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Children develop during the first five years of their lives more than at any other time.
That's why they’re called the foundation years – the building blocks for life. As parents,
you play a huge part in boosting your child’s development and learning in the early
years through play.
It’s very easy to become focussed on your child meeting milestones, but don’t forget
about the importance of everyday play and fun.
On this page
Why is play so important?
How to get the most out of playtime
The Three ‘Rs’
Tips for playing with babies
Tips for playing with a toddler
Tips for playing with a young child
Toys and games
Play has so many benefits for all children. It’s an opportunity for them to enjoy, explore
and express themselves. It doesn’t always need to have a purpose or be organised, it
can be flexible, fluid and reactive. Allowing your child to initiate and lead their play
helps them to become more motivated, independent and innovative thinkers and
learners. It helps them to better understand or master what they’re learning and make
connections between the different things they’re learning, and it boosts their
confidence and competence when they come across that learning again. In some cases,
too much adult-led activity or ‘teaching’ can actually result in children being turned off
learning.
If your child uses hearing aids or cochlear implants, try to make sure that they use them
as consistently as possible so that your child won’t miss out on opportunities to hear
and learn from the language you’re using with them while you play together.
When your child has additional needs, such as deafness, it’s easy for parents and family
members to feel like they need to help the child with everything they do. Play is a safe
environment for your child to take risks, make mistakes and learn their own coping
strategies for tasks they will face as they get older. Allowing time for mistakes during
playtime will help your child develop independence and confidence.
Individual play is just as important for children as playing with others. It allows your
child time to explore objects and discover how it relates to their environment. There
isn’t a correct way to play with a toy. For example, you might see a child banging a
plastic phone onto a drum. Although this isn’t its intended use, the child is exploring
sound and movement which is essential for their learning.
Try to follow your child’s lead and join in with them while they’re playing, so that you’re
both enjoying playtime together. Let them choose toys to play with rather than
choosing for them. This will give you both the best chance to have two-way
communication as you read or play together. Two-way communication builds a child’s
language, confidence and social skills.
Playtime can also really help your communication as a family. If you’re learning a new
language, such as British Sign Language (BSL) or encouraging a hearing brother or sister
to maintain eye contact when speaking, play creates a fun environment to practise
this.”
Rhyme: Singing poems and nursery rhymes are a fun way for children to practise
controlling their voices, both in terms of volume and frequency (also known as
pitch). It will also help them to recognise the intonation (the rise and fall of the
voice) used in spoken language.
Rhythm: Songs and playing with instruments can both help your child recognise
rhythm. This supports the foundation skills needed to develop language e.g. beats
on a drum, pat-a-cake and clapping. Things may get loud!
Repetition: Repeating songs and nursery rhymes is important to reinforce
language development and improve your child’s ability to take in information that
is presented out loud, process it, retain it and then recall it (auditory memory). Be
prepared to share the same book over and over – children love and need
repetition!
Go to Becky’s blog to read examples of role-play games she plays with Kenzie.
Make Time 2 Play is a not-for-profit campaign helping to give a little inspiration so that
everyone can make time to play.