Heart4kidsadvocacyforum's Blog

Children learn through play which is their means of answering the innate desire and need to be curious, discover the unknown, visit their world of imagination, quench their appetite for exploring and testing the limits, practicing a skill, critical thinking moments, and stretching their “will” to “do something all by themselves”!

This is one validation for parents who all too often have to advocate for their children that play is an essential element of their developmental strategies and feeds the 4 domains of what constitutes their divine human identity. 4 domains they will say to you? Yes, you are guiding, nurturing, and protecting the development and well-being of their mind, body, emotional, and spiritual growth! For children “play is their work, and work is play”! We as parents have the responsibility to provide the time, space, and elements that catch their curiosity and capture their imagination! We can engage and support their play, but we cannot take it over or try to manipulate what they have designed or created!

Play is sacred! Play is fostering what they are experiencing and understanding about the world they are living in. What we can support in their play is their love for playing and the acquisition of language to express their joy, feelings, and discovery. We don’t overtly correct their language we just model. It’s their own unique development timeline for every aspect of their development. I know this is contrary to what some educators might feel, but as an Early Childhood Specialist and Early Childhood teacher and professor, I have witnessed the magical moments when children come into their milestones their way and their time! I say magical because it is! Give them time! Give them space! Play with them! The time that you are invited or welcomed into their world of childhood goes by so quickly in the linear world!

Then there is the rest element! I don’t care what people say, children even teenagers need rest! They cannot run on all their little cylinders full time, 24/7! Everyone, much less children need “time in”! Time in? Yes, that time when they can shut the world out and go within! Sleep, quiet time, cuddle time and time to just “be”! Be off! Be relaxed! Be relieved from other people’s expectations of what they should be doing or being! They need rest to fuel those 4 domains of their essential authentic divine “selves”! As a preschool – Kindergarten teacher I never forced my children to sleep but I did give each child their own personal cot, with their own personal blanket from home, with their own special book or cuddle toy. I always played soft classical music, dimmed the lights, cooled down the room, and spent a little time sitting on the floor next to each child so that they had a special “attention” time with me. I would ask them about their day or if they had something special, they wanted to share with me. By the time nap time was over, everyone had usually fallen asleep! That space and that time energized them for their afternoon schedule! Children’s behavior is colored by the amount of rest their body needs and even though each child is unique, they all need rest!

Truth be told, we are more present and accessible to our children when we have taken time for self-care and have rested! Overload is a guarantee for mass confusion and upset!