For some parents, holidays are beneficial as their children get to help them in house chores. For others, it's a rollercoaster as all their young children can do is play and eat all day. For other parents, they feel that their children need to be buried in books to keep their academic performance at its best.
So I have seen parents hire tutors for their children who are as young as 5 and 6 years during holidays for almost half day. This means that the child is on a strict schedule like in school even during holidays. Do you know what is the purpose of holidays? For children's Brain to have a break from extensive academic engagement. What is a class 2 child doing with books for a whole morning for the rest of a holiday? Children should be allowed to play during holidays. It does not mean they should not have some moments with school books, but play is as important for the child as the academic performance you want for your child.
So what kind of play should children have during holidays? It is freely chosen unstructured play.
What is freely chosen unstructured play?
It is a child playing without guidance of an adult but out of their own imagination, instincts and interests.
WHY FREELY CHOSEN PLAY IS IMPORTANT FOR CHILDREN DEVELOPMENT?
1. Improves the physical health. When children are playing while running, jumping, skipping ropes, riding, they develop balance, stamina, coordination and physical fitness.
2. Children learn social skills through play. Play allows children to interact with their neighbors whom they play together and learn to coexist. They learn how to express themselves, how to express feelings, how to work out emotions and how to handle defeat and failure.
3. Children learn problem solving skills. When a child chooses a challenging play, they use their cognition extensively to solve the challenge.
4. Improves creativity and innovation. Children can only be creative when they choose their games and how to play them.
5. Play reduces stress and boredom. When a child is only allowed to stay in the house for a whole day for the rest of their school holiday, they get bored and stressed. Children need a change of environment and some freedom to explore to reduce chances of stress that might lead to anxiety.
6. They learn how to make meaningful relationships. Children playing with others freely can create lasting relationships with those they have the same interests with.
7. Play prevents screen and social media addiction. When you lock your child in the house the whole day since you don't want them to play outside, you're exposing them to screen addiction. They will watch those cartoons the whole day and get addicted. Screen time has a whole lot of negative outcomes for children development. It should be avoided for whatever reason.
So, for paranoid parents who say their children can't play with others in the neighborhood, you're just raising isolated zombies.
Parents who buy all toys in the market so that your child plays in your house the whole day, you're just denying that child freely unstructured play.
Parents whose children are in front of a screen watching cocomelon and cartoons the whole day, you're denying them a very important part of growth.
Parents hiring tutors for young children during the holidays for like half a day. That's academic torture. You will make the children hate school for nothing. Those advanced in age like the candidates can have the tutoring as they have limited time.
Let children play. It will come a time they will be teenagers and they will not even be willing to get out of their bedroom. So for young children, let them structure their own play freely.
© Joyce Mwai
Writer/ Author/ Teenagers Mentor
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