Children Need to Play

Children need to play for their cognitive, social and emotional development.

‘Play is the child’s language and the toys are their words’... 

For children, play is a stage for real life.

“They practice what they see, imitating in a very safe way what they see adults doing, what’s done in society — the cultural ways.

They need play to express their feelings in a safe way. They can do in fantasy what’s not allowed in reality.”

A child with strong feelings of jealousy towards a new sibling... “They might play ‘hurting’ and ‘binning’ the baby and it’s safe to do it... They’re only playing it out, so guilt is alleviated and there are no consequences... They get their tension out safely,” ‘we wouldn’t really do that in real life, but it’s okay to play it out’...And it’s important for fostering a positive parent/child relationship. 

“Parents/ Teachers who join their child in play have a unique opportunity to step into and experience the child in their world... So often, it’s the other way around —we’re asking children to adapt to our world.”