Both structured and flexible play is an important part of a child’s development as they grow into an adult. Whether it’s playing with blocks or throwing a football outside, play has several important benefits on a child’s cognitive development. Dr. Chad Rodgers, AFMC’s Chief Medical Officer, recently went on AFMC TV to discuss the misconceptions behind what play actually means and how beneficial it is to both the child and the parent.
We are just now starting to see the pandemic's effects on children.
Trauma and stress caused by the pandemic have stuck with us, causing delays or total loss of healthy coping mechanisms. For our children, Harvard Magazine revealed in a recent study that, over the last three years, math, reading, and history scores show that students experienced a decline in learning during the pandemic. In fact, their calculations indicate that by the spring of 2022, the average student was lagging by about one-half year in math and one-third of a year in reading.
“Social supports, after-school services, and extracurricular activities were shut down during the pandemic. Planned play was gone, and we all switched to electronics,” Dr. Rodgers says. “For very young children who have not gotten back into the traditional school setting, we’re seeing cognitive and learning delays of up to a year in some subjects.” This learning loss speaks to the importance of face-to-face interaction and the power of play, which reduces toxic stress and teaches children important cognitive skills they carry into adulthood.
Balanced play results in several cognitive benefits for your child (and you).
The concept of play is highly personalized. For some parents, their children play on a schedule. They use flashcards or go through learning exercises with their child to ensure their child is always learning something new. Other parents may be more loosey-goosey, letting their children play at more randomized times of the day. “Both instructional and free play are important,” Dr. Rodgers says. “Through a combination of both, children develop motor skills and socio-emotional skills that they learn from adults and peers.”
Play should feel like play. In early childhood programs, parents are often encouraged to add more didactic components and less playful learning, but recent research has given pediatricians the information they need to promote the benefits of play and talk with parents about it at well-child visits.
“With the stress of work, school, chores, and making time for other important tasks, playtime could feel like another thing for parents to add to their plate,” Dr. Rodgers adds. “Really, play shouldn’t feel like a burden. Sometimes, it’s about letting a kid be a kid and spending more time playing without a structured place or time to do it.”
Some activities can involve structured and non-structured play at the same time. “If you think about playing with blocks,” Dr. Rodgers says, “You can have play where your child just holds them, stacks them, and moves them around. But you can also sit with your child and talk to them about the letters, colors, shapes, and numbers on the blocks. You get the free form play on their own, mixed with the structured learning with you.”
There is no guide to “perfect” play. Just get creative!
“You don’t have to get in the car and drive somewhere,” Dr. Rodgers explains. “You can go outside and play in the grass, sit down on the carpet and play cards, just anything that will get you and your child a break for a minute.”
It may take them a minute to dive in, but eventually, your child will enjoy playing a game to get their mind off other things for a while. Ultimately, the types and methods of play vary from family to family. “Parents often get parenting advice from all angles, but ultimately, it’s about picking the right type of play that benefits your child the most,” Dr. Rodgers says.
Grandparents can get involved, too.
One of the greatest joys in life is grandparenting. Parents often have a million things on their minds at once: feeding the family, paying bills, and working. “Your role as a grandparent can be to be a supporter who takes the pressure off the parent. The children can come to stay with you and play for a few days while the parent focuses on their own things,” Dr. Rodgers says.
Grandparents who engage in play with their grandchildren also show lower signs of depression and anxiety. Play allows both the grandparent and the grandchild to get active (within their limit) and learn from each other at the same time. Dr. Rodgers says that, even as we get older, it’s okay to hold onto play and have fun. “You learn from each other at a generational level. They teach you new things, and you teach them new skills as well.”
Health care providers should promote the power of play.
“As we’ve said, play has multiple benefits to our mental and physical health, and there are several resources for providers to recommend to parents to help,” Dr. Rodgers says. “If you just search ‘fun things to do with my kid,’ you can see all sorts of fun activities.” Several apps recommend fun activities to get you and your child up and moving while teaching about the brain research behind the activities.
Talking about the benefits of play may seem like a “no-duh” kind of topic, but with social media and the Internet taking center stage lately, it can be hard to find time to de-stress and have some fun. Spending time to do what we love keeps us alive and, ultimately, keeps us healthy.
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