article by Erica Ryder.
Young animals play to practice and develop skills that will help them transition into independent adults, able to fend for themselves in the wild.
When children play, they are not only exercising their bodies but also their imagination, communication skills, problem solving and are testing boundaries and relationships with their peers.
Cross cultural research has shown that children across the world engage in creative play in order to establish identities, develop social understanding and experiment with emotions.
Have we as adults lost sight of the value of play?
Modern day life is fast paced and we can multi task at every turn. We can return an email whilst cooking dinner and helping with homework. We have so much to do in so little time that perhaps we feel we do not have time to play with our children or that it is, in fact, a waste of time. It is also possible that this perception has rubbed off on our children. Perhaps our children have also lost the ability to play due to the abundance of technological devices pervading all areas of our lives. In many homes modern day play can be described as watching TV, online gaming, x-box, play stations, or social networking. Even our younger and middle year’s children are often over exposed to technology and age inappropriate material.
Perhaps now both parents and children have forgotten how to play? Tara Moser from the national association of social worker’s, describes play as “a child’s work” and their “toys as tools”. Children spend so much time in structured learning activities during and after school. This includes doing homework and even learning and playing team sports or certain disciplines such as karate, gymnastics or ballet.
Play should be a balance of recreational or free and structured activity. If a game is age appropriate there will be a learning outcome. In your fitness sessions don’t be over prescriptive and structured. Don’t panic if a child takes the balloon you intended for them to use in a football based relay and pretends it’s something entirely different for a few moments. Embrace and acknowledge their play and then return to the planned activity.
So let’s not forget the power of play and a child’s innate desire for learning and their curiosity, which can so often be silenced by the TV, or technological world we live in. Modern day toys are hi tech and intricate, and rather linked to consumerism than a child’s needs. If you gave a child a ball they would no doubt amuse themselves with it for a substantial period of time. Ask yourself how creative can you be if left to your own devices with simply a balloon or a beanbag.
As a children’s fitness leader, we are not only trying to combat rising obesity and inactivity levels through structured activity classes but we should also encourage semi structured imaginative play which provides children a safe environment in which to experiment and learn. If you are teaching dance; schedule creativity workshops into your sessions allowing the children to develop their own piece of choreography- irrespective of what it looks like! Congratulate and praise them for their efforts and then make suggestions as to how they might improve their piece. Equally interact with the children and ask them for their ideas. If you are playing a simple transport relay, for example, ask them which mode of transport they would like to use next. Can they show you how to travel like a unicycle or a skateboard? We as adults can learn a lot from children about the lost art of play and using our imagination. Come and join us on the children’s fitness toolbox, we will remind you how to play and engage with children of all ages. It’s a liberating experience and one you may want to share with your own children or even your adult clients.
Erica is a Tutor/Assessor for Drummond Education. She is currently studying for a degree in Child and youth studies (0-18 years) with a view to specialising in health promotion. She delivers a mix of children’s and adults group exercise classes in the community to include dance, boot camps, circuit training and aerobics.
About Erica
Erica has taken a lead role in the development of Drummond Education’s Children’s Fitness Toolbox and is excited about promoting the benefits of fitness & dance activities for children. She has been heavily involved in the development of a number of children’s fitness and training products to include Fitness Professionals’ Fitclub and Lazy town Sports club. The latter has involved frequent trips to Iceland to film the instructor training resources and module delivery in Mexico.
She is a dance trainer for Luv2dance which involves leading large groups of, often disengaged, teenage girls through street dance weekends leading them to performance.
Further Reading
Barnes, P and Kehily, M.J. (2003), ‘Play and the cultures of childhood’ in Kehily, M.J. and Swann, J, Children’s Cultural Worlds, Chichester, John Wiley and sons Ltd