Child Development and Family Coach Sarah Lampert explains why play shapes connection, confidence, emotional regulation, and learning.
Playing looks simple from the outside. We may see children jumping around, dancing, pretending to cook dinner with toy pots or climbing on furniture they were told not to climb, but for children, play is far more than entertainment. To put it simply, anything that feels fun, light and engaging for children counts as play, and it is one of the main ways they build confidence, understand relationships, and make sense of the world around them.
At Skye Child Development Services, we see play as more than a childhood past time, it is how children learn, communicate, process and regulate their emotions, and connect with others. It helps you meet your child at their level by entering their world instead of pulling them into yours.
Play is movement – Running, climbing, dancing, exploring.
Play is interaction with people, objects, and their environment – sounds, textures, and spaces.
Play is creativity – While playing, children are imagining and building new worlds from ordinary things.
Playing is also relaxation and release. It provides an outlet for children to laugh, connect, unwind, express themselves, and simply be.
Playing is how children think
Children don’t only play for fun. They use it to process life and test ideas. Creativity grows there. Imagination grows there. Problem-solving begins there, too.
Sometimes what looks small to us as adults carries deep meaning for a child.
The body needs play
Screen-free playtime, especially outdoors, plays a major role in the healthy development of our children. It strengthens fine motor skills through activities using the hands and fingers while developing gross motor skills through movement like running, jumping, climbing, balancing, and dancing. As children learn to gain control over their bodies through these activities, they also build confidence in themselves.
Playing builds connection
This part matters deeply.
When you choose to play with your child — really play with them — you are telling them, “I see you. I’m here with you.”
Family games nights, cards or board games, football in the yard, or a quick swim. Old-time Jamaican games like Red Light, Green Light and Mother May I are also great activities for parents and caregivers to do with children.
That creates safety… and children who feel emotionally safe open up. They are also more willing to communicate, express themselves, and seek support later in life.
Playing then becomes part of how trust is built between children and their caregivers. And it doesn’t have to be elaborate.
These moments often become the core memories children carry longest.
Play helps you understand your child
If you want insight into your child’s world, play with them. You’ll get to see how they think and respond to challenges, and notice what frustrates or excites them. Pay close attention to how they interact with other children as well.
Skye tip: Play with them and their friends, sometimes. Sometimes playing reveals feelings and things about their social world that they may not yet have the language to explain.
Play matters for adults too
As parents and caregivers, many of us spend most of our time instructing, correcting, rushing, and managing responsibilities. Playing interrupts that cycle to create moments of presence, joy and lightness, and when we feel calmer, our children feel it too. Sometimes it even reconnects us adults to beautiful parts of our own childhood we may have forgotten.
Playing is not extra. It’s not something children earn after their learning is finished. For children, playing is learning, so be sure to incorporate time for play into your schedule. Sometimes it’s the safest place they know.
With love,
Aunty Sarah
Sarah Lampert is a mother of two and the founder of Skye Child Development Services, where she has been offering various Child Development & Coaching services for over a decade. She is especially skilled in supporting families through focus and attention challenges, learning support, tantrum management, motor skill development and sensory processing.
Coleen Douglas