THE more children are allowed to play the better they develop into proper adults.
Studies have shown that play is a critically important part of a child’s life. It’s how they experiment with new ideas, learn important social skills but also learn how to find pleasure from playing.
Play also helps children to develop fine and gross motor skills and builds emotional maturity and self-confidence for them.
Lesego Mashishi-Matlala, Huggies’ expert in occupational therapy, said that the first stage of play starts from birth to three months.
“It is when babies play alone, without reference to anyone else, and move their arms and legs.”
Babies start to play with and discover their own bodies by such as sucking their thumbs or even their toes.”
The next stage of play is solitary play. This is when they gain postural control and start crawling.
In solitary play babies are more intrigued by objects around them and learn the cause and effect of moving in their environment.
Crawling and walking is encouraged at this stage of play as babies start to interact with objects near and far from them.
The onlooker stage of play often starts at the age of one or two when babies observe others at play. They mostly copy others, love clapping their hands and dancing.
At between three and four years, toddlers begin to engage in parallel play. This is when they will play with others but usually remain engaged in a solitary activity that is “parallel” to what their peers are doing.
She said playtime is the perfect time for a baby and their parents to connect.
