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Play -- A Child's Work¹

Evelyn Rooks-Weir and Millie Ferrer²

Play for a child is like work for an adult.

• A child will develop muscles by playing.

• A child will learn how to be a friend by playing.

• A child can work out his fears and fantasies through play.

• A child will learn to understand feelings by playing.

• A child will learn how to share by playing.

• A child may learn colors and sizes and shapes and many other things by playing.

Children use toys when they play. Toys do not have to cost much money. Some do not cost any money. A toy can be something that you use in your home, such as utensils for pretend cooking and cleaning; and a blanket over a table to make a tent or cave.

Find a safe place for your children to play. When children have safe places to play it helps them develop their confidence and skills.

Children need a place to keep their toys and a place where they can use them, just as you need a place for your pots and pans and a kitchen to cook in.

Help your children learn to put their toys away. You will need to help your children and remind them to put the toys away until this becomes a habit.

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Footnotes

1. This document is FCS2004, one of a series of the Family Youth and Community Sciences Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Original publication date November 1, 1988. Revised April 1, 2000. Reviewed March 27, 2006. Please visit the EDIS Web site at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu.

2. Written by Evelyn Rooks-Weir, former associate professor, Human Development, and revised by Millie Ferrer, Ph.D., associate dean, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611. Reviewed March 2006 by Eboni Baugh, Ph.D. assistant professor, Family, Youth and Community Sciences, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, 32611.

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U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A. & M. University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Larry Arrington, Dean.

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Copyright Information

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