Why Do Children Need Active Play?
It's easy to see why kids these days are often too involved with watching television or playing on the computer
. It's what many of the adults in their lives do as well.The problem is that children need to engage in active play as a part of their development. It helps build physical, social, intellectual and emotional skills. It's also simply fun.
It's easy to tell yourself that you're doing well by your child to give access to educational television programs and computer games. There's even some truth to that at appropriate ages. But these cannot take the place of what is learned and accomplished with active play. It's a different kind of learning than what is done on a screen.
Active play builds both large and small motor skills, for example. There's a lot of skill that goes into something eventually as simple as catching a gently tossed ball. Just think how difficult it is for a toddler to play catch at first. But eventually the skill is learned and balls are caught.
Active play also allows children to increase their agility, coordination, balance and overall physical fitness.
There are a number of ways to make active play more appealing to children, but it all comes down to providing opportunities to be active. Have age appropriate toys available to play with. Get a swing set if one is in your budget, or head out to the park regularly if it's not. Provide a bicycle, scooter, skateboard or roller skates as they become appropriate, and make the time to teach your child to use each one.
You can also help your child participate in a sport. It may take time to find the right one, and it might not be the one either of you thought it would be at first. It might be a team sport such as baseball or soccer, or it could be something requiring individual achievement, such as martial arts.
Any of these will help to keep your child active. This helps with overall health and provides great opportunities for building friendships with other kids.
Active play doesn't have to be outdoors, although that's the easiest place for most of it. Younger children can do things like ride a rocking horse indoors. Older kids can play games such as Hyper Dash that keep them moving. It's good to have alternatives for those days that the weather isn't cooperating with outdoor active play.
Naturally, your own activities will encourage or discourage your child as well. If you don't get out and get active ever, why should your child? You aren't giving them a reason to do so. It may take a bit, but you may enjoy the active time as well.
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