Play comes so naturally to young children and we witness this from almost the time they come into the world. They play with their hands, through sounds and as they develop, use almost anything to create interaction.
Play brings joy but it also serves to develop skills such as running and balance and reading their environments. Play may help prepare children for what they pursue later in life and what roles they may take on, i.e. dancer, teacher, musician, doctor, artist, musician, carer. Children become creative in solving problems and expressing their ideas, whilst learning important social skills such as how well they relate to other peers.
Play serves many functions on a physical, social, cognitive and emotional platform. As children are motivated to play, they learn important skills such as how to climb, how much they can lift, how far they can throw and how fast they can run. They test their courage to carry out new and different tasks, which in turn builds self esteem and confidence.
Socially children can practice and learn turn taking, sharing, leading, negotiating whilst bonding and making friends, they also develop in areas of logic, reasoning and problem solving, all which are useful tools for later life experiences.
In creative play at Circus, we like to focus on child led activities, where children set the agenda and make their own choices. They can set their own rules or have no rules and choose materials that can be used in a variety of ways. Creative play is so engaging and so invaluable to young children and so much can be learned from just “messing around”…