The Power of Play: Why Play Matters in the Early Years

Play is the work of children, they say.

How true!

Have you ever wondered that play is not all about fun and games for children? There is a lot more to play than meets the eye.

Play takes on a myriad of forms and has a key role in children’s optimal growth and development. Not only does play bring joy to our little ones, but it also contributes to their cognitive, physical, social, and emotional well-being. Furthermore, through play, young children learn how to interact with others and develop critical lifelong skills.

Play Isn’t Optional, Play Is Essential!

Many parents know that play is vital for raising well-rounded children. However, play is seldom associated with learning.

As a matter of fact, playing is actually learning and children do learn through playing! Children gain new knowledge best when they are playing as they learn something new better in a fun, relaxed and playful mood or environment.

Here are the benefits of play in early childhood that you should know:

1. Supports brain development and intelligence

Play is important to children’s healthy brain development. Harvard University studies show that the experiences and relationships that young children have during their early years of lives literally shapes the development of their brain.

It is through play that children engage and interact with the world around them at a very early age, develop cognitive skills, grow new competencies for enhanced confidence and build the resiliency they will need to face future challenges.

2. Sparks creative thinking

Dream big! And playtime is where it begins as play stimulates your child’s mind and let his imagination run wild. Play provides children an avenue to create imaginary worlds of their own where they have full control, to come up with free flow unique ideas and foster their abilities to think out of the box!

3. Develops communications, language skills and vocabulary

Children often use words to express themselves when playing. Play allows children to practice their language skills and expand their vocabulary through interacting with adults and peers during playtime.

4. Grows social skills

Play enables young children to engage creativity and pick up necessary social skills. When children play, they are introduced to concepts like listening, paying attention, communicating, negotiating, sharing, taking turns, working together, mingling and building friendships.

5. Encourages emotion regulation

During playtime, children explore their feelings, express themselves and work out the emotional aspects of life.

It is with play, children learn to cope with their emotions such as excitement, satisfaction, fear, frustration or even anger. In addition, playtime gives the opportunity for young children to build self-confidence as well as practice patience, empathy and understanding.

The Genius of Play During Early Years!

As play is crucial in promoting your child’s early development and learning, it is essential to equip your child with the right products or educational toys that can nurture their physical, emotional, cognitive and social skills since babyhood.

Looking for play resources that are beneficial for your child’s development in the early years? Get the right toys for your baby from the beginning!

If you are searching for best baby toys that aid in achieving your baby’s important early childhood developmental milestones, crucial for his or her growth and development in the later years, make sure you choose Fisher-Price®’s Smilestones Fundamentals products to get your little one started!

Say ‘Hi’ to Fisher-Price® Smilestones Fundamentals!

When you combine the right play at the right time, that’s when the magic happens!

Fisher-Price®’s Smilestones Fundamentals offer an array of wonderful toys that cover all your baby’s first moments.

Fisher-Price® products are powered by PlayLab—an onsite R&D lab—that are dedicated to designing and creating the best and most practical solutions to meet the growing up needs of babies of all stages. Every year, Fisher-Price® PlayLab has seen thousands of young families participating in its parent’s talks and toy-testing sessions – the very reason why parents are assured of getting premium quality for their babies from a trusted brand!

Find the fun that keeps little hands and minds busy, from classics like the Fisher-Price®’s Rock-a-Stack® to Laugh & Learn® toys below!

Fisher-Price^® Busy Box

With every turn of this activity toy, there’s something fun & exciting for your little one to see, hear and do. Baby can sort 8 shapes through the top and lift the hippo’s mouth on the side to let the shapes spill out. By pressing the keypad, your little one can learn colours and numbers. What is more, the butterfly book plays alphabet or counting songs when baby flips the page. The light-up piano keys play notes and musical ditties when pressed, and the peek-a-boo lion rewards baby’s touch with fun sounds.

Perfect for your baby’s fine motor, sensory and bilingual academic developments, there’s even more to explore on this activity cube, including a role play phone, leaf clackers, spiral bead bar and bat-at roller ball. The Fisher-Price® Play & Learn Activity Cube provides nonstop fun and learning for tots – especially if you grab the handle and take it with you on the go!

Fisher-Price^® Rock-a-Stack

For babies who can sit up independently, the Fisher-Price® Rock-a-Stack® is a classic fun stacking toy with 5 colourful rings to grasp, shake, and stack definitely. Younger babies will love grasping, holding, shaking and exploring the five colourful rings! The littlest ring has a shiny, reflective surface for baby to discover inside with colourful, swirling beads that make fun rattle sounds!

When your baby is ready to sit and play, he can stack the rings on the post, then bat at the wobbly base to make it rock back and forth.

Fisher-Price Linkimals Collections

Meet your baby’s new crew of talking, singing, light-up friends! Linkimals are musical learning toys that sync and play together to help baby learn better!

Linkimals Sit-to-Crawl Sea Turtle

Fisher-Price^® Laugh and Learn Laptop

Fisher-Price® Laugh & Learn Smart Stages Laptop is an electronic toy “laptop” that will keep your little one preoccupied for a long time. It’s Smart Stages technology makes learning content change as your baby grows.

This interactive toy has 30+ sing-along songs, tunes and phrases. Moreover, with as many as 3 stages of learning programmed into this laptop, your kid’s learning journey never ends!

Fisher-Price^® Laugh and Learn Tablet

The Fisher-Price® Laugh & Learn® Smart Stages Tablet has 28 “app” buttons for babies to press and activate fun lights, sounds, music and unlock learning about the alphabet, first words, animals and more.

Because every baby develops at their own pace, Smart Stages technology gives you the ability to select the learning level that’s best for your child. There are a variety of developmentally appropriate songs, phrases and sounds within three levels of play.