Parents can get pretty busy. Our world is a whirlwind filled with schedules and constant deadlines. Make sure you are taking time out for a simple but important pleasure with your kids: PLAYING. This doesn't mean you have to always entertain them or even have company over for them everyday or even signing them up for every single thing possible to enrich their whole being of a "perfect child." Take a breather here and there to monitor their playtime and implement unscheduled time for them to just be a "kid."
Playing with Others
If you are wondering if it's OK for your child to be perfectly
happy playing with play dough by herself, don't fret. It's not
a big deal. In fact, it's perfectly normal to stand back and
watch others interact. Most toddlers aren't into social
behavior until the age of two or three. Check out this handy
checklist and relax.
Birth to Age 15 Months
Repetition play helps
the child to learn about her world. Dropping an object is one
of the most common games. Even a six-month old will drop
something and watch to see if someone will pick it up. If it
does get picked up, it delivers pure delight when she gets to
drop it over and over until someone stops picking it up. While
it may drive many of us nuts, it is an excellent way to help
the child gain control over her immediate environment while
mastering a new skill.
Age 15 Months to 2 Years
Observing others
but not participating is often referred to as the onlooker
stage. This is common among all children. Playing by themselves
is called solitary play. Here they just play by themselves.
While older kids do this as well, it is not as popular as
actually engaging in activities unless the child is reserved
(which most parents refer to as being "shy.") Whether observing
or playing, both help the child learn how to get along with
others, building social skills while exposing them to
language.
Ages 2 to 3 Years
Most older toddlers play
side by side but are not really playing. This is called
parallel play. There may not be any real interaction but it
still provides a perfect chance to begin learning what belongs
to whom…but mostly "mine." As they watch others and maybe
dress up while pretending to pour and serve a drink, they are
experiencing their first taste of role-playing. All of this
helps develop gross motor skills as well as some fine motor
skills.
Ages 4 to 4 1/2 Years
This age group
displays very unstructured organized play called associative
play. An example of this would be when children are all sharing
a box of action figures, but may all be playing different
things with their own figures. Another example would be where
children decide to play with a common aspiration in mind, like
entertaining each other by singing a song for a pretend
audience. The more interaction children have with other
children, the better understood the rules of getting along will
become. Playing with others teaches how to share, encourages
language and the introduction of being fair. This age group can
become quite creative and gain great self-esteem (especially if
parents let go of the perfect child syndrome).
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