One of the hardest and yet most expected things that parents are supposed to be doing is entertaining their children. We all want to see our children grow to be more confident, to be happy, to understand that life is a blessing. Even if we don't believe it ourselves at a particular time, we want our children to grow and play and acquire the skills that they need to become functional and happy adults.
The problem is that play is very hard to define. We want to be able to entertain our children, so we book trips to Mesquite fun park and the local theme parks and we don't think anything of it. But sometimes children don't need that constant entertainment. Sometimes they need to be bored in order to discover their imaginations and explore and learn about the world around them. And that's OK. The rest of the time, however, we need to entertain them to keep them busy, keep them happy and to keep that bond going. So, why should you be entertaining your children?
They learn more about the world.
Children learn about the right world around them through everything they do, but especially through play. Babies figure out how to interact with all sorts of objects when they're playing with their toys. Toddlers will play imaginary games with their toys through role play, which means they are learning through play. When they do things that are entertaining, they are more than able to engage.
They learn to assess risk.
When children are playing, they are learning how to consider the problems around them and develop the right solutions to get things sorted. They test their abilities, learn to take better risks, and try something new. They also figure out ways that they can do things differently for next time so if something goes wrong, they don't feel afraid to keep trying. Children are in charge when they are being entertained, because they want to keep going down the slides or they want to go on the biggest swing in the playground. Sure, they may fall down, but this is only going to tell them how to learn what not to do next time.
Children get to develop better social skills.
Playing can foster independent thinking and problem solving, and this is especially the case when children play on their own. Group play encourages sharing and cooperation, a better understanding of playing with others, and helps them to develop a good sense of self.
It improves your bond.
Mothers and fathers have a naturally strong bond with their children, but if you want to foster it so that they grow into happy adults, that bond goes beyond smelling their heads while you feed them as babies. When you are entertaining your children and you are getting involved in playtime, you will be able to build a bond that nobody can take away from you.
