Children Playing - How Play Is Important To Kids And Adults


You can learn a lot by watching children playing. There is no greater sight than to see children pretending to be superheroes or digging for treasure in a sandbox. To hear the laughter and see a child's excitement can bring a smile to any adult's face. An important part of a child's development is through play. A child's problem solving skills are developed through play. Children are able to work on relationships, build self-esteem and decrease their anger. In the course of a child's life adults usually teach children, but on the playground children can teach adults how to have fun.

Unfortunately, some children had to grow up so fast that they never had the experience of play. When this happens, they often miss out on a healthy part of their development. These children often grow up to be adults who are more angry and depressed.

Whether you are an adult who missed out on play as a child or an adult who lost site of the importance of play, take the time out of your busy day to watch children playing. By watching children play you can regain some of that fun, enabling you to see how carefree and fun life should be.

To incorporate play in your life, think back to your childhood.

* What did you do for fun?
* Did you experience play or did you observe children playing?
* Ask yourself how you can bring play into your adult life?

If you are having difficulty in your life and are in need of a break just take the time out of your busy unrelenting day to watch children play. If you feel comfortable doing so, join in the fun. The stresses and strains of your daily life will just slip away.

Lisa Dunning is a California Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Specializing in Parent/Child Relationship issues and author of "Good Parents Bad Parenting: How To Parent Together When Your Parenting Styles Are Worlds Apart".

Lisa Dunning is a columnist for Las Vegas Family Magazine & Los Angeles Family Magazine and provides expert relationship and parenting advice for television and radio programs throughout the country.

To learn more about Lisa Dunning, her parenting book and other services, visit her website at http://www.LisaDunningMFT.com

MORE RESOURCES:
RELATED ARTICLES
Stress Management and Relief Techniques - Quit Running from Bears!
Fear, and its accompanying seriousness, causes our suffering. Fear restricts and imprisons us.
How To Cut Down On College Stress
Probably the least appreciated form of stress is college stress. This is mostly due to the fact that adults simply see a lot of college students sitting on their rear ends playing video games and drinking, instead of seeing students who are under pressure to succeed all the time.
10 Ways to Reduce Commuting Stress
Do you get out of your car with a queasy stomach, a headache and your blood pressure registering through the roof? If you do, that energy vulture called stress may have sent your pulse skyrocketing. In a study conducted at the University of California at Irvine, researchers found that the stress of commuting takes a major toll on health.
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About How to Get a Life, But Didnt Know Whom to Ask
Question 1"How do I get more time to play?"Answer: Schedule it in. Why? Because if you don't schedule it you will generally let other things have a higher priority and put yourself and a life further down the list.
Worry: Is It Worthwhile Work or a Waste of Time?
As tools for change are discussed, one tool - that you might not have thought of - attains a unique status. That tool is WORRYING.
Getting Rid of Your Frustrations
Punch a pillowScream into a pillowTurn on your favorite music and dance, sing..
How To Reduce Stress and Ease Worries in Just 3 Minutes
Meditation, relaxation and visualisation are the standard recommendations for reducing stress, and they are all beneficial and useful to us in many ways, however, they are not so easy to put into use when stress strikes with it's disruptive companions frustration, overwhelm, confusion, anxiety etc in full attendance.Here's something simple you can try to diffuse stress quickly and easily, anytime and anywhere.
Taming September: Avoiding Fall Frenzy
When September rolls around, does it generally hit you like a ton of bricks? Do you feel as if that invisible being in charge of your life has suddenly ratcheted up the speed on your treadmill? WAY up?This year, take on September with some new tools and expectations. See if you can stand up to it more strongly than you have in the past.
Stress Management: Are You a Chooser or a Loser?
Author and speaker H. Stephen Glenn has said,"In terms of the entire world, if, when you wake up in the morning, you have a choice of what to eat, a choice of what to wear, a job to go to and a way to get there, you have abundance.
Stress Relief
Traffic jams. Toddler tantrums.
A 2-Minute Stress Buster
Meditation seems to have arrived in the mainstream of late, and for good reasons. As reported in a 2004 issue of Time Magazine -- brain imaging shows that meditation actually shifts your brain's activity from the right side of your brain, over to the left side.
Stress Managment and Mastery: Progress vs. Perfection
David Bowie once sang, "Ch-ch-changes, tryin' to face the strain."And though working on changes in our lives can be difficult at times, it really doesn't have to be such a strain.
Setting High Personal Standards
In his book, The 22 Non-Negotiable Laws of Wellness, author Greg Anderson wrote, "Let us be about setting high standards for life, love, creativity, and wisdom. If our expectations in these areas are low, we are not likely to experience wellness.
Stress Management Shouldnt Create More Stress. 10 Ways To Reduce Unreasonable Stress and Boost Perf
We all know that stress levels in the workplace are reaching unreasonable levels. And most sensible human beings will agree that we have to take action to fix this problem.
Dont Be a Worry Wort!
Everyone worries. As bothersome as it is, worry isn't all bad, and can actually work for you.
Conquering Stress and Depression with Exercise
One of the best ways to combat stress and depression is to make physical fitness a part of your daily routine. Aside from the proven health benefits of exercise, people who exercise regularly are more apt to deal with stressful situations more easily, handle physical work tasks better, and tend to be less susceptible to illness and injuries.
The Benefits of Eating from a Jar of Honey
June is the month of the honey moon. Custom holds that this is the best time to harvest honey from the hives.
Living on the Edge: Stressed Out and Nowhere to Go
Is your stress level higher than it should be? Are you struggling with changes in life that you neither anticipated nor caused? If so, keep reading! Most of us carry far more stress than did our parents and grandparents. Life seems more complicated than ever.
Calming The Voice of Stress
But how can this happen to someone?Let's concentrate on how these illnesses affect the way we value the self. Of all of the destructive patterns of behavior these illnesses cause, the way a sufferer talks to the self is the fuel that maintains their illness.
Overwhelm: Love It or Leave It!
Amazing thing, overwhelm!You don't usually see it coming. It just kind of creeps up on you, doesn't it?Even those of us who love juggling a million projects at a time get overwhelmed once in a while.