You’ve probably told your child to be “more active” more than once. But what does that even mean? 

Active play is simply a means for children to become physically active. Physical activity for adults might mean going to the gym or playing a sport, but for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers, it means focusing on movement as the child enjoys a wide range of fun activities. 

Through active play, your child can build her confidence and self-esteem while also developing better social, emotional, and cognitive skills. It also builds her concentration, physical strength, and coordination. 

What Are The Benefits Of Active Play? 

• Active play is important for the healthy physical development of children. It helps them build stronger bones and muscles, control their weight gain, and reduce the risk of developing health conditions such as heart disease and cancer. 
• Active play leads to lower rates of anxiety and depression as children grow
• Active play helps improve your child’s focus and concentration. After being physically active, your little one is better able to focus, which is excellent for picking up new skills and learning things at school
• Active play helps your child learn how to include others. When they connect with others during play, children learn how to interact even when there is a difference in abilities, interests, and personality types. 
• Active play helps build your child’s confidence. Even children who do not have a lot of experience being physically active will develop confidence as they play, acquiring new skills and building on existing ones along the way. 
• Active play teaches children how to learn new skills. Pretty soon after starting to engage in active play, your little one will learn that the more she practices doing something, the better she gets at it. Soon, she will learn that she can get better at something, how to improve her skills, and how satisfying it is to achieve the goal of getting better at something. 

How To Keep Your Child Active

Here Are A Few Ideas That You Can Use To Keep Your Child Active: 

• Dancing
• Hopping 
• Skipping with or without a rope
• Have her run along the beach chasing waves
• Have her run around the garden or the park chasing butterflies
• Throw bean bags together into baskets
• Play bat and ball games
• Balancing on a low edge or wall
• Playing circle games

That said, the best way to get your child to be more active is by incorporating active play into her daily routine. You can motivate her by choosing the right activities for her age so she doesn’t get bored, giving her lots of opportunities to be active by taking her to playgrounds and signing her up for sports, and keeping the focus on fun because kids will not do anything that they do not enjoy. 

Final Thoughts

As you can see, active play does not only offer physical benefits for your child. Through active play, your child will be able to get a sense of belonging while also improving her overall well-being and mental health.