Playing is a very important activity for children when growing up. It allows them to explore, develop, and use their creativity, imagination in the most fun and enjoyable ways. Also, with playing, they get to connect and interact with the world and people around them.
There are lots of various games a child can play. Even if you cannot afford high-end toys for your children, having enough space, freedom and allowing them to use their imagination would be enough. Through this, they learn too.
Unfortunately, it seems impossible to take your children out for a walk in the park, go bird watching, and do some sort of outdoor activities with the spread of the COVID-19 virus. But, after all, we should not stop there and find ways where children could still have fun indoors! Here are some five creative play ideas you could do.
Cooking Play Pretend
A child’s imagination is so brilliant that they could learn too from play pretends. When you play pretend with your children, you make it easier for them to be familiarized with the different kinds of food, cooking ware, and the arts of cooking. If you find it hard to introduce a food to your child, try showing it to them in a way they could understand better, through play pretend cooking.
Also, never allow your child to use real kitchenware that adults use for cooking. These kinds of items are not safe for children. Instead, get a kids cooking set designed for children’s use and is guaranteed safe from any harmful chemicals or toxins that a child could be exposed to.
Additionally, cooking for preschoolers also helps in the development of their cognitive and physical health. It encourages the children to solve problems, mix and match, and show their creativity through food. Not to mention, children tend to imitate people they look up to. So, if you’re a cook in your home, getting them their own cooking set could be a great way to follow sequences, directions, right measurements, and more.
Play Dough Molding
Your little one deserves to have fun and enjoy various colors too! You could introduce more of the colors by playing with playdough. The good thing about play dough is that even if you do not have a large amount of money to buy commercialized ones, you could even make one at home by yourself or with your child! It will be a great and exciting activity for your child.
In addition, play dough has great benefits in children learning and strengthening their fingers. If you have a child who doesn’t know how to write yet, introducing play dough could help prepare their fingers for writing and good hand-eye coordination. Combining different colors too could make the activity more exciting than it already is.
To make playing with play dough more exciting:
- Add beads to add extra value and colors to the mix. If you want to first introduce a play dough, try putting a rolled playdough in front of your child and place it on a clean surface.
- Add some sticks, too, if you want.
- Take the rolled playdough and observe what your child will do.
- Always praise or reward your child when they do something amazing and right. Positive responses could allow them to feel more motivated in exploring.
Dressing Up
Let your child’s imagination run wild, and you’ll soon get to know what they want to portray in life. Allow your child to have access to various dress-up clothes and toys as props that they want to use. Tell them that they could dress up whoever they want to be, whether they be nurses, chefs, doctors, and the like. This way allows them to have sense in the adult world roles and boost their social engagements too!
This is a great way to be creative and have fun with your little one! After their dress-up, you could add character role-playing games, too, wherein they will act the same on how they portray a certain adult role in the profession. Converse and ask your child why they chose a particular dress, and let the fun begin!
Blowing Bubbles
Blowing bubbles is a great way for a child to enjoy and learn oral sensory skills. Not to mention, it could help in strengthening their muscles when they try to chase the bubbles. Also, watch your child as they could also crawl, climb, catch bubbles in various ways to pop them. It’s an exciting game to do with your children that you could enjoy while being at home. Allow their curiosity to manifest and watch them learn new skills while having fun.
Dance and Sing
Undeniably, most children learn some of their first words through singing along to children’s songs! From ABCs to numbers, nursery rhymes, animal sounds- making them listen to fun music and dance along with it can help them develop their language better, and it could be a great exercise too! Through dancing teaches them to balance, coordinate, flexibility, and follow sequences. You might never know that dancing could be their favorite hobby until they get old!
Takeaway
Playtime is a vital part of a child while growing up. It allows them to discover more about the world around them and have connections with other people too. If a child is denied play, they may feel lonely and have self-control issues as well as in their attention. If you are seeking fun activities with your kids during these challenging times, listed above are some of the all-time favorite games you could do with your little ones!