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Source: Early-Childhood-Education-Degrees.com

The Play’s the Thing: How Fun Can Make Your Child a Better Student

Fun — it’s not just for, well, fun. Playing games can help boost a person’s development throughout their childhood.

How Play Helps Children Develop

Playing is about more than just having fun — play of all types are critical for intellectual, emotional, social and physical development.

What children learn through play (1)

Taking turns

Negotiating conflict

Problem-solving

Shared goals

Delayed gratification

Empathy

Gracious winning/losing

Research has shown that play stimulates growth of the cerebral cortex. Animal studies have connected play with increased levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which is vital to learning and memory. (2, 3)

Great Games

What skills do some of the most popular children’s games help build?

Board/card games

Learning to follow instructions

Taking turns

Blind Man’s Bluff/Marco Polo

Spatial reasoning

Strategy-building

Catch

Hand-eye coordination

Physics

Hide-and-Seek

Sense of exploration

Coping with separation

House

Imagination

Sharing responsibility

Simon Says

Following instructions

Self-control

I Spy

Attention span

Language development

Mind and Matter

In addition to helping develop needed skills, physical play has clear and substantial benefits on the brain and body.

Increased oxygen flow to brain

Elevated neurotransmitters

Improved memory

Greater motor coordination

Better concentration and attention

Reduction of stress and anxiety

Improved cardiovascular health

Lower risk of obesity, asthma and other health issues

2 in 3

Students who are not usually physically active every day (4)

Only 6 states (Illinois, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New York and Vermont) require physical education in every grade of school. (4)

Sources:

1. http://braininsights.blogspot.com

2. http://www.parentingscience.com

3. http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov

4. http://www.fitness.gov