Taking your kids to the playground can be challenging. My children are 18 months apart in age and I have to admit that once my second child was born I didn't frequent the local playgrounds and parks too often, until recently. Now that my kids are 3 years old and 18 months I find it easier and more rewarding to visit the playgrounds because finally, they both can engage in the many motor challenges offered. We started going to the parks more because we don't have the necessary equipment in our backyard to continue challenging my kids' motor skills. I needed to give them new and more opportunities to build on the skills that they already have by climbing, swinging, jumping, sliding, twirling,and running in environments other than our backyard. Children need 3-4 hours a day of active play in order for proper development of their motor and sensory skills, not to mention building social skills and self confidence, and also getting their energy out. Venturing out to plagrounds is a great way to give kids variety in where and how they play, making it more fun and motivating for them.
Like I said at the beginning of this post, taking children to the playground can be challenging, but so rewarding once you make it a habit! My husband and I have started a new Saturday morning routine of running up to our local Great Harvest bakery, pushing the kids in the double jogging stroller, having breakfast, and then stopping off at a nearby playground for a while before running home. This gets us outside as a family, keeps us in shape, provides a weekend tradition that we now look forward to, and gets the kids over to a playground that they enjoy. Becoming a "regular" at the bakery and the park, has even brought its own benefits and a renewed connection to our community, which in today's society and especially living in a city, seems to be ocurring less and less.
Since starting this weekend ritual I have realized that we are seeing the same people at this park each weekend - other families, regulars, with their own, similar weekend rituals. I have also started to notice some of these same families at other parks in our area on different days. I never noticed this before because I never frequented the parks on a regular basis - but there are all these families who make it a regular habit of taking their kids to the parks and I have to give them huge props for making this consistent effort to get their kids out of the house, load them into the car or strollers, and get them over to the playgrounds to play so frequently. I know it can't be easy - it certainly isn't always easy for me to do it - but it is so important for children to get this regular opportunity to challenge their skills on playground equipment and to socialize with other children their age.
As parents, we don't take kids to the park for our own benefit (other than maybe to wear the kids out so they sleep well). Much of going to the park entails a lot of work on our end and then involves keeping an intense vigil to prevent injuries. But it is comforting to see familiar faces in the other regular families, fun to make connections with other parents, and exciting to watch your children excel at using their bodies in new and increasingly challenging ways and making their own new friends too. And it is so worth the effort when we can understand and recognize how this regular opportunity for active play is benefitting our children: Children who master motor skills, like climbing, jumping, swinging, skipping, riding a bike, etc, build confidence in themselves and use those skills to engage in other new and more challenging experiences; children who regularly interact and play with their peers develop better social skills and have an easier time making friends; and children who spend time engaged in active play each day exhibit fewer attention problems.
To recognize the effects of frequent playground time, watch your child as he/she makes new advances over time: building the confidence and skills to go from sliding on their stomach to on their bottom without any help, to cliding down the tall, twisty slide; being afraid to climb the rock wall, to trying just a few holds, to climbing all the way to the top with a huge smile and sense of accomplishment; from needing a push to swing to pumping their legs independently; from quietly watching other kids play to approaching other kids and playing with them. These developmental progressions won't occur by staying at home and watching TV; kids have to have repetetive experiences to build these skills and make these accomplishments and playing on the playground regulary is a fun and easy way for them to develop their skills naturally.
Do all of these regulars I see bring their kids to the park to play so frequently because they know the importance of it for the reasons listed above or because they just know their kids love it? Whatever the reason that they make the effort, I applaud these playground parents for putting their children's developmental needs and enjoyment first!
