Bond with your children through play

Gannett News Service

With winter vacation upon us, spending time playing as a family is a great way to connect with your children. Not only will you strengthen the bond between you, but playtime helps your child's brain develop to its fullest potential.

Play is your child's job

A child's play is practice for the grown-up world. While some benefits of children's play time might not be very obvious to adults, they are still important: for instance, play teaches socialization skills.

• Children are little scientists: They learn in a variety of ways, for instance, manipulation by touching an object, turning it over, putting it in their mouths to get a sense of its volume or texture or reaction.
• Children also learn by experimentation: It may sound like they are banging on the piano rather than playing it, but they are probably listening to hear what note combinations sound like.

What kind of toys?

Toys that are "open-ended" foster imagination and encourage self-expression: puppets, building toys, costumes, art materials, musical instruments, clay, books, interactive videos and CDs and CD-ROMs.

• Choose toys that encourage interaction rather than ones that do the work for the child: purchase a guitar that the child has to play rather than just push a button to hear music played for him.
• Make toys together: Lay out paper towel tubes, newspaper, cereal boxes, torn socks, bits of fabric, string, wrapping paper, magazines, newspaper, yogurt containers, milk cartons, ribbon, and more and see what you can create together.

Being a playful parent

Guide, don't direct. Encourage play, creativity, exploration and challenge by allowing the child to play the game or do the project for himself. Mirror feelings instead of criticizing.

• Be in tune with your child's curiosity about the environment. Is she fascinated by the way wind makes balloons blow around? Explain to her what wind is and why it moves the balloon.
• Let your child lead: What does she want to do next? What is she capable of, vs. what might challenge or frustrate her? Limit games to one concept or skill at a time.
• Make games ones in which kids feel proud of themselves. Keep directions and rules simple.
• Assemble all materials needed for a game or project before starting. Demonstrate how to use the materials if it's a new skill or a new way to play a game.
• Focus on the process. It is more important than the end product. Did your child try to do her best even if she did not follow all the rules exactly?