How important is play?

photo credit Jeremyiah

Parents and teachers will have been indoctrinated into the concept of play as a learning tool. It is important (we are told) for young children to have play-time in order to develop – gross motor skills, fine motor skills, social skills and an understanding of how to world works. Children who have been deprived of this opportunity (think of the terrible plight of Romanian orphans in the 1980s) have significant deficits in both their older childhood and their adulthood. Not to say that these things can’t be overcome, but the experiences of the child at an age when their brain connections are still forming can set the dominant and used connections for life. It’s pretty tough for an old brain to learn new tricks (connections).

For first-world parents, of course, this translates into guilt. Are you providing the right kind of play experiences? Are you providing the right kind of educational toys? Is your child hitting all of their milestones at the right time? Ka-ching, Ka-ching – the multinational toy companies know what you are thinking and they know how to press your buttons! (Click here for suggestions of the sorts of toys from which children really benefit. )

However a couple of recent articles have indicated how ingrained the concept of play is, and how it has played a survival function in evolution. Leading “play studies” scientist (there’s another job I want!) and author of Play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul, Stuart Brown theorises that evolution favours those animals that are able to produce additional superfluous neural connections (eg through play) – connections that just might come in handy some time. Play keeps the brain flexible and helps it to think laterally and problem-solve. It helps you to develop courage and confidence to try new thinks

Author and former Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado, Dr Marc Bekoff says animals have rules about when and how to play. The rules are as follows:

1.Everyone must want to play.
2.Everyone has to cooperate — they work together — to keep the game from becoming fighting. (NOte to my children: wild animals know the difference between playing and fighting…..)
3.Everyone needs to communicate and pay attention to each other’s movements, sounds and smells.

Put that way, it’s obvious what benefit a senseless and trivial activity like play must have for animals – and humans. Play behaviour has been observed in mammals, reptiles, insects and fish – and probably other categories of animals as well.

The second play article that crossed my desk in the last two days is about starving polar bears playing with a sled dog (as opposed to eating it). As well as featuring a video link of starving wild polar bears playing with sled dogs, this article also refers to evidence that animals that play tend to live longer and pass on their genes. (Of course it is also possible that animals that play are more attractive to the opposite sex….. but that’s just my take on things, not anything scientifically based!)

Play Scientist Stuart Brown’s book is available here: Play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul

Interested in Neuroscience? Can I recommend the following book by UK neuroscientist Baroness Susan Greenfield: Tomorrow’s People: How 21st-Century Technology Is Changing the Way We Think and Feel

No batteries required!

photo credit Saaleha

My children are approaching teenagerhood and increasingly over the last few years, their Christmas and birthday wish lists have been populated by the latest electronic gadgets. On the other hand, there really isn’t anything they want for. They are well fed, well clothed and have the basic sporting and other equipment, so anything they are going to want is very much in the discretionary realm. It actually becomes difficult to find something for them that isn’t either wasting money, or supplementing their already advanced screens-addiction. Unfortunately they are well past the age when they are more interested in playing with the box it came in than the present itself.

However I remember when they were young I read a list of basic developmental toys for children. Playtime is learning time for small children, and the toys and equipment they need for this basic development is generally not very expensive and easily accessed. And no batteries required!

1. Building blocks. Children love to build things, see how things fit together, or just generally learn about gravity. One of the best games for very small children is for the parent or caregiver to build a tower and then the child knocks it over, scattering blocks everywhere. Hysterical fun that can be played over and over again! Great for fine (building) and gross (knocking over) motor skills as well as logic.

2. Dress-up clothes. These do not have to be costumes. Hand-me downs and unwanted clean clothing from parents are fine, but particularly hats, sunglasses, shoes and anything a bit showy. If you really don’t have anything, second-hand stores often have a range of clothing and accessories at reasonable prices. Children like to learn about other people by play-acting them – and some of the stereotypes can be hilarious, particularly if it is you they are acting out!

3. Books. There is evidence that shows that the number of books in a household influences the literacy level of the child. Now that is probably at least in part because a house with a lot of books means parents are literate and value reading, and probably read in front of the child.

4. Musical instrument. Yes, I know, shudder. As if they aren’t loud enough already. Who hasn’t been tormented by the toddler with a toy drum banging and banging for hours on end? But a variety of toy musical instruments can teach a child cause and effect, rhythm, and can help them learn to tune in to different sounds and pitches, and a range of other things. That’s why they like them! This can be simple as a rattle or shaker, a toy recorder, a toy drum or toy piano.

5. Bath toys. Learning confidence in water and learning to work with water (pouring, filling up cups, squirting) can aid with fine motor skills, sensory perceptions and an understanding of the properties of liquids. They are also enormous fun and a great way to distract them while you get them clean.

photo credit Steven Depolo

6. Puzzles. This can range from nesting cups, to fitting shapes blocks into corresponding holes,to jigsaw puzzles (appropriate for age). This teaches fine motor skills, spatial awareness and logic. Many of these things are available from second-hand toy shops.

7. Dolls & stuffed animals. Important for play-acting. Children often work out social relationships and interactions by play-acting them. Access to dolls and stuffed toys to “people” the action is important. Be careful of second-hand stuffed toys, they can be a haven for disease (pre-sucked and pre-chewed!)

8. Cars and balls. Teach children about motion and prediction. (The famous experiment of rolling a toy car behind a piece of cardboard and watching as the baby moves its eyes to the other side of the cardboard waiting for the car to re-emerge). Also great for gross and fine motor skills.

9. Ride-ons. Ranging from little plastic ride-ons to bikes, dependent on age and skill level. Good for gross motor skills, strength, fitness, balance and coordination. Also great fun, but make sure they are wearing helmets as soon as they graduate to a bike.

10. Arts and crafts. Can be as simple as paints or coloured pencils, and paper. The stationary department of your local store is always a great place to find things to keep children occupied and entertained, while they practice their fine motor skills, planning and creating, and maybe come up with a masterpiece for you!

Bonus! Well I wanted a list of ten, but I have suddenly remembered another favourite from childhood – bubbles! Who can forget the excited shrieks of the child who sees bubbles for the first time? A simple bubble loop and washing up liquid can create enormous fun, so long as you (or the child) have the puff to keep them going! try to do it outdoors though – that bubble mix goes somewhere when the bubbles pop, and when you have a sticky dirty mess on the floor you will know where that somewhere is!

(I’ll add my usual disclaimer – I am not a child development expert, the information presented here should be considered as pointers only, and I encourage you to do your own research if you want to know more about child development.)