Play is one of the most overlooked important things that we can do with our grandchildren which benefits us as much as it benefits them. Hopefully you are a young grandparent, like I am, and you can get down on the floor and chase toddlers on your hands and knees. Don’t get me wrong, there are definitely days I have to put the heating pad across my shoulders at night, but for the most part, I have as much fun as they do. Even if you have physical limits, some of the play you can participate in is mental, and that is just as important! The more activity we participate in, the less likely we are to suffer the effects of aging on our bodies.
The American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Council on Aging agree with me. They have published articles on the importance of play in promoting healthy child development and maintaining strong adult-child bonds. You can follow these links for more information:
http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/pediatrics;119/1/182
http://www.healthyagingprograms.org/content.asp?sectionid=73
Or you can just take my word for it, what is above is a bunch of scientific gobbledy-gook, and I bet if you have grandchildren, you also have better things to do.
There are several types of play, you can follow the six types of play laid out by child Psychologist Jean Piaget, or you can follow my more practical list. Each has distinct benefits for your grandchildren and some happens at different times, my goal here is to introduce you to some different types of play, and then follow up with how they benefit you and your grandchild.
Pretend Play
There is a ton of information out there about the relationship between “high-quality pretend play” and your grandchild’s smarts. It helps them think, socialize, speak better, and perform better in school. I am not sure what high quality is, but if that includes putting on rock star shows where my four year old granddaughter climbs up on the coffee table stage and sings her best made up song while I cheer her on, I have this one covered! For you, pretend play helps keep your brain active – and an active brain is the best way to prevent against diseases common in older people, like dementia.
Baby Play
Playing with babies may seem silly, but even if you have physical limitations, you can hold and gaga at your grandbaby. This very early play time is essential for developing bonds, creating early social skills, developing brains, learning movements, and school readiness. That’s right, simply holding your grandbaby and making eye contact while you sing their favorite song helps them get ready for the repetition they will face in school. And passing them a toy or rattle helps them learn special awareness and coordination. For you, baby play just plain feels good. Growing social and emotional connections and knowing you are an invaluable contributor to your grandchild’s development from the start is important for everyone’s emotional health.
Solitary Play
Playing alone is an important part of developing play skills. For this, all you have to do is set up the area that your grandchild can navigate on their own: books, balls, puzzles, blocks, stuffed animals, art or coloring. This helps your grandchild develop and master new skills, learn leadership skills, independent thinking, and social security. To keep them learning regularly exchange the play items for new ones so they gets lots of opportunities to experience new things. For you: Not much, it is way more fun to be involved that to be an onlooker, but watching your grandchildren as they master new skills can definitely give you something to brag about to your friends.
Sensory Play
Until last year, this was a whole new concept for me. My youngest grandson faced some very difficult challenges making his way into this world. He was born with partial right side paralysis and some minor neurological deficits. His mother and I were surprised to discover a whole area of play focused just on developing your grandchild’s senses. Containers of water, dirt, sandboxes, spoons, measuring cups and your help will allow your grandchild’s math skills to blossom. Like solitary play, you can set up an area for the two of you to discover what happens when your grandchild scoops sand into a container of water (the water line goes up!). But unlike solitary play, you play too. The advantage for you: the fine hand and finger movements help keep arthritis at bay, and the thinking involved in creating the next sensory experiment will keep your brain young!
Guided Play
This type of play is play that you design for your grandchild to participate in. This type of play is important in developing the foundation for social skills, give and take negotiations, and learning. You can create a theme, build off a favorite story, or make an enticing change to your house, like tossing a sheet over the sofa and coffee table to go “camping”. After that, your grandchild takes off with the rest, and your job is to follow, but reinforce the boundries of the activity, her imagination might build an alien zoo in your outer-space, but not at Cinderella’s castle. For you: again that pesky “keep your brain young” advantage. And depending on how active your creation is, you could also benefit from moving your body to stave off the affects of inactivity. Imagination is fantastic!
Physical Play
This rough and tumble play is close encounter play. It is not fighting, but it does involve touching, tickling, gauging strength, discovering physical limitations or advantages. You can encourage physical play through a game of tag, a game of kick, or a game of catch. There are endless ways to encourage and participate in physical play, and it is important for developing bodies to gain new physical skills, like skipping, jumping, rolling, and running. For you the advantage is staving off age-related diseases like obesity, arthritis, or loss of flexibility. If you can participate at all in physical play, I highly recommend it.
Related articles
- Toddler or Seuss Landing? (grannyintraining.com)
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