Play is a child’s most important tool for learning basic concepts and ideas, communication and socialization techniques, and physical skills. Children learn virtually everything through play, and many experts have noted that play has the same role in a child’s life that work and study have for adults.

Play can help spur a child’s emotional, cognitive, social and motor development. Early in a child’s life, very basic forms of play have a significant impact on learning. For example, seemingly simple actions such as sitting on a rocking horse and leaning forward to make the horse move teach vital lessons about cause and effect. As a child grows, more sophisticated forms of play come to the fore. For example, older children may use stuffed animals or toy figures to create elaborate stories that emphasize the creative imagination.

As children play, they tend to learn in spurts. Once they learn an activity or concept, they continually practice it until they have it mastered. When they move on to learning a new skill, they sometimes appear to forget the skills they mastered earlier. However, once they feel comfortable using a new skill, they will return to using the older skills while also integrating their new lessons into their skill set.

Children learn by playing on their own, with their parents and/or other caregivers, and with other children. Play tends to be solitary or with parents during infancy and gradually grows to incorporate peers after a child turns 3 or 4 years old.

Parents often struggle to find the time and energy necessary to play with their children on a regular basis. However, such play time is vital to a child’s development. Play does not have to be elaborate, but merely has to challenge the child to learn new concepts or to practice lessons they have already learned. In many cases, parents merely need to give the child a start – such as demonstrating how to use clay – and the child will do the rest. In the case of highly imaginative play (such as creating stories involving stuffed animals or toy figures), parents are advised to leave the child alone unless they are invited to join the child.

Although play can enhance a child’s learning, it is important that parents not turn this fun time into a task or chore. Parents are urged to avoid boring the child, or making the child feel like the parent’s love is conditional based on how the child performs during these games. Children who enjoy learning at an early age are more likely to be encouraged to continue to explore new concepts and ideas.