The Importance of Play

Part 1: Your Child’s Job is to Play

“Playing is a child’s world”- National Library of Medicine

It’s another cold, rainy winter in Mendocino County. Great for the plants, not so great for our little ones who are stuck inside for days on end. If your family is like ours, you’ve likely played every board game, put together every puzzle, and watched every episode of Bluey at least twice. Your little ones are also likely turning every–and I mean every–piece of furniture into a makeshift jungle gym. While this behavior may be against house rules, just remember that your littles are literally doing their jobs.

Goal-Oriented Play

Play–running, jumping, climbing, swinging, sliding–is essential for every child’s development, regardless of ability. While our culture has put an increasingly heavy emphasis on academics, goal-oriented play remains essential to healthy brain and body development. But what is goal-oriented play, exactly? The National Library of Medicine defines goal-oriented play as “active play that requires working the body muscles, which stimulates muscle functions.” Essentially, it’s what you see on a typical school playground, and what we strive to provide for all children at Mendo LEAP.

What Happens When a Child Plays?

Is it a ball pit or a stormy sea? When a child is playing, their imagination can turn the ordinary into the extraordinary.

Goal-oriented play doesn’t just develop a child’s gross motor skills. When your little one is climbing a structure and jumping off it again and again, they’re learning how to do something sequentially. If another child wants to climb the same structure, now they’re negotiating a social situation and taking turns. Maybe your child is imagining that they’re climbing the rigging of a pirate ship and leaping into a roiling ocean: now your child’s creativity is being sparked!

While adults can sometimes see unstructured play time as frivolous, the truth is it’s essential to our childrens’ growth and development, especially in early childhood. And, while we love our local parks, they don’t always meet the adaptive needs of all of our children. That’s why we’re proud to have established Mendo LEAP in the heart of Ukiah. All of Mendo LEAP’s equipment is designed with adaptability and early childhood development in mind. Our community needs more access to adaptive play equipment and indoor options for when the weather gets yucky, and we’re excited to be taking major steps to make that happen. We’re also incredibly grateful to our community for your support in helping us realize that dream!