Long-Term Benefits Of Play

Play has immediate benefits, such as cardiovascular fitness, and long-term benefits, including a sense of morality. An article in the American Psychological Association Monitor on Psychology examines the positive effects and utter necessity of play. The most common theory is that juveniles play at the skills they will need as adults.

Some newer thinking proposes it is more than that. Play seems to have some immediate benefits, such as fine-tuning motor skills, as well as long-term benefits that include preparing the young for the unexpected, and giving them a sense of morality. Learning to play successfully with others requires ‘emotional intelligence,’ the ability to understand another’s emotions and intentions. Play helps to level the playing

The child should be exploring himself or herself outside the class and house. The outdoors is the best place for children to practice and master emerging physical skills. It is in the outdoors that children can fully and freely experience motor skills like running, leaping, and jumping. It is also the most appropriate area for the practice of ball-handling skills, like throwing, catching, and striking. And children can perform other such manipulative skills as pushing a swing, pulling a wagon, and lifting and carrying movable objects.

Additionally, it is in the outdoors that children are likely to burn the most calories, which helps prevent obesity, a heart disease risk factor that has doubled in the past decade. It is in outdoors that the children learn to channelize their energies.

The outdoors has more benefits than just physical benefits. Cognitive and social/emotional developments are also impacted. Outside, children are more likely to invent games. As they do, they're able to express themselves and learn about the world in their own way. They feel safe and in control, which promotes autonomy, decision-making, and organizational skills. Inventing rules for games (as preschoolers like to do) promotes an understanding of why rules are necessary. Although the children are only playing to have fun, they're