Playing with your kid is key to your success and to theirs!

Play time!

Such an important part of any child’s life. It helps build critical thinking, creativity, and social skills.

But did you know it also provides the foundation of a parent-child relationship?

Structured and unstructured play is a critical part of the success of a parent-child relationship not only in the early years of development but also in a youth’s later years and the relationship over time.

Why is this important?

1) Playing with your child builds strong and healthy attachment. When they are younger it provides a safe environment to learn and explore. And as they age, this same environment will help foster a strong bond and relationship between the parent and child.

2) With a strong relationship, healthy attachment, and secure bond, parents will have more credibility and more capacity when it comes to requests, limits, and discipline in the future.

So what does play look like?

There are two forms of play; structured and unstructured.

Structured play is play time that has structure, rules, and created limits. Games, sports, cooking, ect.

• Structured play helps to develop a child’s ability to follow directions, limits, and rules. This form of play can help build a child’s ability to work in teams and build sportsmanship.

Unstructured play is play that is less structured, more creative, and driven by the child.

• Unstructured play helps build a child’s creativity, self-assurance, and self-esteem.

Both forms of play are important and should be engaged in regularly. Everyday, even if it is only for 5 minutes, or 15 minutes.

Set the time aside every day to spend time playing with your child, spending time getting to know their strengths and characteristics in order to build a stronger and long lasting relationship!

Until next time,

Rene Nevarez, LMFT

@TheSacramentoCounselor