“Play is the Work of a Child”
For young children, play is essential to development. It contributes to the cognitive, physical, social, and emotional well-being of children of all ages. Even adults love a good game night and for parents, playing with your child can help strengthen your bond. One change that has come along with decreased outdoor time for children is less free play. Many children either do not have time for free play or do not know how to play on their own. As a parent, you can create play invitations in your home or in your backyard to set the stage for your child to use their imagination, explore, and play freely.
Here are just a few ideas for creating invitations to play:
Make it inviting, engaging, and inspiring. A good play invitation does just that: it invites the children to explore and investigate. It captures their attention and provokes interaction with the space or scene. A “space” does not need to be a whole room, it can be as simple as a tub full of water or a table with natural materials.
Repurpose the old to make it feel like new. Using play invitations, you can make old toys, recycled materials, and other household items feel like something your child is seeing for the first time. For example, you could add an old toy into a water sensory tub or a tray of sand and your child will use the toy in a whole new way.
Introduce natural materials. Bringing nature indoors is a great option when you cannot get outdoors to play. You could make paintbrushes from natural materials and place them with your child’s favorite paint for a different take on art. Lay out a basket full of different natural materials with bowls and spoons and let them create a “feast.” One of my favorite options is to invite your child to make a soup or magic potion using natural materials and items from the kitchen.
Try to use items that are open-ended. When choosing materials for a play invitation, try to stick with items that allow for active exploration and many different types of play. For example, setting out a tray with various craft materials and allowing your child to create whatever they want is a great open-ended invitation. There are no rules for how they use the materials, just their own creativity and imagination.
When possible, take play outdoors. Not only is getting outside great for your child, it also opens a whole new world of play. You may consider setting up a “mud kitchen” outside or creating a picnic play invitation. Even having your child help you in the garden can be play. At FRNC we know how naturally play comes when children are in an outdoor setting. Sticks will often replace toys and almost any fallen log can be made into a pirate ship.
There are so many resources that can help you create an invitation to play. Check out Pinterest and Fairy Dust Teaching, one of my personal favorites, for inspiration.
It is important to remember that not every invitation you create will be accepted. By observing your child you can see what sparks their interest and use that for inspiration for your next invitation. Your child may also use the invitation in a completely different manner than you expected and that is okay. Don’t give up, if they are interacting with the invitation then it is a success!
By giving your child continued opportunities to play and play freely, you are giving them a gift for life. I can still recall to this day some of my childhood memories of using my imagination on my dad’s fishing boat in our backyard for hours. I would pretend to cast out fishing rods to catch fish and sail the seas. My dad did not know it then, but by allowing me to be in his boat, he gave me an invitation to play.
Remember…
“we don’t stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing”
George Bernard Shaw
— Emily Embick, Environmental Educator