Why Creative Play is so Beneficial for Children
Creativity is such an essential element in children's mental, emotional, and physical growth. In their childhood, they are more active and creative and it's important to give them lots of opportunities to have fun with it. Through creative play, kids develop several skills and can is often more than just playtime fun. When children's imaginative power are enhanced, they grow mentally, and they can really learn to express their thoughts and share ideas with others. Let's take a moment to delve deeper into why creative play is so beneficial for young children!
Importance of creative process
To improve a child's mentality, creative play is a big part! Both parents, teachers and caregivers should make an effort to help their children be creative and innovative as possible. This creative process is more than just being artful - but really helps them strengthen their imaginations and self-expressions. Once they will learn to express themselves, their creative process is enhanced and they will be able to observe and feel the world around them more deeply and develop problem-solving skills. In by doing so, they are developing both their mental and social skills!
Parents’ role in creative play
Parents are the first teacher of their children. Children so often want to be just like their parents. By modelling good behaviour with children, children can easily replicate! If parents take part in creative play with their children, children will be more interested and feel more involved. It is important that parents show a true interest in playing with them. But with regular involvement, children's confidence and self-esteem increases. They will also feel more willing to trust and share their views with others.
Best tools for creative play
There are plenty of tools and toys you can use for creative play with children. The best ones are the ones you already have in your house! Think about the regular items you have - bags, clothes, brushes, utensils, fabrics, papers, paints, brushes, colours, boxes, cardboards, crayons, pencils, sponges, stickers, clay, and more! With these productive tools, children can learn distinctive skills. This way, it provides a way for children to think differently about the world and show them that the possibilities are endless! They know how to solve their problems in any challenging situation in the future.
Including diverse toys and dolls is also an important part of learning about the world. In doing so, you are showing them from an early age how beautiful and multicultural the world is. Just like we've already mentioned in our previous article, Why Kids Need to See Themselves Represented, diversity in the toy box can have an even bigger impact on children than you could expect. Since kids devote so much of their time learning about the world through play, having a diverse toy box is just as important if not the most important. When children see toys that represent, resemble and depict themselves, it can truly have such a positive impact on a child’s development and self esteem. Kids will be also more interested and engaged when they see themselves reflected in what they're playing with.
Moreover, reading books is an effective learning tool for children as well. Diverse books are important for children because they offer a different perspective on the world. Reading different cultural books, learning about their heritage, as well as learning about their uniqueness is what make a child different from the others. This will help them feel confident in the world as well as help children understand that not everyone has the same life experiences as them. This can help them empathize with others and be more inclusive in their daily lives.
Parents should make a reading habit in a child. If they read in their younger years, they will be able to continue this practice throughout their life and keep on learning and appreciate the world around them.
Opportunities for creativity
Books and toys help kids use their imagination and encourage learning & exploration. Open-ended toys in particular provides opportunities for children to creatively use it in a way that utilizes their imagination and make decisions on their own.
Additionally, travel, music, movies, documentaries, and short stories are the exemplary elements to drive your child's life towards creativity. But more than anything, it's important to make sure to give some space and time to their child to think and organize things in their own way instead of leading them or giving them limitations on how to play or do things. To help them to master their creativity, providing accurate instruments, giving them proper attention, and standing back to support them. That will encourage them to play and imagine by using their mental capabilities.
Giving them a variety of experiences such as celebrating holidays, taking part in other's ethnic and cultural groups' occasions, and visiting different schools will help children get a variety of experiences to learn about the world and helps them dream up new ways to do things.
Conclusion
By giving lots of opportunities for children to explore in creative ways using a variety of tools and resources, it helps children enhance their social and problem solving skills! Creative play also teaches children to not stop learning, to problem solve and to imagine that the possibilities are endless if we put our minds to it!
At Joeydolls, we truly understand how beneficial creative play can be especially from a social developmental perspective. We are Joeydolls are working hard to provide exposure to children in the form of diverse Asian dolls. Children can not only play with them, but also learn about the different cultural heritages within Asia and appreciate diversity. Playing with diverse toys such as Joeydolls enhances the emotions and feelings in children and helps them not only be more aware of their identity and uniqueness but feel proud too!