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Your children need to play.
They need to play for many reasons. Many fathers
today remember spending countless hours playing
with siblings or friends during their childhood.
Parents would drop you off somewhere and your
imaginations would take over as you became
soldiers, famous ballplayers, dinosaur hunters,
etc.
There are many factors that make it more difficult
for children to play in today’s world.
There is an emphasis on early academics. There is
more TV watching today by children than ever
before. There is the seductive attraction of video
games.
There is also the need for constant supervision of
our kids in urban environments.
These factors and others have helped to create
children who sometimes have forgotten how to have
imaginative play. They’ll have a house full of
toys but say “I’m bored” or that they have nothing
to do. They may look to their parents to entertain
them, rather than creating their own play.
What is the importance of having your children
engage in creative play when they’re young?
Creative play is believed by many child
researchers to form the foundation of emotional,
creative, and intellectual growth in later years.
It should be considered a normal part of a child’s
development.
Sadly, many young children do not have the
opportunity to engage in much creative play
because they are presented with “alternatives”
like video/computer games or excessive TV
watching.
While some of these alternatives claim to benefit
children (train your child on computers early to
get a head start!), there is nothing like creative
play. Other alternatives do not allow your
children’s fantasies to roam freely.
The idea of replacing your child’s creative play
with academic work may be based on good
intentions, but will rob your child of a precious
opportunity.
How can fathers help to encourage imaginative play
in their children? Many of us are not knowledgeable
about this topic and have left this work to others.
Here are some ideas:
• Be willing to be fully involved with your
child’s creative play. Yes, that means that you
will be a wild horse running through the desert
(your living room) at times. Too adult for that?
Get over it!
• Realize that you don’t have to entertain your
kids all of the time. When they start to expect to
be entertained, they will be less likely to engage
in play. Set them free in a room without TV or
video games and let them go to it.
• Get them into nature when possible. Let
them play with the soil, the sand, or the water
whenever you can.
• Consider “tapering down” the quantity and
types of toys that your children have around the house.
Having huge numbers of toys that leave little to
the imagination does not encourage creative play.
Children often do best with simple toys, or even
household items that are readily accessible
(wooden spoons, pots and pans).
• Provide artistic opportunities for your child to
express what he/she is feeling.
• Tell stories with rich images to your children
and read to them often. Reading fairy tales is a
wonderful way to provide these images as well.
• Consider the amount of TV watching that your
child is engaged in each day. Explore alternatives
to watching TV that would involve more creative
play. You may have to be the catalyst for your
child if there’s resistance to this.
All around us, the adult world is being thrust
upon our children at earlier and earlier ages. We
are encouraged as parents to help our young kids
“get ahead” academically or to buy them the latest
fads in toys.
As fathers, it is your responsibility to look
beyond all of this to what your children truly
need. Your children need to do what they do very
naturally when they are given the opportunity.
They need to play.
Give your children the chance to prepare
themselves for life as an adult in the best way
possible.
It’s the only chance that they’re going to get.
Mark Brandenburg MA, CPCC, coaches men to be better fathers
and husbands. He is the author of “25 Secrets of Emotionally
Intelligent Fathers” http://www.markbrandenburg.com/father.htm For more great tips and action steps for fathers, sign up for his FREE
bi-weekly newsletter, “Dads, Don’t Fix Your Kids,” at
http://www.markbrandenburg.com.
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