I have talked about this before – about the fact that although my kids are raised roughly the same, they’re actually quite different. I have two kids, a girl and a boy (in that order).
When it comes to learning, my girl (who is now 6), prefers to stand back and take it in before attempting to do something.
My boy (who is 4), prefers to jump in and just give it a go.
I find it fascinating to watch them develop and grow so differently even though they’ve been raised exactly the same.
As a child, Chloe always loved role-playing with her toys (or things around her in her environment). Ronan did too, but not to the extent Chloe did.
She was always setting up some kind of scene, and then interacting with her toys (or whatever), creating a story.
Ronan prefers to line things up, or build things. One of his favourite things to do is line his cars up, or set them up in some kind of sequence.
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When our children are playing, they’re actually learning and forming cognitive structures in their minds.
Research shows that as children explore their play pattern fascinations, they are strengthening the existing connections between the neurons in their brains and building new connections.
The team over at Clever Play Hub have a quiz that you can take and you can discover your child’s play patterns, what they mean, and get ideas on how you can support their learning.
As a parent, it’s always nice to know that the way they’re playing isn’t just for fun (although it is), it’s also a crucial part of their development.
I took the quiz for Ronan and Chloe and was amazed at what it said:
If you’d like to find out how your children play, and how you can encourage their growth and development, be sure to check out the Clever Play Hub:
Thanks to the S-26 GOLD Toddler team for sponsoring this post – have loved finding out about my kids’ development and how they play!
