Have you ever sat back and watched your child play?
Their imaginations and creative minds can take you by surprise.
Child led play is all about following a child’s lead and allowing yourself to be directed, things to remember when you’re allowing your child to lead.
Observe, watch and listen.
As a child leads they build communication skills and learn how to influence things around them.
We can provide an opportunity, but the idea of child led play is to observe how the child approaches the activity and how they adapt the task to their own direction.
For example, As Adults We may ask children if they’d like to play the sandpit expecting children would build sandcastles, but a child may decide to take cars into the sandpit and build a racetrack.
This is child led play They’ve created a new adventure for themselves without instruction from an adult or a teacher.
When children initiate play, they can make their own choices, by being given this space children learn that their own ideas are important, validating their choices.
As child lead play can include things such as role play, they can also explore specific ideas and emotions that are relevant to them at the time.
Its great for letting them work through emotions in a safe space in their own way.
Child led play gives children a level of independence from an early age that is not provided by adult led play.
Thiers so many benefits as children learn through play, build confidence, feel loved happy and safe, gain ownership, which allows them to understand more about how the world works.
Its also a key element to the EYLF of Being, Belonging and Becoming.
At KinderPark we believe their way is our way, together we create child-led environments that encourage children to explore, play discover and learn in their own unique way.
Let’s empower our children The opportunities are endless.
As Albert Einstein said Play is the Highest form of research.