Is Structured Play Really Necessary?

6/30/2020

I don't know about you, but I often feel overwhelmed by the amount of "structured" goal oriented activities I see posted all over social media by bloggers and development professionals. And I am totally guilty of being one of the people posting them! But if you are a busy and tired mom seeing all of these fun extravagant play ideas, I can only imagine it feels confusing and intimidating, and could create questions like......

"Do I need to do activities like this with my kids?!"
"If I don't, am I a horrible parent?!"

Just so that you don't have to read through this whole post worrying.... NO and NO.

Go ahead and take a sigh of relief!

But, there is a longer answer...

Structured play does support development.

Activities like: Putting puzzle pieces on one side of the child and the board on the other to encourage crossing midline... Or placing the puzzle pieces at one end of a tunnel and the board at the other, encouraging proprioceptive input, contralateral movement patterns, and weight bearing on the hands while crawling through the tunnel from end to end.... Or having your child help you build a salad by using salad tongs to pick up cut cucumbers and put them in the bowl to target fine motor and grasp development... Or looking for magna-tiles or legos in a tactile bin in order to build with them to target sensory processing, fine motor skills, and attention.

Goal oriented play like this builds lots of important skills.

But....

It is not always necessary.

And you do not need to spend every waking moment of your day planning and supervising play activities for your kids! Regardless of their abilities.

There are huge benefits to unstructured play...

And providing opportunities for your kids to explore their environment, think creatively, and come up with their own solutions and possibilities. Or to flat out be BORED, and figure it out.

But then questions like this may come to mind:

"How much structured developmental play is enough?"

There are no clear guidelines on this. You will have to find a balance that works for you and your child. In my OT opinion, an ideal scenario would be a few structured activities a day, then plenty of independent play time for kids to get curious and creative. For babies, I recommend at least half of their awake time be spent doing "developmental play." (If you want more info on baby play, check out my email courses, or this post on the importance of floor time.)

If you think your kiddo is falling behind in an area...

Increase the structured sensory play a little bit! You can download my 4 week calendar of activities for toddler age and up for inspiration. Download it HERE.

If you have a younger kiddo and haven't downloaded my activity ideas for 1 year olds, you can get it HERE.

What it comes down to is finding a balance that works for you and your family. Many kids do not require lots of structured play for developmental success. So, don't put unnecessary pressure on yourself to keep up with what we see online. #lifegoals right? I am with ya.

Until next time, air hugs!