Why Should You Set Up a Fun Play Area for Your Child?

Babies and children learn the most of what they know from watching adults and those around them. Most children have a primary carer – the person to whom the child is most strongly attached, and who they watch and learn from at an amazing rate. It is well known that the closer a child is to a person, the easier it will be for them to begin to learn from him/her.

Young children, for example, are able to pick up on a lot of things from their primary carer as they spend a lot of time together at an early age.

Girls Dressing up as Princesses

Should the primary carer provide their child with safe props such as a broom, play kitchen or toy phone, they are actively encouraging them to copy the behaviour of adults. This allows them to pretend to cook food or take a phone call, plus many of the other activities they see their primary carer do on a daily basis.

Setting up play areas and encouraging role play can teach your child many core skills, which they will benefit from both now and in the future.

Cooking Creations Play Kitchen (Active Role Play Prop)

Good role play areas should have a range of props, the less specific the better, which encourage imaginative play. There is an argument for having multiple role play areas in a setting to accommodate different types of role play. This could include:

• Active role play props –  This will enable your child to engage in active, boisterous, expansive role play (this could be outside if inside space is an issue).
• A home corner –  Allocating a corner space in the house will promote modelling and acting out of familiar scenarios (ideally with a garage and workbench to encourage all sorts of play).
• A fantasy, magical area –  This enables children to develop their imaginations without pre-conceived scripts.

If you cannot set up multiple play areas in your house at the same time, then consider changing the role play area regularly around the house. This is a great way to explore and encourage different types of play behaviour.

Categorised in: imaginative play, learning through play, play advice, play ideas, Toys and Play

This post was written by Anna Taylor