Playing with children throughout their baby days and childhood will build strong and lasting bonds. It helps build their self esteem, confidence and gives better life chances.

Play is good for us. Children learn best through play and this learning happens every day through the experiences and the fun they have.

• Get down at your baby’s level. Talk about what they are looking at.
• Describe what they are doing – use short simple sentences ‘you are holding the red car’ and make the noises ‘car goes brumm, brumm’.
• Respond to the sounds and noises your child makes – even if you are not sure what they are saying take a guess – ‘yes that is your duck’ add some extra detail to what you think they are saying/thinking ‘ducks go quack don’t they?’.
• Try action nursery rhymes like ‘row, row your boat’ or ‘wind the bobbin’. The rhythm and repeating words are loved by babies and help them learn in an easy fun way.

This short video from Watch Me Play shows how parents and carers can feel more confident and closer to their baby or child through play. Find out more about Why Play Matters here.

The National Literacy Trust have great activities from playing Peek a boo to having a mini beast exploration.

To grow and develop, children need time and attention from someone who’s happy to play with them.

Children learn from everything they do and everything that’s going on around them.

When you’re washing up, let your child join in – for example, by washing the saucepan lids. When you cook, show them what you’re doing and talk to them as you’re working.

Getting them involved in the things you do will teach them about taking turns to help and being independent. They’ll also learn by copying what you do.

Sometimes things have to happen at certain times, and it’s important that your child learns this. But when you’re together, try not to have a strict timetable. Your child is unlikely to fit in with it and you’ll both get frustrated.

There’s no rule that says clearing up has to be done before you go to the playground, especially if the sun’s shining and your child’s bursting with energy.

As far as you can, move things around to suit both your and your child’s mood.

Play is Critical to Early Development. For babies and toddlers, simple, playful interactions with adults help develop sturdy brain architecture, the foundations of lifelong health, and the building blocks of resilience

Join Center on the Developing Child Director, Dr. Jack Shonkoff, for a “mini masterclass” with UNICEF Canada on the importance of playing with young children.

What is role-play?  

• If you’ve spent any amount of time in a nursery, you’ll know that children love role-play! Apart from being fun, role-play offers lots of learning opportunities for children and allows them to develop new skills. Role-play activities involve a child reenacting adult behaviours, such as driving, cooking and shopping. They may also pretend to take on a different state such as being asleep as well as mimicking others’ voices, dress and mannerisms. They also enjoy role-play scenarios, such as going to the doctors, dentists, hairdressers and restaurants to name a few.

What are the benefits of role-play?  

• Role-play offers lots of opportunities for children to experiment with a new tone of voice and accents. This is great for developing language and communication skills  
• Role-play allows children to act out real-life scenarios, which can often help them make sense of the scenario, for instance, a child facing a hospital stay may benefit from playing hospitals prior to or after the visit
• A lot of children enjoy role-play activities as a group, which allows them to build bonds with one another and develop their social skills  
• Role-play activities allow children to express their feelings in a relaxed environment  

How do I incorporate role-play?  

There are so many different ways you can incorporate role-play into your practice, but a great starting point is making sure there are lots of real-life objects and dressing-up clothes for the children to explore.

Role-play is also a great way for you to disguise learning as play. For example, if a child is role-playing cooking in a kitchen, you may be able to lay out the utensils they’re using and ask how many there are. Children are much more likely to be engaged and motivated to learn in this scenario rather than if they were sitting at a table and asked to count something.

Take a look at this great video from BBC Tiny Happy People, the shopping game

• Every time you give your baby attention, chat and smile, or let them know you are there for them when they are upset, they are learning to trust you.
• Every time you talk, sing and read to your child you are helping them learn the words that they need to communicate their thoughts and feelings.
• Every time you help your child to learn a new skill or understand a new experience, you are helping them feel good about themselves and make sense of their world.