{"id":70648,"date":"2023-11-09T23:10:31","date_gmt":"2023-11-10T04:10:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?p=70648"},"modified":"2023-11-09T23:10:31","modified_gmt":"2023-11-10T04:10:31","slug":"why-do-young-children-want-to-play-with-their-parents-so-much","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/why-do-young-children-want-to-play-with-their-parents-so-much\/","title":{"rendered":"Why do young children want to play with their parents so much?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Younger children love to ask their parents to play.\u00a0But when we are very busy, it is often difficult to make ourselves available.<\/p>\n

Between managing the household, working and finding a little time for themselves, parents don’t have much leeway or energy to play princesses and dragons or soccer ninjas.<\/p>\n

However, these moments of family play are very important, here is how to approach them and let the children take the initiative.<\/p>\n

How play contributes to children’s development<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Children love to play.\u00a0For them, it is not only a way to have fun, it is also their\u00a0main way of discovering the world<\/a>\u00a0.<\/p>\n

There are many types of games.\u00a0For example, it might involve manipulating objects, like playdough.\u00a0It can also be an imaginary game, where children pretend to be moms, dads or babies.<\/span><\/p>\n

In play, children use their environment to imagine and create another world.\u00a0A block becomes a telephone, a table a house and a garden the home of a dragon.<\/span><\/p>\n

Keeping an imaginary theme in mind and creating a sequence of actions and appropriate language to implement it requires considerable intellectual effort.\u00a0Children then perform better than when they are engaged in other activities\u00a0<\/span>that they do not direct<\/span><\/a>\u00a0.<\/span><\/p>\n

Through play, children learn to test their hypotheses and solve the problems they encounter.\u00a0Parents will notice that children’s scenarios are usually about the world they live in.\u00a0This is why they pretend to be families, pets or even other everyday figures such as shopkeepers, doctors or nurses.<\/span><\/p>\n

These themes may seem banal (or even boring) to parents.\u00a0Yet for children, they are exciting opportunities to explore their world, discover the different roles they see around them, and bring together ideas learned in varied contexts into play.<\/span><\/p>\n

An asset for concentration and emotional skills<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Children are often considered to have short attention spans.\u00a0Yet in play\u00a0<\/span>they can follow an idea<\/span><\/a>\u00a0they have chosen for longer than when participating in adult-led activities.<\/span><\/p>\n

Developing the ability to maintain attention on this idea in play and ignore other stimuli strengthens the\u00a0<\/span>child’s capacity for self-regulation<\/span><\/a>\u00a0.<\/span><\/p>\n

Self-regulation<\/span><\/a>\u00a0\u2013 the ability to control one’s emotions and actions \u2013 is important in learning, in school, and socially and emotionally.<\/span><\/p>\n

Play is also\u00a0<\/span>central to language development<\/span><\/a>\u00a0.\u00a0It allows children to use the words and ideas they hear in their daily lives and experience them in imaginary environments.\u00a0While playing, they can talk to themselves to guide their thinking.<\/span><\/p>\n

The role of adults in play<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Children aged approximately 18 months to 8 years want to play with their parents.\u00a0The latter are the center of their universe, until their attention is focused more and more on their comrades.<\/span><\/p>\n

They want to do it because it contributes to their learning and development.\u00a0Parents\u00a0<\/span>can anticipate<\/span><\/a>\u00a0their child’s thinking and create common sense in a way that peers of the same age are not capable of.\u00a0The meaning that is shared allows the game to continue and makes it more interesting.<\/span><\/p>\n

The role of a parent is to help their child play.\u00a0This means it is important for adults to let children make decisions.\u00a0Parents can initiate play, make suggestions or provide props.\u00a0But for the activity to be considered \u201cplay,\u201d it is the children who must make the decisions and provide direction.<\/span><\/p>\n

Research shows that<\/span><\/a>\u00a0when an adult tries to control play, children become distracted and quickly lose interest.<\/span><\/p>\n

Play is not instruction (it is not about teaching your child how to do something).\u00a0We’ve all experienced situations where people talked to us, where people didn’t talk to us, and we probably had a lot more difficulty concentrating.<\/span><\/p>\n

Children\u00a0<\/span>need this control<\/span><\/a>\u00a0because in play they are operating at exactly the level at which they are best able to learn.\u00a0Suggestions from an adult or older child, however, can take the child’s play to a higher level.\u00a0This then becomes more intellectually stimulating than if the child played alone or with his peers.<\/span><\/p>\n

How often to play with your child?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

On almost every aspect of their day \u2013 when to get up, when to go to sleep, what to eat \u2013 children must follow adults’ instructions.\u00a0Having regular play time where they lead, decide on an activity and how it goes, gives them power and a sense of control over their lives.<\/span><\/p>\n

My work as a professional teacher and early childhood scholar has shown me that when parents \u2013 especially those who are concerned about their child’s behavior \u2013 spend more than 30 minutes a day (or every other day ) to these exchanges in the form of play, they notice that their child is happier and is more easily guided in other aspects of their life.\u00a0Their relationship is also strengthened.<\/span><\/p>\n

Not every parent can achieve this.\u00a0But\u00a0<\/span>finding regular play time<\/span><\/a>\u00a0when you can is worth it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Parents who play with their children may find that it provides a valuable window into their children’s thinking, interests, and world.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you want to take part in the game, do it fully.\u00a0Put your phone away \u2013 and sit on the floor or follow your child wherever they play.\u00a0This will show your child that you really want to participate.\u00a0And perhaps after these special moments, children will more easily accept that their parents also take time to themselves.<\/span><\/p>\n

Author Bio:<\/strong> Victoria Whitington is Associate Professor in Education Futures (Adjunct) at the University of South Australia<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Younger children love to ask their parents to play.\u00a0But when we are very busy, it is often difficult to make ourselves available. Between managing the household, working and finding a little time for themselves, parents don’t have much leeway or energy to play princesses and dragons or soccer ninjas. However, these moments of family play […]\n… learn more→<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[434229],"tags":[295333],"coauthors":[11733],"class_list":["post-70648","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-parenting","tag-playing"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhy do young children want to play with their parents so much? - World leading higher education information and services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/why-do-young-children-want-to-play-with-their-parents-so-much\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why do young children want to play with their parents so much? - World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Younger children love to ask their parents to play.\u00a0But when we are very busy, it is often difficult to make ourselves available. 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