The Benefits of Creative Play

It’s the weekend and you’re lounging around in the backyard as your 6-year-old plays with their toys. Suddenly, they thrust an empty tiny plate in front of your face, asking if you want a bite of the scrambled eggs they’ve made.

You nod eagerly, pretending to chomp down all the food on the plate. Satisfied, they take the plate away from you to go back to their “pretend restaurant.” Sounds familiar? In fact, research has shown young children from ages one to onwards engaging in creative or pretend play while growing up.

Here’s how creative play can benefit your child for years to come.

Emotional Benefits

As your child is growing up, they’re discovering new things. However, many times, these things can be difficult to express in words. To allow your child to make sense of their emotions, encourage activities such as story-telling, role-playing and painting. This will give them the opportunity to make sense of what they’re feeling, while showing them that it’s okay to express themselves. In short, regular creative activities will enable your child to grow up to become a confident individual.

Social Skills Development

From singing and acting to drawing and painting, creative activities can provide your child with a platform to socialize and build friendships. To help your child build social skills from an early age, schedule regular play dates. Encourage your child to do arts and crafts projects with friends.

Similarly, you can take this a step further by bringing out toys on these play dates. So, for instance, your child and their friends can play with fire trucks as they rush to people’s rescue. All of this will teach your child about interacting with a group of people, as well as about conflict resolution.

Communication Skills Development

If you’ve ever noticed your child engaging in creative play, you’d see them talking to themselves. This constant back and forth as they’re pretending to be a vet or a teacher, will help build your child’s vocabulary. This, in turn, will enable them to become better at articulating themselves in front of others.

Creative activities can help young minds grow and learn. If you’re looking to enroll your child into a reputable preschool program in Lenexa, get in touch with The Whole Child Development Center. Conceptualized in 2005 under the vision of Karen Kwok, we’re a child development center with an emphasis on providing safe, respectful and stimulating learning environment for children.

For more information about our learning programs, contact us today!