It’s play time

Toys, Games, and Playgrounds

A child’s work is to play and have fun and, along the way, to learn a few things. In fact, playing includes all kinds of activities that help a child hone motor, cognitive, and social skills. The real goal for children, though, is to play with toys and games and at playgrounds for pure enjoyment, whether they play alone or with friends.

The type of play that children engage in varies greatly with their age. For young infants, play is mostly about seeing objects and hearing sounds. Many infants are mesmerized by things like crib gyms, crib toys, mobiles, and music or sound makers. As infants gain manual ability, they love to grasp objects around them and, of course, put these objects in their mouth. Rattles, stuffed and sewn items, and stacking toys provide hours of entertainment. As soon as children begin to stand and walk, push and pull toys become popular, and as they gain more physical skills, children love nothing more than playing with ride-on toys, wind-up toys, and balls.

At around two years, children grow into fantasy play, and they begin to act out whole scenes with action figures, dolls, and other toys. Fantasy play persists for many years. Children’s creative side also emerges at about two years, as they play with crayons, finger paints, and other art supplies. By about four years, children have fairly well developed fine motor skills, enabling them to enjoy games with little pieces. Mobile children of all ages love to play outdoors as well, no matter whether they’re at a playground, a beach, a park, or in the backyard. Their desire to explore leads children to play with anything and everything, plaything or not. They play with things in myriad ways, regardless of how the toy or item was intended to be used.

Because play is such a broad area, I can’t cover every type of injury hazard in these pages. So I discuss the most common hazards associated with playing, as well as those that are less common but have potential to cause severe injury or even death, and I tell you how you can prevent or minimize the risk of your child’s being harmed while he plays.