Many of us admonish our children if they tend to run around the house or jump up and down at times. But not many of us know that these activities contribute to a child’s physical development. These activities would enable your child improve body balance, hand eye coordination and several other aspects related to physical development. Given below are some reasons as to why playtime is important for children.
Health Benefits of Playtime
Physical play enables a child to become more active physically as well as mentally. In addition to this, physical play can aid in improving bone density and muscle strength. Children who are active also tend to benefit from improve lung and heart function in addition to staying safe from conditions like obesity, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes and coronary heart diseases as they grow. Physical play also induces proper sleep which in turn would boost brain health and function.
Benefits of Indoor Play
Many children find it difficult to be physically active indoors owing to space constraints. However, the great benefit of playing indoors is that you can supervise your child while he/she plays. So consider making more space in your home for your child’s play needs. Move furniture in a room, or transform a porch or pavilion area into a play are for your kid. You can concentrate on games like Simon Says, bowling, catch or dancing in order to keep your child active while keeping in mind the space constraints.
Benefits of Outdoor Play
In spite of getting plenty of time to play indoors, a child would need at least some time to play outdoors every day. These opportunities would enable your child to concentrate on comparatively vigorous activities like running, jumping, catching, hopping, sliding, kicking, striking and bouncing etc. while releasing the pent up energy from his/her body.
It would take time for kids to master these activities after which they would incorporate the same in other areas of their life, including sports and even academics. Outdoor play also facilitate social interactions with other kids and hone their mental connections.
Summary
The rise of technology has limited the play time of several kids to just a few minutes a day after which they are either left to watch TV or play games on the computer. It is considered essential that parents understand the importance of physical play for their children, and follow the tips mentioned above to make sure their kids remain healthy and fit, both physically and mentally in the long run.
