Adult Participation in Child Play

The Benefits of Play
Children learn essential life skills by copying adult role models. From the moment your child is born, you are their first and best toy and playmate. As they grow older, connecting with them through shared play experiences strengthens the bond between parent and child and keeps lines of communication open even when daily schedules become more hectic and time together harder to arrange.

However, children also need time and space to explore the world and their imaginations by themselves. Adults must never take over playtime and direct a child's every action. As Kenneth R. Ginsburg (associate professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine) and two committees for the American Academy of Pediatrics wrote in a recent clinical report, "When play is controlled by adults, children acquiesce to adult rules and concerns and lose some benefits of play, particularly in developing creativity, leadership and group skills."