#loubilou

Written by Linda Firth

How important is play? Is it just an opportunity to ‘mess about’ and have fun, or is there more to it than that? Well, according to the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights, play is a birthright of every child.

Children learn through using all five of their senses – touching, tasting, seeing, hearing, and smelling, so opportunities for learning are everywhere! By playing, they are developing their manual dexterity, their physical and emotional strengths, and cognitive skills. The roots of social skills are also planted in childhood play – sharing, resolving conflicts, and negotiation are all crucial skills needed throughout life.

But the value of playing is even more far-reaching than that. It increases confidence and reduces stress and anxiety, too.

There is something of a paradox when it comes to an adult’s role in play for little ones. Obviously with a small baby, adult input is needed – they need to be shown things which will engage them, but at the same time it is unstructured play which fires toddlers’ and older children’s imaginations and allows for the optimum learning experience. So we, as parents/caregivers need to be present and facilitate play and learning by supplying the materials and a helping hand, while at the same time take a back seat and only join in when we’re invited.

Absolutely anything will attract the attention of a baby once they start to take notice of their surroundings, but until they are mobile they need those things brought to them or vice versa.

 Babies

 Bright colours and different sounds will spark an interest in the smallest of babies, so this Lamaze Play & Grow Jacques The Peacock, for instance, ticks all the right boxes. Not only is it brightly coloured, but the colours are highly contrasted, which is important for a baby’s visual development. Once a baby is old enough to grasp, or even just feel, an object, Jacques has a variety of textures for those fine motor skills, as well as different sounds, such as squeaking and crinkling, to stimulate their hearing.

 Toddlers

 Children love repetition and familiarity, so choosing a toy which grows with your child will give them a sense of comfort, but will also allow them to discover more and more things as their skills develop. Stacking cubes have always been a firm favourite with babies and toddlers, and the more these cubes can teach, the better. Some cubes only have letters or numbers on them, but when you combine several learning opportunities at once, you’re onto a winner. These stacking cubes have so many advantages it’s hard to know where to start. Firstly, they’re made from a robust cardboard, meaning they are strong but lightweight – no more sore toes as the blocks fall! But their real beauty lies in the many designs incorporated in them. Farm animals, forest animals, animals living in a tree, numbers, patterns, and colours all present opportunities for learning.

 3+

 As they get older, children can start to hone their fine motor skills through play. For children over the age of three, learning to ‘sew’ is a fantastic exercise in those skills. Of course, using a real needle and thread is not a good idea, but the same skills can be learned safely using this Threading Block – the holes are all cut at different angles, encouraging the child to move the ‘needle’ around and find out which direction they need to go in order to thread the leather cord through.

 Older Children

 Of course, not all play and learning takes place indoors. Any trip is a learning experience for children – a trip to the shops, for example, becomes an opportunity for letter and number recognition (food names and aisle numbers), simple maths, healthy eating habits (by talking about why fruit is better than cakes, or why we should be eating our 5-a-day). Outside, cars can be colour sorted, or numbers on buses recognised. If you are lucky enough to have access to woods, or even better if you have trees in your garden, there are a wealth of play and learning opportunities available. An age old game which has endured throughout the years is that of building a den. Can you remember the joy of constructing your own space? It didn’t matter that the rain still got in, or that there were ants climbing all over you – you built it and therefore it was great! For older kids (or younger with more adult input) this PL-UG Den Building Kit makes it just a little easier to make something that will last a little bit longer! Children will not only benefit from the fresh air, but they will also be fine tuning their dexterity, learning about shape and size sorting when collecting appropriate sticks for building with, and burning off energy while running around looking for materials.

The world is their classroom and provides rich and vibrant resources for learning, and as Albert Einstein once said (and he would know), “Play is the highest form of research”.