From http://web.redding.com/specials/brainchild/primer/p_2.shtml

Children learn when they play. When a child drops food off his high chair, he learns about gravity. Swinging helps with balance; playing with other kids teaches sharing; peek-a-boo "teaches them that people might go away but they also come back." Parents help children expand their abilities when they just play with them.

Remember these tips:

• Share floor time. Play games your child wants at his level.

• Take snuggle breaks when your child begins to get frustrated to maintain a good connection.

• When playing a competitive game, let your child win most of the time at first; it helps her build a sense of accomplishment. "Then gradually build up your effort so that she can get a sense of her own abilities."

• Give your child undivided attention rather than keeping one eye on dinner or playing and working at the same time.

• When your child giggles, go with it. Figure out what's making him giggle and do it over and over again.

• Play dress-up, but let your child be the director. Let them assign you a role in their play and them ham it up.

• Take time in the morning to play. Just 10 minutes of acting silly with your child will provide an outlet for some of her playtime energy and therefore save you from anxiously fussing and nagging at her to get ready.

• Set aside time every week to play (enthusiastically) all the games you normally hate to play.

• Be prepared for wildly fun and exuberant play to switch instantly to tears and tantrums. That happens sometimes because children feel so safe and so well loved that they let out all the feelings they've been holding in. Just listen to them until they're done and then get back to playing.

• When two children fight over a toy, grab it and run, saying, "I never get to play with this toy! You two will never be able to get it away from me!" Then the two have to become a team and work together instead of taking it out on one another.

-- KevinJarnot - 09 Dec 2004