8 Ways of Encouraging Your Kids to Play With You


Celebrate and encourage the power of play.

 

One easy way you can fit in active time is to take active breaks. These can be anything from 10 to 30 minutes – whatever fits your schedule best.

 

Beyond bringing joy, play is an integral part of a child’s growth. It’s the primary way they learn about the world around them. Engaging with them through play is a great way to connect, check in and spend some quality time experiencing joy together.

 

Here are 8 ways you can experience the joy of play with your little one:

1. Gather the kiddies together to put on an imaginative play. Take inspiration from their favourite books or films bringing these much-loved stories to life on a rainy winter afternoon.

2. Get your Mr Squiggle on and engage with them and their creativity. With just a pen and paper you can work together to create some timeless squiggles that will inspire and excite their imagination as well as your own.

3. There’s nothing little ones love more than mess so instead of preventing it why not promote it? Roll down a sand dune or grassy hill together – Don’t forget to giggle as you go, it’s surprisingly cathartic for both parties. Or pull out the gumboots and go stomp in some puddles side by side watching as their faces light up in amazement.

4. Create a new world together with blocks. Encouraging them as they build and making structural suggestions is a great place to start, then finish by knocking your newly created structures down together, watching as their faces light up with happiness and cheekiness.

5. Let your child’s imagination flow by constructing their very own sheet and pillow fort! When the day gets extra chilly an old sheet and some chairs can be used to create a fortress in the garden or inside the living room where they can hide from the cold. They’ll love the time spent together creating a pillow fort so much so you’ll probably have a hard time trying to take it down.

6. Telling silly, made up jokes with them is a great way to play and laugh for hours. It will also give you a special thing to share that can be relived over and over again.

7. Put together an obstacle course for them to conquer using problem-solving and their very best motor skills. We find a child-friendly course with pillows, foam blocks and jump ropes can be a great start!

8. Just dance. Then dance some more. Play musical chairs or statues to their favourite music just don’t forget to have the camera ready as they bring out their cutest moves.

 

 

Our little ones learn about the world through playing in it. How they play and what they play with can impact their development and growth. Spending more time playing with your child is a great way to connect and beneficial to both them and you.

 

What games do you play with your children? Join the conversation on our Facebook and Instagram.