In this video, experts explain that play gives children different sensory, physical and cognitive experiences. Raising Children Network Australia.
transcribeTranscript
Narrator (Catherine Sewell, play specialist): Play is so important for children and it’s not just a flippant thing that they do on the side of their real development. Play is their development. So, on one hand it brings lots of joy and connection to family and to other children and for themselves, which, of course, is so important, but on top of that there’s a whole lot of other development that’s happening. So, within their brains there’s all these amazing connections being made neurologically as they’re playing, and then physically through their bodies all the way from the fine motor skills, they’re using their hands, but also their gross motor and their physical muscle development and their core strength, and then all of the social and emotional connections that children learn and practise while they’re playing with others.
So, if I was going to describe how the brain develops and how it relates to play, I might start by saying there’s all these kind of separate points in the brain, a bit like a night sky. So, we’ve got all these stars all over the brain and, when we experience something, a connection is made between these points, and the more often we experience that thing, the stronger those connections are, and you can see that in the way that children repeat things naturally during play, and that’s because developmentally their brains are making that connection nice and strong.
And those connections are made in all sorts of ways. So, they’re made by learning physical things, you know, as we learn to walk and talk, but also they’re made by social and emotional connections, so how we relate to other people and how we relate to love or how we relate to fear. Those connections become strong too.
And then after about the age of 8, what happens is the tree prunes itself. So, the connections that weren’t very strong that we haven’t used much in our life so far, those ones start to fall away, and we’re left with just the strong branches, and those strong branches become the basis of our adult brain, and the way that relates to play is that play is like fireworks going off in the brain on a sensory level, on a cognitive level, on a physical level. So, there’s a lot of firing happening in the brain at the same time, so we’re getting optimal brain development while children are playing.
How play helps children develop
One of the most important things you can do to support your child's development is to build a positive relationship through playful interactions.
The Importance Of Attachment In Babies
Play builds muscles
Play that gets your child moving builds muscle strength as well as gross motor skills and fine motor skills.
Play creates opportunities
The time you spend playing together gives your child lots of different ways and opportunities to learn.
Play should be interactive as well as self-directed
Pēpe and tamariki thrive on interactions and engaged play but also need opportunities for self-directed play and exploration.
Play helps your child's brain
During the first years of your child's life, it is play, not scheduled instruction that contributes the most to their brain development. When your child plays, it gives them lots of different ways and times to learn.
Play helps your child find their place in the world
Play is how your child works out who they are, how the world works and where they fit into it.
Play develops with your child
As your child grows, the way they play will change – they will get more creative and experiment more with toys, games and ideas. This might mean they need more space and time to play. Tamariki also move through different forms of play as they grow. This includes playing alone, playing alongside other tamariki and playing interactively with other tamariki.
Useful resources on the importance of play for children
Raising Children is an Australian Government-funded website that provides evidence-based tips and tools for everyday parenting from pregnancy to teens. The website has some useful information on how play can help your child as well as practical tips on play activities. See the following pages for more information.
The Brainwave Trust is a New Zealand charity that aims to provide parents with information on what is happening inside babies' brains in the first critical years, and how this impacts on adulthood.
Brainwave senior researcher Keryn O'Neill explores how play provides a wonderful opportunity to learn in her article 'Learning is child's play'.
