Play is an essential part of development especially educational toys because it contributes to the cognitive, physical, social and emotional well being of children and youth. Play also offers an ideal opportunity for the parents to be able to engage fully with their children. Despite the benefits of play for both children and parents, free play time has been significantly reduced for some children. Toy company in Singapore is able to make educational toys in Singapore to help children to learn new things.

The Benefits of Play

Play allows children to use their creativity while developing their imagination, dexterity, and physical, cognitive, and emotional strength. Playing is important for healthy brain development. By playing, children become involved at a very young age and interact with the world around them. Play allows children to create and explore a world they can master, overcome their fears while practicing the roles of an adult, sometimes together with other children or adult caregivers, the resilience they need for future challenges.

Non-directional play allows children to work in groups, share, negotiate, resolve conflicts, and learn self-defense skills. When children are allowed to control the game, children practice decision-making skills, move at their own pace, discover their own areas of interest, and finally dedicate themselves fully to their passions, being controlled by adults, children they accept the rules and concerns of adults and lose some of the benefits of playing, especially in the development of creativity, leadership and group skills. Unlike passive entertainment, play builds an active and healthy body. In fact, it has been suggested that promoting unstructured play may be an exceptional way to increase levels of physical activity in children, which is an important strategy for solving the obesity epidemic.

Play is an integral part of the academic environment. Ensures that the school environment addresses children’s social and emotional development, as well as their cognitive development. It has been shown to help children adjust to the school environment and even improve children’s readiness to learn, learning behavior, and problem solving skills. Social emotional learning is better integrated into academic learning; It is concerning when some of the forces that improve children’s learning abilities increase at the expense of others. Play and the unscheduled time that allows interaction with peers are important components of social emotional learning.

In summary, play helps your children:

• Build confidence
• Feel loved, happy and safe
• Develop social skills, language and communication skills
• Learning about caring for others and the environment
• Develop physical skills

Your children will love playing with you, but sometimes she might prefer to play by herself and would need so much hands-on play from you. She or he might just want you to give her ideas and let her know how her play and games are going. Other than that you could buy educational toys for kids so that they are able to increase their development skills.

Different types of play

Unstructured, free okay is one of the best types of play for young children. This is a play where by it just happens depending on what your child is interested in at the moment. Free play is unplanned and your child lets his imagination run wild and moves at his own pace. Here are some examples of unstructured play:

• Creative alone or with other, including artistic or musical game
• imaginative game – where making playhouses with boxes, blanket, dressing up or playing make believe
• Exploring new or favourite play spaces like cupboards, backyards, parks, playgrounds
• Advancing on a new set of educational toys

You can always be part of your child’s unstructured play or not. Sometimes all you will need to do is point it to her/him in the right direction towards the jumble of dress up and toys on her floor, or to the table with crayons and paper, and sometimes you might need to be a little more active and ask questions.

Structured play on the other hand is different. It is more organised and happens at a fixed time or in a set space, and it is often led by an adult. Here are some examples of a structured play:

• Water familiarisation classes for toddlers, or swimming lesson for older children
• Storytelling group for toddlers and preschoolers at the library
• Dance, music or drama classes for children of all ages
• Family board or card games

Structured and unstructured play happen indoors or outdoors. Outdoor play gives your child the chance to explore, be active, test physical limits and of course get messy!

How play develops with your child

As your children grow up, the way they play will change. They will become more creative and experiment more with toys, games and ideas. This may mean that she needs more space and time to play. In addition, as children grow up, they go through various forms of play. This includes playing alone, playing with other children, and interactive games with other children. Here are 2 examples of how play can develop your child

Newborns and babies

For babies, the best toy would be just looking at your face and hearing your voice. To them, they are already playing, especially when you are smiling. You would want to try these following games ideas or activities with your little ones:

• Music, song, gentle tapping on your baby’s belly while you sing, bells or containers filled with different objects, these can help your child to develop hearing and movement skills
• Objects of different sizes, colours and shapes can encourage your child to reach and grasp
• Sturdy furniture, balls, toys or boxes can get your child crawling, standing and walking

Regular belly time or belly rub and floor play are very much important for your baby’s development. Belly time helps your baby develop movement control by strengthening head, neck and body muscles. It also allows your baby to see and experience the world from a different perspective.

School-age children

Your school age child can have fun with the following objects (educational toy) and activities:

• Furniture, linen, washing basket, tent and boxes are great for building.
• Home-made obstacle courses can get your child moving in different ways, directions and speeds
• Simple cooking or food preparation like measuring, stirring and serving food is great for developing numeracy skills and everyday skills
• Imgationation, your child can turn himself or herself into their favorite superhero or story characters.
• Rhymes or games like eye spy with my little eye is a great way for word play and help to develop literacy skills.

If your child is interested, you may want to consider involving them in some type of sports or team activity for school-age children. Other options include extracurricular or holiday art and craft activities. You don’t have to spend a lot of money on toys, games and books for kids. DIY toys and free activities are often the most creative ways for you and your child to play together.

There are plenty of educational toys in Singapore that your kids can play with. All you need to do is to go to a toys company in Singapore and ask. We hope the insight of the importance of having play time with your children helps you to further understand why and how it can actually benefit your child in the future.