Play is an essential part to your child’s healthy development and the key to igniting your child’s creativity.
Often times as busy parents we know play is important but the thought of the mess, getting materials out of the cabinet or cleaning up the activity mess is looked at as more added stress in our life rather than the positive impact play has on our child.
However I am sharing simple tips on how to make room for more play in your family’s busy schedule!
First let’s look at the benefits of play (there are more than 3…. but here are our top 3 benefits):
1. Through play children learn essentials skills like, creative thinking, problem solving, and important social skills like how to play with others and take turns.
2. Play builds self-esteem and confidence in your child.
3. Play helps reduce stress. Just like you feel stress your child does too. A chance to play especially with child-directed free play, it gives your child a chance to unwind and process their feelings while exploring and trying to understand the world around them.
How to Find Time for Play:
1. Turn chores into creative play. If you are super busy with no time to play try using the chores that need to be done around the house as inspiration for creative play. Need to wash fruit? Turn it into water play! Fold socks into a ball and throw them into the laundry basket…make it a game…add in counting or adding for math learning made fun!
2. Rotate Toys. I have previously written about the toy rotation system we use and how it seriously saved my sanity. We have been using it for over 3 years and still keeps my children engaged with the same amount of toys (actually..less amount of toys as we have purged down to only four boxes).
*This does take a Saturday afternoon to set up but once you have it organized than it helps you save time with clean up and your child are more engaged (and therefore use their creativity) with their toys.
3. Limit Screen-Time. Try replacing one show your child watches with unstructured free play (where you let your child play without adult directions).
4. Plan for bigger or messier projects on the weekends when you have more time. I try to plan for one big project each week (you can do less, this is just what I do). I take a quick peak and if I need to purchase new materials or more paper I add it to the grocery list as a reminder to pick up the materials.
5. Plan for simple play ideas. Sometimes less is more! To incorporate play into your busy schedule it doesn’t always require a big messy project like I talk above in #4. There are many simple ideas that require basic household materials and little prep.
The hard part is finding an idea of what type of play to plan for your child when you are short on time.
Pinterest is great but it can be way overwhelming and hard to find an activity on short notice or an activity that you have all the materials already on hand.
Here is the solution!
Let me save you time by introducing our latest collaborative book, Learn with Play.
Learn with Play contains over 150 activities designed by the top kid bloggers from the Kid Blogger Network (which includes us, yay)!
You will find all kinds of fun learning activities that can fit into your busy schedule and keep your child engaged while learning through play.
The book activities are designed for Baby, Toddler, Preschool and Kindergarten. With 150 activities you are sure to find something whether you have only 10 minutes to play or a whole afternoon play date to plan.
This post uses affiliate links. Thank you for your support of Handmade Kids Art.
I know you are busy so make it easy for yourself, click on what type of book works best for you!
Kindle Version (Yes, designed for Kindle or viewing via the Kindle app)
Paperback Printed Version (A real published printed paperback version that you can hold in your hands)
Ebook Version (A digital copy of the book in pdf format)
Included in the Book:
- Fine Motor Skills
- Sensory
- DIY Toys
- Play Recipes
- Busy Bags
- Math
- Literacy
- and much more!
Buy your copy today so you can help ignite your child’s creativity!
Kindle | Paperback | Digital Ebook
Did you buy your copy? Let’s us know if you loved it by writing a review on Amazon!
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