Play is important for preschoolers because it allows them to explore and learn about the world around them. It encourages creativity and imagination and helps young children make sense of their experiences. Unstructured, free play can be social or solitary and is a critical component of young children’s development. While children are playing, they’re learning about the world around them. Kids use play to develop their growing bodies and fine motor skills. They may pretend to be like mom or dad. For example, pretending to make dinner, writing a story, or taking care of a baby doll. In this blog article, we’ll share about the importance of play and give you 10 benefits of free play.
- What Is Play-Based Learning for Kids?
- Play in Early Childhood: The Role of Play in Any Setting
- What Is the Difference Between Free Play and Play-Based Learning?
- 10 Benefits of Free Play Activities: Importance of Play in Early Childhood
- Free Play Activities for Preschoolers
- Final Word – The Importance of Free Play for Preschoolers
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What Is Play-Based Learning for Kids?
Play-based learning is an early childhood education method that focuses on structured, adult-led play.
This type of play typically has an objective or end goal in mind and often includes learning centers. A play-based curriculum allows children to practice their skills through adult-directed play activities.
Play in Early Childhood: The Role of Play in Any Setting
Check out this informative video about how children learn through play.
A play-based classroom is generally structured around several learning centers that are split up by different skills, such as:
- Reading
- Writing
- Building
- Science
- Music
- Art
- Dramatic Play
- Math
RELATED: 80+ Super Fun Hands-On Preschool Learning Activities
What Is the Difference Between Free Play and Play-Based Learning?
What Is Free Play?
Even though free play is sometimes equated with play-based learning, it isn’t the same thing.
Free play is unstructured and allows children freedom to explore their environment. This helps your child learn about the world around them through open-ended activities, such as pretending to be superheroes, making up their own games, or baking a pretend cake.
Play-Based Learning
Play-based learning (or, “structured play”) is adult-led. The teacher directs the play for a student, and it is likely to be linked to a skill or benchmark that will be evaluated in the future.
Children may move about to different learning centers and play with manipulatives or other resources provided to them, but the activities are structured to educate the child.
10 Benefits of Free Play Activities: Importance of Play in Early Childhood
1. Real-World Skills
As children play, they develop important skills that will be useful in their lives. For example, children use play to discover how things work and how similar and different objects are from one another. They also practice basic math and reading skills during playtime.
Or, preschoolers might pretend to hire a contractor while playing at home or school. Kids also begin learning important skills such as sharing and taking turns.
2. Social Development
As preschoolers develop socially, they learn to get along with others better. They can try out different roles and relationships and practice skills like cooperation and compromise (giving up something they want so that someone else can have it).
For example, a young girl might pretend to be a preschool teacher teaching her students, or a mommy caring for her baby.
3. Language Development and Practice
Pretend play helps young children practice language skills. For example, children playing house might use their imagination to create new words for everyday objects. Pretending also encourages preschoolers to take on different perspectives and see the world from someone else’s point of view.
Play is an important activity for children because it helps them learn language skills like turn-taking, following directions, using terms like “stop” or “wait”, asking questions, and more. One example of this is a group of preschoolers playing a game of “Simon Says.”
4. Adapting to Change
As children play, they also learn how to adapt and change what they’re doing when things don’t go as expected. Developing resilience is important for kids as they face new challenges and learning experiences.
They’ll learn to solve problems and come up with easier ways of doing things. For example, they might pretend that their toy car won’t fit through a tunnel or that the puzzle pieces don’t fit together and then come up with a solution to solve their problem.
5. Impulse Control
Pretend play helps children better control their impulses and learn how to make good choices. Play gives the child many opportunities to learn to play by the rules, make choices, and solve problems. As they play, children learn how to balance what they want with what others want.
For example, children might play store and role-play impulse buying choices or play house where everyone has different ideas about how things should be done. A crucial life skill is learning how to collaborate and control your actions
6. Self-Expression and Emotional Intelligence
Pretending is a way kids can show their emotions and understand other people’s feelings as well. These experiences help the child develop emotional intelligence, or the ability to understand other people’s emotions.
For example, children might pretend that they’re sad or angry and act out how they would feel in that situation.
7. Imagination and Creativity
Play encourages children to use their imaginations and creativity. For example, a child might pretend that their stuffed animals are real or build a new house out of blocks.
Play also helps kids learn to express themselves creatively through the things they choose to play with, how they act during play, and how they choose to share their play with others. They might pretend that their toys are alive or become different animals while playing.
RELATED: Sensory Play Benefits And 10 Simple Sensory Activities For Your Preschooler
8. Cognitive Development
Play helps preschoolers develop important cognitive skills like problem-solving, critical thinking skills, understanding cause and effect, learning rules, and more.
A group of kids might pretend that they’re going on a safari and must figure out how to keep their stuffed animals safe from dangerous animals.
9. Gross Motor Development
One of the more obvious benefits of preschool play is the development of physical skills through gross motor activities. These are large body movements, such as running, jumping, skipping, and galloping.
Young children enjoy practicing their gross motor skills in a variety of ways, including climbing on playground equipment and seeing how high they can jump off the ground.
10. Fine Motor Development
As young children grow, they continue to develop fine motor skills. Fine motor activities are the small movements children make with their hands and fingers. They may color or pretend to cook with tiny kitchen utensils like wooden spoons and rubber spatulas.
Free Play Activities for Preschoolers
All children need time for free play, which is the young child’s favorite way to learn. Free play allows the child freedom to choose their activities without adult direction.
The AAP acknowledges the importance of play and recommends children get a minimum of 1 hour of unstructured free play each day.
Some examples of free play activities include:
- Playing make-believe
- Looking at books they love
- Dressing up in costumes
- Creating art with crayons, glue, paint, sequins, etc.
- Playing with dolls, action figures, puppets, or toy animals
- Building things out of blocks or Legos
- Using sand and water tables
- Gardening in a child-sized garden bed
- Riding tricycles, scooters, skates, and bikes
- Playing games they create
Final Word – The Importance of Free Play for Preschoolers
Play is a critical component of preschoolers’ development. When you provide your child with opportunities to play, they are learning about the world around them and their own growing bodies. They use pretend skills that they learn from playing to explore what it means to be an adult or friend.
As parents, we can help our children by providing engaging books, toys, and games, and art supplies for them at home as well as encouraging social interactions outside of the house through preschools or playgroups, if possible. With these tools available, young children will have more chances than ever before to develop their creativity and imagination while exploring how different people live throughout the world!
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What do you think about the importance of play? What methods have you discovered to encourage your child’s play? Share them below!
