Play activities for kids are very important for their development. Therefore, they should be designed to foster skills, as well as to amuse our little ones!
Did you know that play activities for kids are much more than just entertainment? This type of fun also encourages learning and helps the little ones to develop fully. Therefore, it is very important to carry out play activities from an early age.
We know it’s not always easy to think of ideas to play with our children and support their development correctly. With that in mind, we present you with 7 ideas that stimulate different skills and areas of development. Keep reading and check it out!
Here are 7 play activities for kids!
Physical development
Here are 3 activities to support your child’s physical development.
1. Rolling and rolling
This game helps stimulate your child’s motor coordination and teaches them about the effects of some objects on others. To do this, you will need a box with a lid and balls. Build a ramp by placing a piece of cardboard on top of the box.
Grab a ball, roll it down the ramp, and ask your baby to watch. Then help and encourage them to do the same. Continue the activity for 10 minutes or as long as your little one wants to play.
2. Balloons
This activity with balloons exercises gross motor skills, which is responsible for the execution of movements that are carried out with large muscles. For this play activity for kids, you will only need some balloons.
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First, give your child an inflated balloon to explore for a bit. Then, ask them to throw it so you can try to catch it. It is important to be careful not to burst the balloon, as your baby could be startled by the noise.
3. Walk and play II
With this activity, your child will practice their ability to play. In addition, it will help them strengthen their abdominal, arm, and leg muscles, which will promote their physical and motor development. To play this game, you will need LEGO-style building blocks, some baskets, and your child’s favorite tunes.
Put on your little one’s favorite song for them to sing and dance to. See if they can sing the whole song from memory. Then, put some blocks on one side of the room and the basket on the other. Talk to your child about heels and toes.
Show them how to walk by doing the heel-to-toe motion. Then ask them to pick up a block, walk (doing the correct foot motion) a few steps, and then toss the block into the basket. Teach them how to throw the blocks by putting their body weight on the back leg and using the other arm to gain momentum. You can play this game as a team, with siblings, friends, and family.
Cognitive development
Cognition involves acquiring knowledge. Check out these two play activities for kids that encourage this skill!
4. Veterinary clinic II
The veterinary clinic game is a great opportunity to foster your child’s creativity and imagination. In addition, it helps to strengthen emotional ties and create good memories. You will need stuffed animals, a plastic stethoscope, and toilet paper.
Find a good place to play as you will pretend to be vets in a clinic and the stuffed animals will be the patients. The story can have different plots depending on your little one’s imagination. You may:
- Place the stuffed animals on shelves, as if they were stretchers
- Use toilet paper to bandage the patients
- Use the stethoscope to examine the animals
- Check the patient’s body parts
- Classify patients according to their size.
Also, let your child take the lead in the game. Play for as long as they want, fostering their creativity and imagination!
5. A day at the beach I
This is another one of our play activities for kids that promotes creativity and imagination! Start by looking for a place to play and tell your child you will participate in an imaginative game, imagining that you will spend a day at the beach. Don’t forget to take out some art supplies like cardboard and crayons.
Talk to your little one about what the day will be like and help them describe the activities in a sequence. You can ask them what you will do first, how you will get to the beach, what kind of clothes you will wear, what snacks you will eat, what you will need to bring to spend the day there, etc.
To do this, you can use art materials to write down the story, for example, by drawing the elements of your pretend trip with crayons on cardboard. The game can last for as long as your child wants.
Language development
In this topic, discover two play activities for kids that will stimulate your child’s language development.
6. The rhymes
This activity is very simple and your child will benefit greatly from it, as it will help them expand their vocabulary and teach them to recite rhymes. You will only need books of rhymes or poems. To play, read the rhymes or a poem aloud and clearly so that your little one can hear what you say as you emphasize the endings of the words.
By reciting the rhymes frequently, your child will try to say a word or two with you. Therefore, read the rhymes or poem aloud several times. We are sure you will both have a great time!
7. Imitating animals
The activity aims to encourage your child to get to know different animals and the sounds they make. To do this, take out some plastic or stuffed animals that make recognizable noises, such as a dog, cat, chicken, duck, etc.
Show your little one each of the animals while saying their names. See if they recognize any of them. Then take an animal, repeat its name and the sound it makes. For example: “This is a dog, woof woof.”
Encourage your little one to select an animal and repeat the sound it makes. It is important to remind them of all the sounds so that they can identify and imitate them with you.
Now you know why play activities for kids are important for learning. At Kinedu, you’ll find +1,800 activities to do with children ages 0-6, interactive play sessions, scientific articles, progress reports, parenting and child development classes, and much more. Download the app HERE for FREE.
