How playing with your child brings your family closer

There are lots of reasons why this is the case. Firstly, playing with your child is simply a matter of shared time. Playing is what children DO and so, if we want to take the time to know them better, it makes sense to engage them when they’re most absorbed in the moment. Meeting them on their terms also makes explicit your desire and commitment to them. It’s an ideal way to show you are engaging fully with them.

Play does that, and so much more.

See the world through each other’s eyes

Parents and carers get the rare opportunity to see the world through their child’s eyes, experience the world as they do and find out what’s appealing to them. Many of us first discover our child’s love of sport, science, music or drama through play.  And this cuts both ways – with children getting the chance to explore aspects of their parent’s lives through play that allow them to understand adulthood a bit better. This is something that, as our Child and Family Coordinator Rachel notes, children are often very enthusiastic about doing!

She said: “The “home corner” (where we set up a pretend kitchen etc.) provides children with the opportunity to roleplay what they have seen in the family home. This helps them to make sense of “their” world and gives them the opportunity to act out different roles.”

Bond through physical closeness

We’ve discussed how play helps us connect more deeply with our children through greater appreciation for their ‘world’ and increased communication. But play is also beneficial on a more physical level and there’s one sense – touch – that becomes even more vital in the home setting.

Play promotes physical closeness as we sit alongside our children, lift them onto the slide at the park or engage in imaginative play. This, again, promotes closeness through touch as doing so releases oxytocin. This is a hormone which promotes feelings of trust, devotion and bonding and reduces stress.