How to Support Your Child’s Learning through Unstructured Play

VillageConnectPh|All types of unstructured play provide children with various benefits, from mental to physical ones. However, play is also a great way for them to learn different things about themselves and the world around them. Once you recognize the huge influence of unstructured play on your child’s cognitive development, you’ll definitely want to support that kind of learning. But, how can you do that? Here are some tips and strategies for you.

Give them the right kind of toys

Children don’t really need much when they play, but if you give them something to play with, it can take their game to a whole new level. For instance, you may have an empty plastic bottle lying around. However, what you see as a piece of garbage, your child may see as an instrument to enrich their play. You’d be surprised how one single bottle can be a robot in the morning, a dinosaur in the evening and a rocket the next day. An empty box can become a race car or even a space ship, while socks can become dolls on your kid’s little hands. On the other hand, if you’re buying them a toy, make sure it’s something that can help them develop their intellect and build the foundation for some future academic success. Nowadays there are some amazing STEM teaching tools your children can have fun and play with for hours, without getting bored for a second. And although they won’t actually be aware of it, through playing with these kinds of toys, they’ll improve their math skills and start being curious about the nature of things. This means that a good toy can help you instill love for math and science in your kid from their earliest of age.

Let them get dirty

It’s a common occurrence for parents to freak out when their children leave the house spotless and then jump into the first puddle they see. And then the second and the third, and then they circle back and start again. Well, next time your child wants to jump into a puddle, roll down a grassy hill or play with mud, don’t stop them, but rather let them play any way they want to. Clothes can be washed, and so can your kid’s dirty hands and feet, but if your child misses out on all the ways play can help them grow, you won’t be able to take it back. Just bear in mind that, by jumping into puddles, your little one will learn a lot about the texture of things and behavior of water, while making things out of mud can help them develop both their fine and gross motor skills. And what if your child loves rolling down the hill? Again, let them, since that’s how they can enhance their sensory processing and balance, but also learn how best to position their body in order to roll down slower or faster. And if you want to make things even more interesting for them, you can bond with your kid by rolling down that same hill. Your clothes can be washed as well, and the experience can boost your mood in an instance.

Give them enough space and time

By its nature, unstructured play doesn’t require you to guide your child through their games or to set any rules for them. It’s up to your little one to do that on their own. In fact, your job mostly consists of simply being patient and just letting their imagination and creativity guide them through their playtime. Also, you shouldn’t limit the space they can use for playing. Of course, you can’t have them making a mess in your home office if you work from home, but if they want to do it in any of the other rooms, do your best not to forbid it. Furthermore, if your child doesn’t go to school yet, don’t cut their playtime short just because you mind them running around or you simply want them to do something else. Unstructured play is a priceless part of growing up and it would be a shame to make it any shorter. Even if your child has started their formal education, they are likely to still enjoy their unstructured play, so let them play as soon as they finish their homework, since it provides them with the opportunity to learn in a different way than how they do at school.Unstructured or free play can improve your kid’s verbal and communication skills, support their social and emotional development, as well as increase their problem-solving abilities. It can inspire them to be more creative and imaginative, but also promote good physical health. So, if your want your child to be healthy and happy as they grow, encourage them to play whenever possible.