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Why you should play with your kids
Sher: ‘Be engaged with your child”
Playing is how children learn, according to occupational therapist Barbara Sher.
Occupational therapist Barbara Sher, also known as “The Games Lady.” (Thomas A. Manglona II)
Sher, considered by many as a tireless advocate of the vanishing art of kid’s play, said there is a significant correlation between stimulating and joyful activities and healthy brain development in adolescence.
“It makes sense,” she told Saipan Tribune. “Focused attention is a necessary ingredient for learning and children attend to an activity when it is interesting, fun, and meaningful. It’s easy to focus and pay attention when you’re having fun.”
Sher explained that being playful is another word for being “engaged” with children. What children and adults define playful as are different depending on interests, she noted.
“For one parent it might be sitting on the floor making cars go zoom. For another it might be helping in the kitchen and another it might be having a race,” she said. “It isn’t the length of time spent doing things together—10 minutes here, 15 minutes there can be just fine. It’s about the readiness to spend a moment doing something that your child, at this particular age, would find fun.”
Sher, an author of 10 books on the topic, works with the Public School System’s Early Childhood and Special Education Department presenting fun games for children to play. During 15 years of work on Saipan, Tinian, and Rota, Sher said that parents here understand that children thrive when they are engaged in fun activities rather than being told what to do.
“Since most parents weren’t played with when they were children, they need easy suggestions on ways to engage,” she added. “…I want caregivers to know they can increase their children’s skill and sense of being loved with materials found around the house.”
From playing baseball with a newspaper bat and balloon to making an instant puzzle by cutting a cereal box, Sher urges parents to be creative at home.
“You are truly playing together when you are noticing how beautiful your child is and, for that moment, being totally there,” she said.
Sher’s books, podcasts, and other work can be found in 11 different languages on her website, www.gameslady.com.
