*First authors are Kayla Polcari and Patricia Ekwueme
Do you ever get to the end of the day and you feel exhausted, like you just can’t do anything more and just want to relax? And then as you take off your jacket and your shoes, you hear: “Mommy! Daddy! Come play with me!” Although playing with your child may seem like a hassle, you will probably think twice about saying “no” after reading this.
There are multiple benefits for children when they play including physical, mental and social health.
Play helps children develop all sorts of skills.
What does play do for a child? Two words: skill sets. What are skill sets you ask? Think of it as a child’s toolbox. At first, when they’re born, their toolbox does not have much in it. Parents and caregivers help fill the box with tools.
As babies develop and grow they begin to add tools or skills to their toolbox. Maybe parents communicated back and forth during a baby’s time in the womb and developed some initial two-way communication. But many parents wait to start two-way communication until after birth.
Adults can help children develop skill sets that make social life easy to manage.
Playing with a child is one way to help develop social and self-control skill sets. Before you know it, interactions with parents and others have helped them develop many tools or skills needed to build a bright future.
Parent-child pretend and physical play is linked with the child’s competence, gross motor skills, peer group leadership, and cognitive development, the tools we discussed (7). Interactive play can also help a child learn how to regulate their emotions better (10). Lastly, providing your child with an “enriched environment” through play can lower their stress chemicals (10).
Special Benefits of Parent-Child Play versus Play with Siblings
Now here you might be thinking: isn’t it the same thing to just have the youngest child play with the older ones. Doesn’t that have the same effect as playing with a parent? Can’t they show them the “tools of the trade”? The answer to that would have to be no. There is something about having the parent playing with their child that adds an extra special touch. Parent-child play has been shown to contribute more to a child’s ability to give structure to early social interactions than play with siblings (9).
Moreover, parents can offer a child more mature and varied play than can siblings. Of course, adults know more about the world than any child and often can widen imagination in ways that other children cannot.
Another interesting fact is that infants and preschoolers often use behaviors that require a partner while playing with parents, but are less likely to do so when playing with their siblings (9). It makes sense, doesn’t it? A child just wants to interact with the parent more. That’s the whole point. Playing with other children may be fun, but nothing beats the joy and satisfaction of getting one’s parent to play with you. Also, older siblings engage in minimal amounts of direct interaction with their younger infant siblings, while parents typically give the baby their full attention (9). It has been hypothesized that parent-child play first catalyzes the child’s development of new skills and playing with their siblings helps consolidate those skills (3).