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What is Creative Play?

By
Vikki Youll
March 11, 2021

“Creative play is any activity that satisfies the need for self-expression including expressing a child’s creativity and imagination”.

Hi, my name is Vikki Youll. I'm a mum and co-founder of Zanypig Toys & Gifts for Children, where we are passionate about playing and learning. I'm writing in this guest blog post about why creative play is so important for our kids and what we can do to help them with this.

***

We have all been there, giving the kids access to small and large screens.  Netflix or Disney+ is a great “Babysitter” and it does keep the kids entertained and out of your hair for a while.  But it doesn’t allow them to explore the world, ignite their imaginations and become creative.  Yes as parents we all want our own down time and to chill and relax at the weekend.  However, we all need to realise it doesn’t take a lot of effort and planning to organise creative play activities which can provide significant benefits to a child’s development.

 

Why is Creative Play Important?

Creative play is a vital part of childhood and child development. Through creative and imaginative play children can grow emotionally, socially, intellectually, and even physically. Creative experiences help a child develop these skills and enable them to share their thoughts, feelings, and ideas.

Creative play is a great way to build your child’s language and communication skills and specifically arts and crafts provide children with the opportunity to express themselves creatively and talk about the source of their ideas. When children are enjoying creative play and submerged with their chosen activity and ideas you will notice they chat to themselves about what is happening and come up with new ideas and solutions. This is a great opportunity for you to involve yourselves in these conversions so children can expand on their thoughts and ideas. This in turn leads to children building their vocabulary and developing their imagination and gaining confidence.

 

What are the benefits of creative play?

  • Encourages creativity
  • Develops concentration
  • Boosts imagination
  • Develops fine motor skills
  • Develops cognitive reasoning
  • Improves logical thinking
  • Expands vocabulary
  • Stimulates senses
  • Learn through play

Providing children with creative opportunities for play will allow them to develop these important skills as well as provide them with the opportunity to explore and learn about the world around them.  

Here at Zanypig we are passionate about children learning through play and we have a range of toys and gifts for kids which encourage creative play and critical thinking.  

These include 3D model kits, practical science kits, construction toys and games & puzzles

What are creative play activities?

  • Building or construction toys
  • Arts and crafts for kids
  • Drawing
  • Painting
  • Collaging or just experimenting with different materials
  • Dancing
  • Singing
  • Playing instruments
  • Reading and storytelling
  • Imaginative play and pretend play
  • Gardening
  • Baking

As you can see, creative play can be anything from drawing or building to dancing or baking. Really, any activity that is engaging a child’s creativity, encouraging experimenting, developing skills, learning and/or stimulating senses.

So next time when you are tempted to pull out a screen for entertainment, pull out this list of creative play ideas and you will finally be able to get some stuff done while your child is doing their job and enjoying creative play.

What creative conversations can you have?

Want some quick ideas on things to talk about which builds creativity, and other skills, in your kids? Leave your details below and you will get some top tips straight to your inbox, including a free pack of flashcards as a welcome gift!

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Written by
Vikki Youll

Vikki Youll is a mum of a teenager, with years of experience buying toys for kids and trying to them happy. she is the co-founder of Zanypig Toys & Gifts for Children, where we are passionate about playing and learning.

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