|
 Play is Important!
Andrea Longenecker, LSW
Assistant Program Manager, Early Childhood
Recently, emphasis has been on children knowing their colors, shapes, letters and numbers. As the academic trend grows in early childhood, our children are loosing play time. Play is being replaced with flash cards and new products geared towards teaching babies how to read. However, play and playing with children can teach colors, shapes, and so much more! We need to remember that a child’s job is to play. Playing fosters brain development and teaches a child problem solving, creativity, social skills; it fosters self discovery and interests. When play is led by the child not the adult (they set the tone and theme of the play) a parent has the opportunity to not only build a stronger more positive bond with the child but also model some very important skills.
 What you can do:
- Allow your child to continue to do something “wrong” and don’t take over to show the child the “right” way to do it.
- Play along with fantasy play- you might feel silly but your child won’t judge you!
- Describe what your child is doing using descriptive words- narrate their actions it’s a story that they are in the process of writing.
- Teach positive self talk and persistence, encourage them to “keep trying” and “don’t give up” when they are doing something new or challenging.
- Model the words to use when they want something, or are trying to solve a problem- “you look sad, you really wanted to play with that, what can you say?” if your child is young you will want to give them the words they need to say.
- Use descriptive words in every day activities- talk about the colors of objects, what they are doing; they are fast, slow, etc.
Remember, they’re kids, have fun and enjoy the moments we have with them!
|
Common Counseling Myths
