The Importance Of Play
Objective Play From Birth To Age 3
Play may not seem very important, but it actually is. Infants start learning from their surroundings and people from day one. Interactions, sounds, touch, and environment help develop their cognitive and social skills. In addition as babies explore more, their fine and motor skills will develop as well. Here you can learn about each stage of objective play as your baby grows.
Exploratory: birth to 4 months
Repetitive motor movements, focusing on the babies own body.
Relational: 4 to 12 months
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Functional: 12 to 18 months
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Functional - Relational: 12 to 18 months
Around this stage, the child's understanding continues developing, creating stronger connections to objects, their names, and purpose.
- For example, a one-and-a-half-year-old will get a toy cup and plate and play pretend to eat because that is what they have experienced and learned.
Gross Motor Play: 12 to 24 months
In this stage of play, a child will continue developing their gross motor skill, which include pushing, pulling, running, jumping, etc. They grow in having more control over their body and how to interact better with the playground or obstacles.
- For example, a two-year-old runs to climb up the playground stairs to reach the slide and slide down. Or when a child crawls through a tunnel using arms and legs to provide balance and direction.
Fine Motor Play: 24 to 36 months
This final stage is when fine motor skills are developing. Children will gain more control when doing activities like coloring, stringing beads, manipulating playdough, or making a block tower.
- For example, a 3-year-old cuts out shapes to then glue them, creating a picture.
Family Interactions is Key
Parents and caregivers have a big impact on infants development simply by being emotionally and physically there. "Being nearby enables parents to respond quickly when the baby cries or is hungry," this then leads to building strong emotional bonds and a sense of trust. However, when "negative emotions… interfere with the parent's ability to share positive emotions with the baby at home," infants may start to feel disconnected/stressed. Siblings also play a different role in development, older siblings can offer comfort and even be the extra support, studies showed that "the mere presence of older siblings led to greater exploration" in new environments. While sibling relationships can sometimes have conflict, they help children learn emotions such as empathy, cooperation, and how to manage emotions in social situations.
Play Time Supports Growth
During play, it's important for parents to get involved because this helps build social-emotional connections and cognitive skills. So interacting, responding, and listening to your child can provide guidance and children can learn by example.
Activity Examples:
- Infant physical development can be supported by parents in different ways. Let the baby lay on a safe floor space and let him/her crawl, roll, kick their feet, and stretch arms. By parents interacting with infants in this stage, it helps encourage them to explore and use their bodies to move around.
- Parents can provide physical development to their 2-year-old by kneeling or sitting on the floor to be at eye level and build a connection. Activities like playing ball develop gross motor skills as the child throws or tries to kick.
- You have 1 and a half-year-old and a 4 yr old. They enjoy playing together but can sometimes fight over toys. In this scenario, when parents get involved and interact, becoming part of playtime, it can help redirect conflict and provide alternative ideas when it comes to toys.
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