“Children need the freedom and time to play. Play is not a luxury. Play is a necessity.” – Kay Redfield Jamison
If you have read anything else on my website, you will know I am far from a gentle hippy parent that lets their children choose their own name.
I take the easy route, find what works and stick to it.
But I cannot underestimate the importance of free play and it will transform any trip or day out with your toddler.
This doesn’t mean let your child lose to do whatever the hell they like.
Free play is unstructured play where children can themselves decide what and how to play.
You may think you are doing this by taking them to amazing places like theme parks and kid’s clubs but they do just need a bit of time in a day to have freedom to chose how they play.
No that does not mean they can hit little baby Gary because they want to – the ‘don’t be a dick’ rule still applies.
This can happen in places such as soft play, playgrounds or accommodation with their own toys.
Let me explain a little more…
I remember taking my 2-year-old daughter to Disneyland Paris for the first time and, trust me when I say, she crossed that Mickey arch and turned into Satan.
She was so badly behaved and I was just baffled and she is generally a really good kid.
After googling if my kid hating Disney is a viable reason to put them up for adoption, I found something really interesting that has helped me on every trip since.
Basically it is really important to give our kids free time each day where they can chose how and what to play.
I thought I was Mum of the year taking my kid to Disneyland, rushing to the shortest queue, making sure we were on time for the parade, telling her what characters we were meeting next.
In fact, she was getting frustrated that all her ‘fun’ was totally prescribed.
So, on holidays, we always plan in some ‘free play’. This can be a play area, swimming, down time back at the room playing with their own toys, or technology time (dare I say it).
Just think that in a playground they have the choice of so many different ways to play and it is their choice.
I am not preaching to be Supernanny at all but this has totally transformed our days out and holidays; I hope it can do the same for you.
If either of our children start being a little defiant we look at our day and realise they have not had any free play yet and quickly factor that in.
If you struggle to do this on holiday, maybe on a day out or excursion, to give the children a bit more control you could present them with a choice. Like what they would like to eat or what seat on the bus etc.
If you take one tip from this site then let this be it, it really has transformed our holidays.