Kids love to play. In fact it’s their work. It’s how they are learning about their world. Think how amazing our lives would be if we made the quantum leaps in knowledge that a baby does between 6 months and 3 years.

A few years ago I attended a Playing for Keeps conference in Washington, DC. Schools are cutting back on recess and even young children are over scheduled. I was inspired by that very caring group of professionals to write a story about a little lion Cecilia and all of the ways she loves to play:

1. with her pillow in the morning
2. with socks on her ears
3. with a ball of string
4. with pots and pans to make a band
5. with an umbrella in the rain

We have all seen the toddler playing the with box that the gift came in long after the gift has been forgotten. Constructive play is free and all around us. Encourage your children to spend time using their imagination to play under the table, or make a tent out of a sheet or make little twig and moss houses in the yard. Playing helps develop both gross and fine motor skills, fuels children’s imagination, sparks creativity and makes learning fun. And best of all you can join them.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 7th, 2007 at 8:00 pm and is filed under Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.