Childhood is a time of discovery and learning, often through play. Your child will see everything as a way to acquire new skills and develop them. One particularly enjoyable place to learn is no other than at their local playground. It is a place dedicated to having fun and learning new skills through activities, whether children are playing by themselves or with others. Here’s how your local playground can help shape your child’s development.
Physical Skills
At first glance, playing on a swing, slide, or climbing frame may seem fun, but it’s actually more than this. A playground is constructed with careful planning and necessitates durable materials that Moduplay equipment consists of to ensure child safety is paramount. A good playground has equipment that will help children develop their motor skills, core strength, and vestibular system, which controls balance and coordination.
Children tend to naturally be active, which can be a hard need to meet if your home is small or you have no garden. By taking your child to the playground, you are creating positive associations between fitness and fun. This attitude can be maintained through your child’s life to become ingrained in their daily routine, which will then continue into adulthood as they view the activity as natural as eating.
Social Skills and Emotional Development
It is a rare delight when children enter a deserted playground because it means they can use what they want without needing to wait their turn or jostle for space. However, a busy playground can be a great way for a child to learn social skills that will stay without them throughout their lives, such as turn-taking and expand their vocabulary. The playground also helps them learn to be aware of others and how to react in different situations. For instance, they could end up playing with peers they have just met or even arguing with them if someone does not respect turn-taking.
Parents obviously need to observe their child prevent such encounters from negatively escalating, as well as for obvious safety reasons. Additionally, talking over their time at the playground, discussing what they liked doing and perhaps what they didn’t encourage your child to review what they have learned. This is a useful exercise that they will develop when at school. It also allows them to practice using any new vocabulary with you.
Mental Agility
Problem-solving is a great skill a child learns through playing in a playground. For instance, how will they get from point A to point B and then onwards to the top of the climbing wall? If they’re in the sandpit, how many buckets of sand will it actually take to make a decent sandcastle? Each activity will require them to think about how they will reach their end goal, whether it be to swing as high as possible or navigate their bodies through things. With each success, they will think of other things to achieve as their confidence grows. This type of motivation is known as intrinsic motivation and is essential to developing a natural thirst for knowledge and to learn new things for no reason but their curiosity. It doesn’t matter whether they’re successful or not, but what they learn from actively doing something.
Holistic Development
Time in a playground has definite benefits in all areas of a child’s life. Playing in such an environment that caters to several areas of your child’s development during a time when learning through play is integral to their growth cannot be underestimated, nor should it be ignored. Children quickly outgrow wanting to play in these areas. With a society more dependent upon technology than ever, instilling a desire, or intrinsic motivation, to actively learn, as opposed to solely relying on an app, provides children with a learning experience that will embed good learning practices and skills for years to come. More importantly, these skills can only be learned through practical activities, meaning if a child is primarily learning through technology, they will be at a serious disadvantage than a child who has had practical experience of learning and developing skills to equip them throughout their lives.
Playgrounds are not only a safe place for your child to burn off their energy; it’s a place where they can have fun with their peers whilst also learning many things about the world around them. Play is an integral part of a child’s learning, including developing their social, physical, and emotional skills. Increasing research supports this, thus making a playground a vital part of your child’s development. So the next time your child wants to go to their local playground, think of it as an opportunity for them to learn through play.
