Healthy Play: 5 Benefits Your Child Gets from Horsing Around

When we've just gotten home from a hard day's work, we just want to put our feet up and unwind, but sometimes the kids have other ideas. As much as we like to pretend to be the ultimate parent who wants nothing more than to hear kids laughing, running around, and having a good time, sometimes it can be a bit annoying if our senses are already taxed. So let's regain a little perspective by looking at what a kid gets out of horsing around.

Here are 5 great benefits just off the top of my head—I'll do the thinking so you can just relax.

1. Social Development

The first and most obvious benefit a group of playing children get is social development. This is the child's equivalent to the cocktail party, and as bad as a cocktail party can make us feel when we wake up with a hang-over, I think most healthy adults would admit that the social interaction is a vital component to being human.

The best thing is that kids get it without that next-day hangover—not to mention that all the while they are reaping the rewards of these other 4 benefits.

2. Cognitive Skills

We tend to raise our eyebrows sometimes at the strange little games of imagination that our children play, but horsing around is also a chance for them develop their cognitive skills. Within their "roles," they engage in problem solving and their mind is highly active. Other games besides "pretend" that get their gears turning in a healthy manner are board games, crafts, and good old fashioned hide n' seek.

3. Out of the Box Thinking

All these imagination-based games also encourage something else—they give your child a chance to think outside the box and practice developing their own ideas. Rather than taking a set of rules and applying it to a situation, they get to have fun with it and make their own rules. In fact, you could go so far as to say a child creates their own reality when their mind is in full gear, and only their rules apply.

4. Creative Expression

Creative expression is another important component to being human and something that us adults value far too little when it comes down to it. But creativity is a way for us to express ourselves and make sense of the world. Not to mention that the more we "practice" creativity, the better we get at being creative, and where would the world be today if humans had never developed a hunger to create?

5. Exercise

If you can't wrap your mind around how all these other benefits manifest as your children run circles around you, it is clearly obvious they are getting some great exercise at the moment, isn't it? Their body is learning to balance itself, their motor skills are improving, they are working their lungs, and their cardiovascular system is doing its thing. Because of this, your child is going to live a longer life with far less risk of disease.


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So all this horsing around and playing is good for your child. If you understand that but really need a moment of peace and quiet, why not take the games outside? Buy a reasonably priced play set for your child and set up a mini-playground outside the house. To learn more about purchasing kid's play equipment or New Jersey swing sets, click on the link and go to http://SuperiorPlay.com now.