All children love a good playtime. These moments give little ones the chance to grow and develop physically and cognitively.
When we think about the various ways of playing nowadays, we have a huge variety due to the different tools we have access to or even the imagination that can make this a happy time for children.
Well, we went to find out more about what influence playing can have on children's daily lives.
We came across an interesting article that mentions the importance of playing and learning from baby conversations. Imaginary games and conversation time are essential for the healthy development of our babies.
We've already mentioned here on the blog that babies can be very expressive when it comes to their mood, what they want and what they need. In a moment of play, that smile or that laugh are expressions that will indicate that your little one is having fun and is happy.
What's more, playing with our little ones is extremely enriching in terms of strengthening our bonds with them. We parents are delighted to realise that our children are happy, and for them it's the best way to spend a good time.
Something we've seen from our research is that playtime means more than it seems. Building a castle or playing a role in a recreation of a story can influence children's life skills, so much so that their development can happen in the blink of an eye.
In this way, playing will promote the development of various aspects such as creative thinking, motor skills or the ability to solve problems. It's through games that children begin to realise how they can entertain themselves.
We can all agree that these moments should be frequent and something we should always do in a different way, with a new toy or even with our imagination and allowing the children to start developing a scenario. Playing should be one of our family's daily practices, firstly because it's fun and secondly so that every member of the family isn't stuck to the screen. This will be an excellent way to create healthier habits that will prevail throughout our lives.
One idea we can keep in mind is that playing helps promote healthy growth.
You may have noticed that we put the verb ‘talk’ in the title of this post. Yes, it's true, talking is one of the ways our little ones start to learn words, by listening to the sounds they make when they speak. There is a relation between the number of words a baby learns to say and the amount of time parents spend talking to their children.
This ‘’chat time‘’ is extremely important, even if it's only produced by one of the parties. An example we can give is when parents are describing some action they are carrying out or even something they and the children are watching at that moment - ‘have you seen that aeroplane in the sky!’ or ‘we're preparing our snack here’.
Something to watch out for is when your little one starts spending more time in front of a screen than the ‘’chat time‘’ that is expected, because it has been proven that the more time children spend in front of a screen, their ability to learn new words can decrease and it also means that they stop paying attention to what their parents and other people around them are saying.
Our research has shown that there are studies comparing traditional toys and electronic toys in terms of children's language development. The use of traditional toys in combination with reading books shows better results than the use of electronic toys. Consequently, good communication between parents and their babies is essential and will be a major factor in their growth and development.
At Wedoble, we believe that interaction and communication with the little ones will always be important. After all, in these moments of play and conversation, both children and parents have the perfect opportunity to learn (and we parents, without sometimes realising it).
What about you? What are your favourite games at home? Do your little ones have any favourites? What do you most like to talk about? How important do you think these moments of communication are? We want to know your experience. We want to know your opinion.
