Quite often, whenour children return from afternoon play, they look exhausted, and ready for anap. That is the most accuratedescription, and quite the truth. Playis hard work. It is exhausting to themind and body of the young person, and plays an extremely important role inhelping them to become productive, healthy citizens.
The role of exercise and play in a young child’s life provides them with manybenefits. Exercise of the body is animportant part of keeping the young body fit as it grows into an adult body. When we reach adulthood, if we have had thebenefit of exercise and play, we tend to continue that habit into our adultyears.
What else is to be gained from the opportunities that play affords? We often participate in organized sports,coordinated play times, and are a member of a large group during all of theseactivities. Play on this level teachesus how to interact with our peers, develop camaraderie and perform as a teamwith other players. These skills areabsolute necessities in today’s business world. But what else is happening here, during this time of play andexercise?
What we learn in body language, coping skills, and the interaction of the mindand body during our interaction with others, is invaluable. When we learn these skills well, we not onlylearn how to interact with others, we learn how to interact with our self. Interact with our self? That seems like a pointless exercise, but itis an all important part of maintaining our health and wellness. There are times that our bodies try to tellus things about our physical or mental condition, and we simply refuse tolisten. If we have learned how to listento others around us when they attempt to point out a need or desire, we have auseful tool in listening to ourselves. This often can mean the difference between optimal health, and creatingan unhealthy situation.
What else do we learn? We learn what ourphysical and mental limitations are. During play, you see children and young adolescents push themselves tothe very limit. But as children, we arebetter able to distinguish between a real limit versus what society deems ourlimits. As a child, or young adult, thepressures of the world do not weigh on us as they do when we are adults. We are better keepers of the temple at ten,than we are at twenty. We are still veryin tune to what our body tells us, because it is our true master as achild. As an adult, we have let outsideinfluences master our body and mind, and dominate our time.
As you can see, the benefits to be gained during our exercise and play time aschildren, is a benefit to us for the remainder of our lives. Too often, we adults forget the importance ofexercise and play and the principles that are to be learned from time spent inthese activities. We want to rush ourchildren into their daily responsibilities, forgetting that their chiefresponsibility during the younger years is the play and interaction of youngminds.
