Episode 11: More Free Play, Less Anxiety

Play, as many of you may know, is the way that children learn.

You could even go so far as to say, play is their work. It is just as important to them as our work is to us.

Play is how they learn everything about life. It is SO important, which is why I want to talk to you about it today!

There are two different kinds of play. There is structured, and unstructured. 

While structured play can help children develop and learn, it can be overboard. And it really needs to be very well balanced with unstructured play. 

Unstructured play is when you give a child a pile of blocks and say, “Do what you want with them.” This is directed by the child. Playgrounds, the beach, or the woods is a beautiful, natural playground with all unstructured play. 

Unstructured play contributes greatly to creativity and thinking outside the box. Something that I think we could use a little more help in our growing up kids. 

I believe structured play can contribute to anxiety, and I share how this can happen with a few examples in today’s episode.

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julie hatch