This is a sponsored conversation from Genius of Play and the Toy Industry Association. As always, all thoughts are my own.
As a mom to 4 kids, an aunt to many, and someone who spent many many years working in child care, I know the importance of playing. No matter what age a child is, they need to play. How they play varies from age to age, but when kids play, they learn. They learn how to pretend, how to exercise their minds, and even helps them work through things that go on in their lives. Ever listen to little kids pretend with dolls or action figures? They can come up with complex stories and scenarios.
As much as I am a big supporter of electronics, I am a huge supporter of toys and board games. Electronics can have their place, but there is nothing better than getting down on the floor and playing.
Genious of Play knows how important it is to play. Kids who spend time pretending have a better vocabulary, better language abilities, and have a stronger sense of creativity, among other things.
Genius of Play wants you to take the pledge. The pledge to play. The goal is to have families across the country to guarantee 1,000,000 hours of just pure fun play for this year. Once the goal has been met, Genius of Play will make a charitable donation to The Toy Bank, an international giving program that makes play possible for children in need around the world.
If you are looking for ideas on fun ways to play during all the seasons of the year or just general play tips, be sure to visit the Genius of Play site or visit their Facebook and Instagram Pages.
So how many hours will pledge to play a week? Let’s see how quickly we can meet this goal.
Lori Felix
I miss the days when my daughter was little and she use to play with her dolls for hours, playing house and having tea parties and all sorts of adventures. Nowadays, the only playtime I have is playing catch/fetch with my dog Buddy.
Melissa Pezza
I love this article. I think we don’t put enough play in our days. That’s a sad, sad thing. We need to have fun!
Jennifer @ MomSpotted
We just made living room forts earlier this week when it rained out! We love to get down and play every day!
valmg @ Mom Knows It All
When my boys were little one of my favorite things to do was to play with them. I loved to sit in the floor or in the yard and be on their level and just have fun.
Scott
We already exceed any goal they could set by the number of board games we play each week! Much much more than average.