5 Tips For Playing With Your Child
We all know children love to play. As a parent, you may think that you want your child to play less and learn more. Playing is an excellent way for children to learn. It helps them use their imagination and learn to do all sorts of things, including solving problems. Here are five tips you can use while playing with your child so they can have a great time while learning simultaneously.
Follow Your Childs Lead
Start by looking to see what toy or game your child is interested in. Then join in and play with them! If your child is stacking blocks, grab some blocks and start stacking them with your child. During play, make comments, ask questions, and imitate them.
Get on The Floor with Your Child
Instead of sitting on the couch and watching your child play, get on the floor and be eye level with them! This helps a child know you’re interested and ready to be silly with them. You would be amazed at how much these small actions can help build your child’s confidence.
Narrate Your Actions and Your Child’s Actions
During Play, narrate what you and your child are doing. This helps them become exposed to new words and can expand their vocabulary. Self-talk is the process of talking about what you are doing. For example, “I am eating a banana. Now I am going to drink some tea.”Parallel talk refers to speaking about what the child is doing. For example, “You are driving the blue car super fast! Wow!” Use as much detail as possible, as this will provide more words for your child to learn and practice.
Use Your Imagination
Using your imagination can be so much fun. There are endless opportunities, such as pretending to be a character or animal, making up silly games together, or pretending a banana or any other object is a phone or a rocketship. Creativity can be whatever you choose to make it; the best part about it is that you don’t even need a lot of supplies.
When Talking About Toys, Be Descriptive
Instead of just saying the name of a toy, explain what it looks like, what it can do, and how you can use it. This will help your child with their vocabulary skills and teaches them object functions and categories. The more words you use, the more for your child to learn.
Play, Play, Play
Playing is such an essential part of a child’s life. As a parent, you can build a great relationship with your child by following these tips and having an enjoyable time yourself. This can be a great way for your child to bond with you while still learning and growing their vocabulary skills.