The Power of Play: 60+ Fun Activity Ideas PLUS Inspiring Quotes
Do you spend time playing with your child? Do you understand the power of play? Whether playing with play dough or puzzles, puppets or make-believe, spending quality play time with your child has enormous benefits.
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A Treasure Trove of Benefits
In her book, The Way of Play, author Tina Payne Bryson shares eleven benefits of play.
Keep in mind that parent participation, even if for only a few minutes, is key.
“Your participation in your child’s play,” states Bryson, “is what makes the difference.”
11 Benefits of Play
- Deeper parent-child connection
- Fuller sense of self
- Stronger emotional regulation
- Increased resilience
- Improved focus and attention
- Better language acquisition and literacy
- Augmented sensory balance
- Expanded problem-solving
- Better coordination and motor skills
- Advanced empathy
- Enhanced relational skills
“Play is the highest expression of human development in childhood, for it alone is the free expression of what is in a child’s soul.”
Friedrich froebel
How To Play
The book delves into seven specific ways that a parent can improve play time with their children. For instance, mirroring and narrating are two of the seven powerful actions parents can take to turn play time into a time for connection and educational growth. Grab a copy of the book to read more about each of the seven actions.
The book is filled with fun and expressive drawings. These drawing help teach powerful principles about play.
Easy to read and understand, The Way of Play is a must-read for parents who desire to engage in meaningful play with their child.
“You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.”
Plato
Activity Ideas
As a fun and useful addition, the book contains lists of recommended toys and activities in the following categories:
- Sensory toys: Brain-body balance and regulation
- Full-body toys: Gross motor skills and increase impulse control
- Creative toys: Fine motor skills, self-expression, and confidence
- Construction toys and games: Visual, spatial, and executive skills and flexibility
- Expressive toys: Engagement, expression, and management of emotions
- Nurturing toys: Empathy and caring behavior
- Dramatic play toys: Storytelling and the understanding of real-world interactions
Examples of toys and activities, including our family-favorites, are shared below:
Sensory Toys
Appeal to the senses with these sensory-related recommendations:
Sand Toys
Fidget Toys
Additional Resources:
- Recyclable items (boxes, cardboard, containers)
- Variety of textured fabrics
- Pillows and blankets
“Play is our brain’s favorite way of learning.”
Diana Laufenberg
Full-body Toys
Engage the full body with these recommended activities:
Balance Board
Climbing Rope
Beanbag Chair
Additional Resources:
- Balance Beam for children
- Toss and Catch game
- Sumo Balls for older children
“It’s not so much what children learn through play, but what they won’t learn if we don’t give them the chance to play. Many functional skills like literacy and arithmetic can be learned either through play or through instruction – the issue is the amount of stress on the child. However, many coping skills like compassion, self-regulation, self-confidence, the habit of active engagement, and the motivation to learn and be literate cannot be instructed. They can only be learned through self-directed experience (i.e. play)”
susan j. oliver
Creative Toys
Bring out your creative side with this activities:
Hedgehog Game
Crafting Materials
Chalkboard
Music Instrument
Paint and Brushes
Fine Motor Skills
Additional Resources:
- Children’s Books Choose from a wide selection
- Peg Board Toy Set 65-piece
- Shape Sorting Cupcakes 18+ months
- Art Kit Markers, colored pencils, crayons, paper, case
“Play is not a break from learning. It is endless, delightful, deep, engaging, practical learning. It’s the doorway into the child’s heart!“
vince gowmon
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Construction Toys and Games
Use these recommendation to build to your heart’s content:
Building Blocks
Magnet Tiles
Construction Set
Train Set
Play Vehicle
Additional Resources:
- Board Games for all ages
- Puzzles for all ages
- Construction Crane for kids
“We are never more fully alive, more completely ourselves, or more deeply engrossed in anything than when we are playing.“
charles schaefer
Expressive Toys
Practice showing emotion with these engaging activity ideas
Puppets
Stuffed Animals
Dinosaurs
Action Figures
Foam Balls
Additional Resources:
- Expressive Animal Snap Wooden Building Blocks
- How Am I Feeling Blocks 4000+ variations
- Bonbon French Bulldog Emotional connection
“When they play, children learn the skills they need for life.”
Peter gray
Wildcraft Game
A fun and education game for the whole family!
Learn to identify herbal plants and how to use them in everyday applications in this exciting, race-to-the-top-of-the-mountain, cooperative game.
Nurturing Toys
Bring out your nurturing side with these toys:
Stuffed Animals
Baby Doll Set
Play Tea Set
Kitchen Set
Additional Resources:
- Nurturing Cat Stuffed animal with babies
- My Very Own Nursery Baby Doll Playset Furniture
- Wee Baby Stella 12″ Soft Baby Doll
“Playing should be fun! In our great eagerness to teach our children we studiously look for ‘educational’ toys, games with built-in lessons, books with a ‘message.’ Often these ‘tools’ are less interesting and stimulating than the child’s natural curiosity and playfulness. Play is by its very nature educational. And it should be pleasurable. When the fun goes out of play, most often so does the learning.”
joanne E. Oppenheim
Dramatic Play Toys
Playing make believe has never been more fun:
Costumes
Play Medical Kit
Treasure Chest
Additional Resources:
- Mini Karaoke Machine for kids
- The Play Therapy Playbook for Parents 100+ Fun-Filled Techniques
- Wooden Theater and Shop with puppets
“It is a happy talent to know how to play.”
ralph waldo emerson
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Learn More About Play
Moms need playtime, too!
Looking for a little playtime without your children? Check out this list of 70+ Hygge Hobbies for Women.
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More Playtime Quotes
A continuation of inspiring quotes about the importance of play:
“Time spent playing with children is never time wasted.”
Don Lantero
“A child reminds us that playtime is an essential part of our daily routine.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
“We start out as pretty creative beings… Children let their imaginations take them to place they’ve never seen and do things that seem impossible. We encourage it as fun and playtime, but we should celebrate it as the potential for great discovery and accomplishment.”
Harvey Mackay
“It is paradoxical that many educators and parents still differentiate between a time for learning and a time for play without seeing the vital connection between them.”
Leo Buscaglia
“Play is the royal road to childhood happiness and adult brilliance.”
Joseph Chilton Pearce
“Toys are the tools of childhood, and the simple act of playing allows kids to develop a lifelong love of learning.”
Mark Carson
