In order to go through the pandemic time properly it is essential to teach our kids to play alone for a while. It is also important to have an own space for everybody at home to be able to spend time individually.

One of the challenges of parenting is to keep the kids busy while we do the household chores, but if we need to work too, this task seems almost impossible. It is no wonder we tend to allow our kids some screen time to engage them. Every family has their rules and solutions for this. Some of them don’t have a television at home; others adjust screen time according to the age of the children. If you belong to the latter group, don’t forget to control the programs they watch. But why do we worry so much about screen time?

According to professionals children, who watch cartoons or other videos on the internet regularly, have a bigger chance to have problems concerning fitting in, learning or behavior. They get the pictures ready and this hinders creativity, imagination and also visualization. They receive so many stimuli that they cannot indulge in playing, they change games too often, and they cannot engage themselves for a longer time. The question arises here: why is it important and what are the advantages of being able to play alone, to make their own ideas come true and to improve their personality.

Individual playing and being lost in their own world open several doors for the kids. This helps them to improve their imagination, to process their experiences. This process is called “elaboration” and it is an important tool and strategy for coping; we can see the processing of feelings in the way they play. Their experiences which are hard to understand and accept and the inexplicable phenomena of the world are also shown while they are playing.

Individual pastime and coping with the upcoming difficulties strengthen kids’ problem solving abilities, their autonomy and establish their ability to learn alone. Children’s imagination develops while they play individually, they will learn how to rely on themselves, so they won’t be afraid of future challenges they might need to solve alone. All of these have positive effects on creativity and we all know that creative people can cope with difficulties easier in their lives.

The amount of individual playing time shall differ according to age and personality types. We need to learn it step by step and with a great amount of patience. It is important that kids should find joy in playing; otherwise their motivation will be lost.

In our upcoming article we will give you some ideas concerning the ways you can support and teach your kids to play alone.

Nikoletta Széki – Forest Tale Daycare

This article is translated by Emese Murin.
Click here for the Hungarian version.

Fotó: Jelleke Vanooteghem / Unsplash