Other policy
Research: The Importance of Play in Promoting Healthy Child Development and Maintaining Strong Parent-Child Bonds
9 Oct 2006
Play is essential to development as it contributes to the cognitive, physical, social and emotional wellbeing of children and youth. Play also offers an ideal opportunity for parents to engage fully with their children. Despite the benefits derived from play for both children and parents, time for free play has been markedly reduced for some children. This report addresses a variety of factors that have reduced play, including a hurried lifestyle, changes in family structure, and increased attention to academics and enrichment activities at the expense of recess or free child-centred play. This report offers guidelines on how paediatricians can advocate for children by helping families, school systems, and communities consider how best to ensure play is protected as they seek the balance in children's lives to create the optimal developmental milieu.
The report can be downloaded from the American Academy of Pediatrics.
