Playing and Learning

Why Play?
Play is the first, and perhaps the most important way, to help your child learn.  It’s the way they explore the world and find out more about themselves.  Play offers children the opportunity to relax, express their feelings, experience success and failure and experiment with physical movement. 

All children learn through play and exploration but some may benefit from more support than others.  The following play tips are taken from Early Support Wales, which is the Welsh Government mechanism to improve services for disabled children and children with additional needs and their families.

What can you do?

• Become your baby’s ‘play partner’ and show your child how to play with their toys. Show them what a toy does, how to get it to make a noise or to move, how to screw or unscrew it, how to hide and find a toy. By demonstrating to your child how to do more interesting things with toys, you can prevent your child getting stuck on repetitive patterns of play.
• Take turns with your baby as a means to demonstrate how to do something.  Sometimes it’s helpful to have two toys, so that you can both shake a rattle or bounce a ball.
• Later on, join in with imaginative play to show your child what to do. Imaginative games provide valuable opportunities to teach new language to children. Help your child to link two or three words together as you say ‘Can you wash dolly’s face?’ or ‘Watch me put dolly in the bath’.
• Use structured play. Children need repetition before they are able to remember and master a task. Your child will benefit if you break down tasks and games into small steps and show them how to complete each step.
• Use imitation as much as possible. Children tend to be good at learning by imitating or copying other people.
• Praise your child and avoid frustration by making sure that most of the time your child gets satisfaction from playing and from toys.  It can be very frustrating trying to do things that are beyond your ability.  Your child is likely to experience this when they try to play with toys that need precise finger movements - they will express frustration by throwing or banging.  When a young child gets frustrated, it can be quite hard for him/her to get over it.  Music, holding hands and jigging or dancing are all good ways of getting over upsets.
• Play somewhere quiet and turn the television off so your child can hear you clearly.
• Play at your child’s pace.
• Include siblings or other children of the same age in the games you play, whenever you can.
• Fix or steady play materials by attaching them to a surface so that they do not move around.
• Make items bigger so they’re easier to see - or see if you can make parts of the toys you’re playing with bigger, so they’re easier to grasp and handle.

The Play and Leisure Opportunity Library is a charity local to Swansea who hire out specialist toys and equipment for children, young people and adults with a disability.  A small membership fee will be required and is a great resource for play ideas or to 'try before you buy' and runs some great events and training. There are also lots of great activity ideas at the Sports Wales, Play to Learn website to help your child develop the important motor skills they need for everyday life.