I recently had the pleasure of presenting at
Windrose Academy. The audience were parents and the topic was the Importance of Play and Routine for Children. Windrose Academy supports parent education by providing frequent workshops on various educational and parenting topics. Parents were very welcoming and presented many relevant questions regarding the topics.
In regards to play and routine, play helps children learn about the world in which they live. They can investigate and discover, test their theories, test spatial relationships, explore cause and effect, learn problem solving skills, build their motor skills, build self esteem, build social skills and family values. That is the importance of play, that there's virtually no area of life in which it cannot teach your child something.
“Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood.” – Fred Rogers
We often do not think so, but children crave routine! Routine has many benefits for children, such as influencing a child’s emotional, cognitive, and social development, helping children feel secure and comfortable, helping children understand the expectations of the environment, helping to reduce the frequency of behavior problems (e.g., tantrums) and influencing child engagement in activities.
Parent Tips:
- Observe your child play and learn about their skills and interests.
- Follow your child's lead when he plays. If he is building a city, build a building alongside of his.
- Limit toys that provide too many electronic features. The less a toy can do the more fun a child has using her imagination.
- Be consistent.
- Use visual schedules for young children.
For collaborating on future parent workshops or teacher training, I can be contacted at laura@childdevelopmentclub.org.
For updates on future workshops, please follow the
Child Development Club: Egypt Facebook page or contact me directly to be added to the email mailing list.
Thanks,
Laura
