the importance of play

At the Despair to Hope conference one of the first thing that Ana Gomez spoke about was the importance of play for children. I have been reading Tools of the Mind which shows why children learn best and most through play. It's a similar teaching method to Montessori, but has been proven to teach children self-control and cause and effect thinking by having the children have a "play plan" before they begin. If you're interested in learning more about it I recommend the book Nuture Shock, which I found to be very informative and it has a chapter dedicated to the teaching method. By the way, you don't need to be a teacher or to homeschool to implement the method it can be done with everyday play.

Back to where I began though... Ana spoke about how often children with attachment struggles are hyper-vigilant and show signs of ADHD. (Side note: did you know that at least 9% of school age children in the US are diagnosed with ADHD and less than .5% of French kids are diagnosed. My friend, Joanna sent me a fascinating article about it.) In the US most of the children diagnosed with ADHD are also medicated for it with psycho-stimulants which suppress play. Ana sited a study done on rats where the scientists held the rats back from playing for a time and then allowed them to begin again. Once they were allowed to play the rats played much more aggressively and seemed more frantic than they had before being restrained. The researchers believe that children who are held back from play (in one form or another) would do the same. So, a child on psycho-stimulants might look as though they were even less regulated once they were removed from medication for a time. One of the people attending the conference made a valid point about television and video games being a common play interruption for most children as well.

The same researchers continued with the study by adding the scent of a hare to the rats habitat. They found that the rats didn't play for hours because they were on hyper-allert. It's very common to see the same behavior in children that have not properly attached. They live in a constant state of fear and do not always learn to play properly and often need more intervention than their counterparts.  

So, what do we do with this information? 

I know I touched on this in a previous post, but we need to encourage productive play. Play that requires forethought and imagination is the most helpful so in our house we stick to traditional toys. *I am a huge fan of trains because they encourage kids to use their imagination and logic to build a track. (For some reason trains are typically considered boys toys, but my girls and my nieces all love them so don't rule them out for your girls), Legos and Lincoln Logs are great. Our girls have a doll house that they can play with for hours as well as baby dolls and stuffed animals which allow us to practice being gentle, kind and caring. We were recently gifted a set of magnetic blocks that have been wonderful for small hands because it allows them to build things they might not typically have the dexterity for.  Our kids love to use household things to play too. For instance, taking all the cushions off the couch and building a fort can last all afternoon. Our kids love to take the canned food in our house to create a pretend grocery store, they create their own signs and money and take turns playing in each of the roles. The possibilities are endless, but the key is really to keep our kids engaged in play. It's imperative to their brain development and growth. 

Like most things, you want to consider your child's emotional age and choose toys that are appropriate for that level. Second-hand stores, garage sales and craigslist are great for finding reasonably priced toys. 

If your stuck trying to think of specific way to encourage play for your kiddo please feel free to email me with your child's emotional age and I will track down some suggestions for you. 

*random information of the day: if you are investing in a new train set I would encourage you to avoid the train tables and allow your kids to build on the floor. The reason? Kids will crawl around to make their track and run the trains which allows them to use bi-lateral movements which means both sides of their brain is being engaged. Avoid electrical trains for the same reason.