling pressured.
Let us see how we can encourage children to actively and willingly participate in different kinds of group or individual activities to help them explore their inner potential and skills.
- While children must know the goodness of technology, its overexposure can create a negative effect. So it is important to limit their screen time at home and in school. This will teach them to value time and how it is essential to balance all the activities.
- You must limit their indoor entertainment options. This can encourage them to spend more time playing with their friends outside. Furthermore, do not shower them with electronic toys and gadgets as and when they want. Rather giving them traditional toys like dolls, balls, kites, and cars will make them find new ways of playing with them, thereby sharpening their imagination.
- Everything is new and fresh for children. Allow them the time to play on their own, while you supervise. It helps them explore things and pick up basic life skills. Too much supervision around the clock will be adverse to their mental and social development.
- Encouraging outdoor activities will change your children’s play preferences for their good. Taking them to the nearby playgrounds or parks as often as possible will make them look forward to such sessions, thereby developing in them a love for outdoor activities. Let them understand the fun of playing in the open, and soon they will push you to take them out, to your surprise. Always make sure they play in safe areas and let them enjoy their time outside.
- And do not forget to dress the children properly so that they stay comfortable and happy during their play hours. While in school, the environment should be cool and pleasant for the kids to enjoy their physical activities. This can help them learn and grow.
Conclusion
Play helps to improve the imagination, creative skills of children and helps in attaining improved behavioural and emotional development. Nonetheless, it is true, that both at home and in school, more emphasis should be laid on play-oriented activities to help children attain holistic development in the most organised and instinctive manner.