“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy!” We all have heard this saying many times before, but did you know that not enough playtime can actually impact your child’s growth and development?
That’s right, if your child does not go out to play or doesn’t play any indoor games, they may lag behind in their development. The value of play is especially important in today’s day and age, when kids only want to be around screens.
Parents should know the importance of play, and how it can help their children learn and grow! Read along as we answer some frequently asked questions in this blog, like ‘What are the benefits of play?’, ‘Recommendations for learning toys for kids?’ and much more.
Parents should understand that playing is also a learning activity! Whether your child is playing with pretend play toys, puzzle sets, or simply colouring in their art book, any task that requires your child’s focus and attention will help boost their learning!
Learning toys for children are very important in their overall growth, here’s how:
Activities like jigsaw puzzles, trivia games, or STEM toys help improve your child’s problem-solving skills.
There are many games and toys that enhance your kid’s learning and grasping power. When kids play with memory-matching cards, interactive flashcards, or educational puzzles, their memory and retention skills improve. It is one of the biggest benefits of play.
Toys and games like storytelling kits, role-play sets, and sentence search games help children express themselves better. These activities boost their vocabulary, improve sentence formation, and build confidence.
When kids engage in pretend play, get creative with art kits, or explore the world of storytelling, their imagination knows no bounds. These activities encourage original thinking and give them the space to dream, create, and build new worlds of their own.
Physical Development & Gross Motor Skills:
When kids participate in active play or outdoor games, it boosts their physical development. Gross motor skills like jumping, running, throwing, and balancing can be improved through physical play as well. Games like an obstacle course, tag, chain, or other outdoor games can help improve gross motor skills and strengthen muscles.
Art and craft activities like Dot It! sticker art, rock painting, or playing with small intricate toys can refine your child’s fine motor skills. These games strengthen the small muscles in hands and fingers, which are essential for writing, tying laces, and performing other daily skills.
Playing games like catch, cricket, and bowling helps sharpen hand-eye coordination. These games also improve coordination between the hands and legs.
Playing outside and indulging in physical activities also increases your child’s stamina and endurance.
Playing is very beneficial in your child’s social and emotional development. Learning social skills, building confidence, and understanding emotions are just a few advantages of play.
When kids play with their friends or siblings, they learn many social skills like sharing, kindness, and empathy.
You might have noticed kids throwing temper tantrums, as they are not able to control their emotions. Playing games that involve kids to get in touch with their emotions, like storytelling, can help them better manage their feelings. These play experiences build patience, empathy, and give kids more control over emotional responses.
When children finish an art or craft activity, win a game, or tell a story, they feel proud. These small wins during playtime boost their self-esteem. It’s one of the many benefits of play.
Playing with other kids also helps your child become more confident.
DIY kits, science experiments, and discovery-based toys encourage kids to explore on their own. There are also many independent play toys for kids, which focus on making them more self-reliant and independent.
Now that you know the importance of play for the development of your children, here are some recommendations for learning toys for kids. These toys enhance the value of play for your child’s learning and development:
STEM toys, also known as Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics toys, are very beneficial in improving problem-solving skills, critical thinking, reasoning, focus, and curiosity. Skillmatics has a huge collection of STEM toys for kids of all ages. From Science Snippet Flash Cards to our Newton’s Tree game, you can shop for a variety of STEM toys and to reap the advantages of play for your child.
Putting the pieces together of an educational puzzle helps children with their cognitive development. Playing with puzzles also improves their fine motor skills and focus. Kids can choose from different themes of floor puzzles to challenge their minds.
Flashcards can be introduced to kids from a very young age. Even a month-old child can play with flashcards to enhance their sensory development. Skillmatics offers a wide range of learning flashcards for kids of all ages, from High Contrast Flash Cards to Science Snippets.
Let your kids challenge themselves to logical reasoning and critical thinking activities with our Sight Words reusable activity mats. Kids can use 6 double-sided activity mats to find hidden words in the images. This boosts their cognitive development and fine motor skills as well.
Now that you know the advantages of play and the best educational toys and games for kids, head over to Skillmatics to get fun and engaging toys for your kids that will improve their mental and physical development.
Skillmatics offers a wide range of kids’ toys that makes learning fun! You can also shop for birthday gifts for kids from Skillmatics, and explore our collection of toys according to age, theme, and more.
Play is very important in a child’s growth and development because when kids learn through play, they remember information better. Every parent should understand the importance of play and invest in learning toys for kids.
Role play or pretend play can boost imagination, creativity, critical thinking, language development, and focus in kids.
There are several benefits of play for kids to help boost their learning. Through playtime, kids can learn social skills, emotional control, problem-solving, communication, and many more skills.
