Parenting & Play – national parenting week

“Research in neuroscience, developmental psychology and paediatrics has clearly shown that the first few years of a child's life is significant in terms of health, learning and life success.”

How does play influence a child's development and relationship with their parent?

Play stimulates children as they grow and is an important component of their education & learning. We start to play with children from birth. Children need to hear us singing nursery rhymes, reading simple stories, smiling and stimulating their world.

Why? - Children reshape and take in material from the external world, enabling them to form internal representations of reality. Play h elps children express feeling & emotions – learning about expectations of others, about themselves and practicing the skill of self control. Children's play is usually more creative and less imitative when it grows out of their daily lives. When adults value play the child's self-worth and esteem increases, especially when there is a focus on process rather than the end result. Repetition is an important part of play. Adults tire after the third request of more, but children need repetition to develop skills needed to achieve the task. Sometimes it is hard for us to do it over & over again but think of the benefits to the child! Watch children play and see them tell us their story.

Toys are infinitely adaptable and can take on meanings other than those originally identified. Blocks become cars. Play is a dynamic activity allowing children to encounter aspects of the world that are not part of their daily lives and to rehearse, interpret, and try out new meanings of complex social relations.

Through a child's eyes - I need to explore my environment, I like to try and do the same things that the people around me do. I watch and listen all the time. But I need time to play alone, along side and with others, as I get older. I need TIME to discover, experiment and practice.

Rebecca Ferbrache
First Steps Parenting Centre, Hunter New England Health Service