Let your children play

While we were home yesterday, one of the major things we did with the children was PLAY outside.

Playdates are ways we connect with our children, and not only have we found it to be a great tool to connect, but we have also learned that the lessons they bring are too numerous to miss.

In my work with parents, I have seen one of the major issues to be; “Not teaching our children anything about failure”.

We expect to have a perfect child who never makes mistakes, who see us as infallible and expect to be infallible as well and when they can’t become that infallible being we portray, they lose it.

We are not teaching our children that it’s okay to fail. This is one of the many reasons suicide has been on the rise.

I know many will like to argue that our parents never taught us either. Interestingly even though most of them had even higher expectations from us and never taught us about failure deliberately but they allowed us to PLAY. We learned about failure through Play, especially the one that engaged us physically, with either our siblings or other children.

Unfortunately, Parents are still not teaching their children about failures and the worse of it is….we no longer let our children play outside.

I have seen our children learn so much at the playground even when we don’t teach.

One of the things I look out for in any school my children attend is “a good Playground”.

Someone recently tried to argue that, children who commit suicide are the ones who were not flogged.

No! Some of those children had unresolved mental challenges that were never looked into or they didn’t get the memo from their parents that Life is not a fairytale.

No matter how much you flog your child in the name of discipline and you never allow them to do simple plays on the sand, outside with other children, you might be setting them up for failure yourself.

A client of mine was recently bragging on how his children never leave their room once they get back to school. Really?

Did you know that Resilience is learned at the playground?

Did you know that your child will learn that failure isn’t the end at the same playground?

Did you know, play is the fastest way to learn as a child?

Dear parents,

Locking your children up, inside the house all the time will build children who live in the fairy tale world.

We think the play is getting them all sorts of gadgets? Now we have children suffering depression because all they see is a world full of anxiety that you create inside your living room.

In my best seller Connect to Correct, I shared on many things that Play can be to the child. And how it can help build your child up for resilience.

Someone recently said it me…. “After reading your book, I found out I needed to allow my children to make a mess and learn to clean them up. I realized that there are indeed many lessons on the playground like you shared. . So I started to allow them to cut papers, become creative, in fact, in the office, they now know me as someone who collates unused papers.”

In my home, PLAY is a major part of our parenting process, we employ both indoor and outdoor play. Play can teach your child a lot about life, failures, strategies, and even patience.

LET YOUR child learn through play also.