The Children's Place and
Parent Education Center
27 Burns Ave
Concord, NH 03301
Phone: (603)224-9920
Fax: (603)226-0507


Hours of Operation
Monday-Thurs: 9am-4pm
Friday: 9am-12pm


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The Children's Place Services: Parenting Resources

Article 1: "Play: A Child's Work" - Young children learn from play. They learn everything they need to know to function in the world. Their play is quite purposeful. It is not as random as it may seem to appear. PLAY is: critical to all aspects of a child's development often overlooked by parents as a valuable tool a preventive measure to discipline problems offers a natural way for a child to learn essential in forming a positive relationship between parent and child Even when children misbehave they are probably trying to learn something. As parents, we look upon children's activities as just play and often overlook its real importance. Here is list of play's value: Outlet for energy Exploration Rehearses real life situations Works out strong feelings Strengthens family bonds, when parents and children play together Develops concentration and coordination Teaches all kinds of skills Teaches how to solve problems Teaches creativity Teaches how to get along with both children and adults Teaches from experience Develops confidence in one's ability Keeps children busy and less likely to get into trouble Children learn everything from play. Their natural curiosity leads them to learn. It is what childhood is all about. You can add a great deal to their children's development by allowing reasonable freedom to explore, providing interesting playthings, and playing with your children frequently. Reprinted with permission from: © 1996-2007 Child Welfare League of America. All Rights Reserved URL: http://www.cwla.org/positiveparenting/tipsplay.htm Kay’s Way: Early childhood educators and researchers have said for years that play is crucial for the healthy development of all children. Play is children’s work. It is "fun_mental" for children. Children learn at a very early age using all five senses: sight, touch, smell, hearing, and tasting. Play is one way that they learn and engage the world around them, figuring out how they fit into the world. There are several kinds of play: solitary play where children play alone (put a puzzle together); parallel play where two children play side by side on an activity (play at a sand table); and cooperative play where a group of children engage in play (e.g., housekeeping or dress up, where each has a role). There is structured play such as when children play a board game, following rules. The best and most fun is free or self directed play where children decide what to play with. Children need lots of self directed play to thrive. There are many things children learn as they play. They test their skills, develop muscles and coordination, develop language, learn mathematics and science concepts. They learn how to cooperate, problem solve and communicate. Consider what children learn if they spill water and spread it on the table; build a tower of blocks and then knock it down; dig in the sand, filling and pouring out containers. Recently I watched three children play with a wagon for a half hour on the playground. They were ages 5, 3 and 2 ½. Through their play, they figured out how to get in and out of the wagon, how to make it move with one then two kids in it, that at least one child would need to be out of the wagon for it to move. They had a great time playing and figuring out how to move the wagon. What did they learn? How to cooperate to get something done, how to problem solve, and how to talk to each other to make their needs known. They experimented with the wagon and learned something about weight (it is too heavy to move), strength (help me push it), and motion (a combination of pushing and pulling makes it move). In this one play moment, they developed socially, emotionally and cognitively. Keep playing with your children and let them take the lead. You will be helping them develop many skills and abilities and see them flourish as a result!