Play Important for Child Development

by Jennifer Baker, guest writer

"WE USED TO HOP on the hogs and ride them around." "We played in the ditch behind my house." "My dad, my brother and I played catch after supper."

These were just a few of the responses I heard when I asked the men at our Good Dads Downtown Lunch what they did for fun as a child when they were 10 years old or younger. The answers varied, but quite a few of their responses involved unstructured play - the kind of activity not organized or arranged by an adult, not designed to train a child in a specific skill or aptitude. It was just fun.

Sadly, this kind of self-initiated play is disappearing from the American landscape, replaced with after-school tutoring, structured events and organized sports for children. Today, many middle- and upper-income parents are certain such actions are essential to their child's development. They exhaust themselves and their youngsters carting them from one prearranged activity to another, believing their efforts will give their child an edge in life.

Experts in child development warn this may not be the case. According to Dr. David Elkind, author of The Power of Play, "Self-initiated play (the kind kids make up for themselves) nourishes the child's curiosity, imagination and creativity, and these abilities are like muscles - if you don't use them, you lose them."

Dr. Rachel White, at Minnesota Children's Museum, notes, "While experts continue to expound a powerful argument for play, the actual time children spend playing continues to decrease."

Play has a vital role in developing our social skills, as well as those that are cognitive or intellectual. Some researchers suggest we are seeing a rise in children's mental disorders as opportunities for self-initiated play decline. Play is important to emotional development because it allows children a way to master their world, work out their feelings in an acceptable manner, and experience some sense of control. When children spend too much time indoors in front of a screen, they lose the opportunity and ability to develop interpersonal skills and abilities to sustain them later in life.

Good Dads lunches, podcasts, and e-newsletters will continue to explore ways dads can playfully interact with their children. (Moms can pick up some tips as well.) As a way of introduction to this important topic, consider the pointers below from The Power of Play that may be useful to you as a parent, grandparent, step-parent or parent figure.

* Support and encourage a child's self-initiated play activities.

* Join children in their play; let them take the lead in what to do.

* Take care in choosing a child's toys. Toys with multiple uses, for example, blocks, are good options because children use them in a variety of ways.

* Encourage dramatic play, especially with preschoolers who love costumes and "dress-up."

* Regularly read to children as a way to stimulate imagination and support healthy language learning.

* Play games with rules with school-age children to help them learn social skills, develop strategy, take calculated risks and learn skills of observation and evaluation. 

As the seasons come and go in your part of the world, I hope you'll make time to go outside and play with a child you love. It will do you both good.

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-- Dr. Jennifer L. Baker, a clinical psychologist, is the founder and director of Good Dads. She can be reached for question or comment at Jennifer@gooddads.com. This material first appeared in the Springfield (MO) News-Leader, March 28, 2017. (Used with permission.)