The value of play to children's emotional wellbeing

by Rachel Maflin, Manager, Play Radnor

“Children need the freedom and the time to play;

play is not a luxury, play is a necessity.”

Kay Redfield Jamison

We know that allowing children time to play brings enormous benefits to children’s development. Play helps children to make sense of the world, through exploration, imagination and experience. It helps children to express themselves, regulate their emotions and cope with their feelings. Playing with others enables them to learn how their behaviour affects others and develop empathy.

Play is vital for a child’s emotional development in so many ways….

• Emotional resilience.
• Self-esteem.
• Self-confidence.
• Reduced anxiety.
• Self-worth.
• Understanding winning and losing.
• Exploring feelings.
• Self-expression.
• Empathy.
• Understanding the world they live in.
• Dealing with fear in a safe environment.
• Problem solving.

The benefits of play can be found in a wide range of play opportunities, such as:

• Playing outside e.g. swinging, climbing trees, running, jumping.
• Pretend play e.g. dressing up or den building.
• Adventurous play e.g. climbing, balancing, rope swinging.
• Group activities - playing with other people helps children express and control their emotions with others e.g. creating their own play ideas.

Activities don’t need to be expensive, the simplest stuff is often the best. We have a low cost / no cost approach using wherever possible loose parts – a variety of objects both natural and man made which can be used in a variety of ways. Loose parts play uses a range of resources that can be found both in nature and around the house, such as ….

• Cardboard boxes, paper, shredded paper.
• Materials – old sheets, duvet covers, shower curtain, wool, ribbons, old clothes for dressing up, bandages for role play.
• Buckets, tubs, tubes, pipes, containers of all shapes and sizes, funnels, plastic bottles, guttering.
• Kitchen equipment – mashers, whisks, pots, pans, sieves – mud kitchens.
• Sand, water, mud.
• Old phones, computer keyboards for role play.
• Crates, tarps, rope / string.
• Great outdoors for sticks, leaves, seeds, moss, shells, stones, pine cones, conkers, flowers, herbs e.g. potion making.
• Chalk, pens, pencils, etc.

‘When children interact with loose parts, they enter a world of “what if” that promotes the type of thinking that leads to problem solving and theoretical reasoning. Loose parts enhance children’s ability to think imaginatively and see solutions, and they bring a sense of adventure and excitement to children’s play.’    (Daly and Beloglovsky, 2015)

Loose parts create richer environments for children to play. As they are flexible, they can be used in a variety of ways, providing limitless opportunities. These play experiences promote imagination and curiosity, problem solving and independence, with children being able to choose their own direction of play.

With Christmas just around the corner, make a little space for play. Like your grandma used to say, they’ll leave the present and play with the cardboard box. It’s often the cardboard box that has the greatest amount of play value.

Play Radnor/Chwarae Maesyfed is a rural children’s charity that provides play, leisure and recreational opportunities for children and young people in Powys. We run a number of projects for children, young people and families both at our dedicated centre in Llandrindod Wells and through our outreach work. These include:

Play Rangers project: Delivering open access outreach play sessions on green spaces within local communities during school holidays.

Thumbs UP! Club: A project for families who have a child with a disability or additional need and their siblings. We run weekly sessions for children aged 5-11 and 12+.

Mud and Sticks: A Children in Need funded outdoor parent and toddler group (0-5) that meets in the woods for regular play sessions. Our aim is to inspire greater confidence in getting outdoors more as a family and develop strong relationships.

Toy Library: a low cost service enabling families to borrow toys and resources that encourage children's educational and social development. These include a wide range of physical, imaginative and multisensory resources.

Wildcraft: A twice weekly group for children aged 5-7 and 8-11 that offers opportunities for a variety of outdoor play. This could include campfire cooking, nature crafts, simple wood working, den making etc. We also run a monthly weekend session for parents and children to attend which offers low cost / no cost ideas for outdoor play.

Cooking Club: Sessions delivered in our community kitchen for a range of ages. Learning important life skills, cooking healthy and tasty food.

Stay and Play / Fun Fridays: Two hour play sessions for children aged 0-5 yrs and their parent/carer to have fun, play and socialise with others. Facilitated by volunteers.

Messy Play – Occasional sessions for parents and children aged 0-5 during school holidays and term time.