Children Need More Play, Less Work
Dr. Roxanne Allegretti at the Free Lance-Star writes about a new American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) report, “The Importance of Play in Promoting Healthy Child Development and Maintaining Strong Parent-Child Bonds,” due to be released this coming week which will caution parents against overscheduling their kids.
The authors recommend that parents give their children toys that use their imagination (like dolls and blocks), and that each child participate in “an appropriately challenging academic schedule with a balance of extracurricular activities. This should be based on each child’s unique needs and not on competitive community standards or need to gain college admissions.”
So the laziness that has prevented me from enrolling my four-year-old in structured activities makes me a good parent then? I’m loving the hour we spend after school in the neighborhood playground and am now relieved to be rid of the guilt of not running around town to karate class, football school, and this and that and whatever!
One of the new books from the AAP, A Parent’s Guide to Building Resilience in Children and Teens: Giving Your Child Roots and Wings, addresses these issues: academic performance, heavy scheduling, high achievement standards, media messages, peer pressures, family tension.
Technorati Tags: aap, children, play, parenting, kids, toys, overscheduling
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POSTED IN: News and Links about Children's Things
7 opinions for Children Need More Play, Less Work
Lisa
Oct 16, 2006 at 8:43 pm
I read that same study, and couldn’t agree more. Children are being forced into so many activities that they rarely get a chance to just play. Hopefully this study will show parents just how important play is to a child’s development.
Here via the Carnival of Family Life
Holly Schwendiman
Oct 16, 2006 at 11:15 pm
Rut-ro, you just struck one of my soap box topics! ROFL Kids NEED to be kids, not mini adults for a gazillion reasons. When it comes to this topic, less is more.
Hugs,
Holly
Holly’s Corner
Play Library » Welcoming Parents Behaving Badly
Oct 17, 2006 at 7:53 am
[…] The title of this post is tongue in cheek. I certainly don’t welcome parents to behave badly. Parents Behaving Badly is the newest member of the b5media Family and Relationships Channel. Jay Allen documents the worst of the worst parents. It’ll make you sick, angry, and, hopefully, empowered to change the way children are treated so they can be free to enjoy their childhood full of play, toys, and all good things. […]
Carnival of Family Life at Littlemummy.Com
Oct 17, 2006 at 8:42 am
[…] So too much work really does make Jack a dull boy! Hsien says children need more play and less work… […]
Kailani
Oct 17, 2006 at 1:18 pm
Although I do sign-up Girlie Girl for classes, I agree that there needs to be time set aside for her to be a kid. She loves just going to the park or riding her bike. We should let them enjoy their childhood since they grow up too fast as it is.
Thanks for submitting this post to the Carnival of Family Life!
Hsien-Hsien Lei
Oct 17, 2006 at 7:05 pm
Thanks for your comments, Lisa, Holly, and Kailani! I hope you all got a chance to play today. :)
Tammy Lessick
Nov 15, 2008 at 9:00 am
I strongly believe that children learn important skills when they are allowed to have creative play. I remember, as a child, spending hours outside, living in my own imaginative world. Roaming around the woods with my cousins. Imagining I was in the past. Children are given so many toys these days. They spend more time playing with electronic toys, and less time figuring out different uses for a pile of leaves or pine straw.
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