Are you one of those people who prefer to have some time alone? If you are, you are not the only one. There is a high percentage of people who also prefer being on their own doing the things that they love without the company of others. Solo activities such as gardening, drawing, or even cleaning are satisfying to a certain level. The same theory applies to independent play, which can provide encouragement of various skills. Continue reading to understand the advantages of letting your child play alone.
EMOTIONAL REGULATION
Offering your child some alone time can let them relax their mind. During this period, they are able to regulate their emotions to reduce any feelings of being overwhelmed or over-stimulated. When there is too much noise or too many people around, children may become highly reactive which may cause frequent tantrums or meltdowns. Independent play and alone time can help to counteract such situations to let your child learn coping skills. Letting them have their time to themselves allows them to re-center their focus to encourage self-care.
SOCIAL INDEPENDENCE
Do not think that your child will feel left out when they are left to play alone. It is actually crucial for children to be allowed to do their own thing in different social settings. This can help them develop social independence which is important to prepare them for different experiences. They will get to learn that there are people who have different hobbies and interests and that they will not always have friends to play with.
SELF CONFIDENCE
Having alone time and enjoying independent play toys help to build self-confidence in children by giving them the freedom to do what they like. They get to explore different things independently and take healthy risks. Children are also left to learn about themselves, create ideas, build on different skills, and eventually grow to be comfortable with who they truly are.
SELF RELIANCE
Independent play helps children build on their self-reliance as it can improve a child’s ability to trust their own instincts. They will slowly learn that there is not always going to be someone to feed them with instructions or provide them with a solution at every single moment of their lives. This is really essential for their personal development. At times, children who are not encouraged to play on their own may be highly reliant on others for guidance on every single activity that they participate in. This will eventually prove to be difficult not just at home, but at school and work much later even for simple things like putting on shirts or tying shoelaces.
BETTER LEARNERS
Children who are allowed to play with on their own are more focused which can help expand their attention spans. A calm mind prevents a child from being overwhelmed, which lets them better concentrate on the activities that they are doing. This is essential in letting them achieve better academic success when they need to study on their own later in life.
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