It is amazing how quickly the emphasis shifts away from play as a child approaches school age. Why is it that playing, the natural way of learning, is considered a leisure time activity?
These days decreased space and safety in towns, increased pressure on the academically   over-burdened school child, and the advent of television have all resulted in a terrible reduction of children’s play time.

Play creates a special climate for effortless learning. A child playing explores his environment and absorbs information in ways he never could by memorizing. Through play children can develop attention skills, listening skills, social interaction skills, and language and communication skills. These provide the essential foundation for all future learning.

Parents, teachers, therapists can enhance a child’s play by stimulating new ideas, by encouraging him to try other options or simply by following the child’s lead and participating in his game. Play can be both solitary and social i.e., with friends or with family. Play can be grouped into four basic types.

Physical play involves movement and balance. It results in improved muscle-tone and co-ordination. Simple games like running, catching/throwing, swinging and sliding also help to develop attention skills, eye-hand co-ordination and social interaction skills.

There is a strong link between the human mind and body. Studies have shown that physical activity can result in better mental ability. This is important to remember for all children trapped behind school desks and even more so in the case of the physically handicapped child whose play opportunities are restricted.      

Exploratory play involves finding out more about the world by investigating objects using the senses; touch, taste, sight, sound and smell.As a child grows, he begins to relate objects to each other, first by banging them together, and later according to their function e.g. putting a spoon in a cup etc.

Exploratory play enables a child to link the physical world to his intellectual world. It helps him develop thinking skills and problem solving skills.

Young children as well as disabled children do not often get a chance to think for themselves. There is usually someone around eager to solve their daily problems for them.
During play a child can explore possible solutions to a variety of common problems in a safe way. The ability to solve problems is necessary in order to develop self-help skills and independence in children. It is also required in order to understand subjects like maths and science.

Creative play involves making something new from existing raw materials. It helps the child develop ideas of shape, size and space. It also encourages creativity and innovation.

Filling water and pouring it out of different containers; making sand hills; building a tower of bricks ; molding plasticine or clay, drawing and painting and all other craft and construction activities that children enjoy can be considered as creative play.

Imaginative play involves pretend play and make-believe games. Young children pretending to make cups of tea or putting dolly to bed, are acting out their daily experiences using toys to represent real objects and people. In addition to helping them sort out emotional conflicts and issues, this also helps them to learn that words are sound combinations representing certain objects and actions, crucial for developing language.

In fact, the development of language and communication skills has been scientifically linked to pretend play skills in children. Language involves representation of thoughts and ideas through words. Children first develop this skill as well as their sequencing and organization ability through imaginative play. Sequencing and language skills are essential for later creative writing, when a child’s knowledge is judged by the quality of his written work. Older children too, can increase their knowledge by participating in drama and simple role-play.

Children who are competent in all areas of play are individuals who are likely to succeed in school and in later life. Time spent by children in play can never be considered as wasted. It is an investment in their future.

When so much can be achieved through play, why is it that we value it so little in our homes, in our schools and in our society?