Play = Life Skills.
Children who play can better attend at school.
Children who play have greater academic success.
Children who play make friends.
Children who play develop kindness, heart.
Children who play are problem solvers.
(This is just the tip of the iceberg, key parts of a long list.)
We all hear that play is important for children. I know it's important. It's their work; how they learn to make friends, negotiate, solve problems with objects, and solve problems with other children. Play is having fun, and it's also very hard work. Learning how to pump a swing and ride a bike is a mountain of a challenge. So is learning how to ask for a turn, and to stick up for yourself.
Therefore, children who play grow into adults who have the skills to become good citizens as well as good people. Isn't that what's most important? Take the flip side - when a terrible, evil situation happens at the hand of one person (Columbine, Sandy Hook for starters), I immediately think of what they were doing when they were four-years-old. They did not have a place in which to play? Did they not interact with other children? If they did, most likely it was infrequent. Therefore, they didn't develop any life skills. So, when someone wonders if play is important, yes it is!
The importance of play doesn't end after preschool and kindergarten. It becomes even more important when students are older and face more academic challenges. Play stimulates the brain and triggers creative thinking. It's a recipe for success.
Play wins, every time, for everyone.
Jennie
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