It is hugely important for children to play on a regular basis, active and physical play that stimulates their minds as well as their bodies. Regular play is pretty much the most important thing for your child to do, as it is how their bodies and brains develop. In fact, the development of gross motor skills comes directly from regular play, and those children who do not regularly move their bodies and get active within the first six years of their life will likely never have the ability to develop those skills, thus significantly limiting their potential brain power.
Playgrounds are the perfect place for children to play, from a kids indoor play structure to outdoor playground equipment. For those that live in climates with cold (and often brutal) winters, a kids indoor play structure with indoor playground equipment can be the perfect place to bring their children when it is far too cold and nasty outside to send them outdoors to play. A kids indoor play structure can be set up in any number of ways, and is often geared towards a specific age range of children. For instance, a kids indoor play structure set up for younger children will also include indoor soft play equipment, safe for children, often toddlers, who are just beginning to explore their environments. But a kids indoor play structure is important for the big kids too, as even older children need regular physical activity, as well the creativity that regular playing enhances and promotes.
Unfortunately, there is a real concern over children not playing enough these days, on a kids indoor play structure or outside, and as many as two thirds of all parents have some level of anxiety over worrying that their children spend too much time on various electronic devices and online platforms. In fact, children who are between the ages of eight and eighteen are likely to spend more than four hours watching TV every single day, according to a study done by the Kaiser Family Foundation. These children who are watching at least four hours of television if not more per day have been found to have increasing likelihoods of childhood obesity, which has risen to a rate of eighteen and a half percent in the United States alone. Childhood obesity has also been directly linked to the fact that more than two thirds of American children do not get the recommended level of exercise, which is only twenty five minutes of calorie burning activity only three times a week.
All of these problems leading to the ever growing rates of childhood obesity can be fixed with a little play. Encouraging kids to play is not only good for their bodies, but good for their minds as well. Regularly playing promotes creativity, it promotes problem solving, and it promotes the development of both fine and gross motor skills. Without regular and active play, these important developmental milestones are likely to never be met, putting the affected children at a deficit for learning and brain function for the rest of their lives, as gross motor skills are unlikely to be able to be enhanced or developed in the first place after the first six years of life have passed by. That’s what makes regular play so important – it’s not just play. For the young child, playing is their job, and it’s growing their brains and their bodies. Without play, we would not only have bored children, but ones unable to reach their original potential.
