For many parents it’s an all too familiar scenario. As you push your child on the swing for the umpteenth time, they joyfully call out, “Higher, Daddy, higher.” You’ve had a stressful day at work, and all you want to do is put your feet up with an ice-cold drink.
Sometimes it’s hard to fit parent–child playtime in with the chaos of often competing demands of work, and the never-ending things that seem to pop up around the house to be done. However, play is crucial to optimal child development — so much so that it’s been touted by the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights as a birthright for every child. And rightly so.
Close your eyes and think back to your own childhood — do you remember the heady freedom of playtime? I do. Naming and dressing up the chickens in doll’s clothes, and wondering why your dad laughed so hard he was crying, making Lego towers so high with your mum, that when they crashed unceremoniously to earth, everyone had to RUN.
Freedom of expression through playtime is important to a child’s wellbeing. It builds resilience; it helps with cognitive skills to problem-solve and improves language development. Play also increases
