Time = Love
Christmas is THE BEST when you have small children - the excitement of the lead up, it really is a magical fairytale which everyone gets wrapped up in, and so we should! Christmas can bring lasting happy childhood memories that bond families together.
Giving gifts at Christmas is all part of the tradition and everyone loves giving gifts to children at Christmas, but can all the new toys be too much? How many toys does a child need? According to the experts, less is more! Apparently, Britons spend more than £3 billion each year on toys, and some surveys suggest that a typical child owns 238 toys in total, yet parents think they play with just 12 ‘favourites’ on a daily basis making up just five per cent of their toys.
Experts are now saying that too many toys is distracting for toddlers and does not help promote control over attention, but less toys allows them to spend more time with each item encouraging better attention spans and more creative thinking.
As a mother, I find that household objects are just as fascinating to exploring toddlers as their actual toys! And from around the age of 3, having plenty of crayons and paper to draw with encourages other skills like mimicking emotions and creativity, and offers a great chance for you to give praise. My 3 year old also enjoys tea sets, where we can pretend to have tea parties! At around the age of 5 children will develop clear ideas of what they like but look for toys that allow them to add their own creativity and are open ended, such as Lego, train tracks, craft, dolls where you can change the clothes, and dressing up outfits that they can put on themselves.
However, if you asked any child from any country what do they like doing with their parents, the answer is almost always, “Playing,” and if you asked if that happened enough, the answer is nearly always, “No!”.
Here are my 3 reasons why play between parent and child is so important:
Time = Love, the more time you play with your child, giving them that 1-2-1 attention, the more they will feel loved which makes them feel valued, and builds their self esteem.
It strengthens your bond and builds trust, this will be very useful later down the track in the tween and teenage years when you will be needing that bond and trust to help to communicate with them!
Playing is a great stress relief regardless of age! Playing with your child will help you both to relax and have fun, which is great for the whole family.
So, when I am thinking about presents and that crazy build up to Christmas when I’m asked what my child would like, I will be suggesting board games, or an experience like vouchers towards a Zoo visit, or perhaps something our family could build or draw together.
I will also be making my own “Play Vouchers” to pop into their stockings, to be redeemed at their leisure! Ideas include…
THIS CERTIFICATE ENTITLES THE BEARER TO: • A game of Hide and Seek! • A bike ride / Scooter ride with Mummy / Daddy / both! • Home movie night – a movie of their choice! Popcorn included! • Bake a cake session! • Make your own Pizzas!
Author, Lucy Toleman, Founder of Indee Nest Editor, Helen McClorry, Babies on board. Magazine
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