Resources for Emphasizing the Importance of Play on May 28’s World Play Day

On Thursday, May 28, families and educators will have the opportunity to emphasize the role that play has in children’s development as part of the global World Play Day celebration.

Resources

Play helps children to develop social skills, emphasizes creativity, improves language, and builds problem-solving skills. It improves children’s well-being and helps with brain development.

ELRC Region 5’s quality partner, Trying Together, has a Playful Resources Series includes a number of articles on how play can help children become interested in various topics (such as science), aid with social and cognitive development, and improve decision-making skills.

Some of the articles included in the series include:

• What to Know About Brain Science and Guided Play

• The Value of Play for Young Children

• How Play Helps Adults Build Focus and Decision-making Skills

• The Role of Play in Child Development and Learning

• 40 Reasons Why Play is Crucial for Brain Development

The Importance of Play

In a resource titled The Importance of Play, PA Promise for Children notes that play is as important to a child’s development as work is for an adult. Play teaches children new skills and how to share with others. It also helps them to make decisions and learn about the world as well as work through scary and confusing experiences.

The American Academy of Pediatrics notes that play should be child-driven - not adult-directed - and that it is important for young people to have independent time away from TV, tablets, and video games for the sake of using their minds and keeping their bodies in good health.

PA Promise for Children writes that encouraging open-ended play can help children score higher in reading and math tests. A lack of play, on the other hand, can lead to childhood obesity, stress, aggression, and a lack of creativity or imagination.

Types of play that should be encouraged include:

• Large and small-motor play

• Language play (telling stories, making up silly songs)

• Construction play (building things)

• Sensory play (in mud or water)

• Make-believe play

• Rough-and-tumble and risk-taking play

• Symbolic play (turning a stick into a magic wand, for example)

• Mastery play (learning to do new things)

PA Promise for Children’s The Importance of Play article can be found on its website.