From the first years of his life the child must be able to play. This is now forgotten by many parents who use modern methods of early development of the baby. They try to teach early to read their child, who did not really learn how to sit still, thinking that their child will grow smart and smart. However, it is proved that speech, memory, ability to concentrate, attention, observation and thinking develop in games, and not in the learning process.
Two or three decades ago, when there were not so many developing toys, the main role in the education of children was played by the school, it was here that they were taught to read, write, count, and the main factor in the development of the child were games. Since then everything has changed dramatically and now, so that a child is taken to a good and prestigious school, he sometimes must pass not simple examinations. This gave birth to fashion for educational toys and educational programs for preschool children. In addition, in pre-school institutions, the main emphasis is on preparing a child for the school curriculum, and games that are the basis of child development assign a secondary role.
Modern psychologists are concerned that training is stronger and more penetrating the child's life, sometimes occupying most of his time. They call for the preservation of children's childhood and the opportunity to play games. One reason for this trend is that there is not one with whom a child can constantly play, and games are not so interesting when you are playing alone. Parents spend most of their time at work, if there are brothers or sisters, they too can be, for example, at school, the child is left to himself, and even if he has thousands of toys, he will soon lose interest in them. After all, the game is a process, not the number of toys. Children's games occur not only with the use of toys, children's fantasy will help to turn an airplane or bird into a flying horse, and a folded piece of paper into a house.
There are several types of children's games: mobile (salochki, hide and seek, lapta, trickle), table (chess, checkers, lotto, puzzles, mosaic, dominoes, logical and strategic games), computer (developing memory and attention, strategic and logical). Interactive games, such as, for example, "daughter-mothers" are also useful. This type of play helps the child to develop new forms of his behavior, teach him to interact with other people. With the process of growing up a child, his games also grow up, team games (basketball, football, volleyball) come to replace moving games, while realizing the bitterness of defeats and the joy of victories, the emotional-volitional sphere of the child develops.
Not unimportant in the games for children are the rules, in the game the child is explained that there are special rules that determine how you can and how you can not play, how you should and how you should not behave. Getting used to playing by the rules from childhood, the child will try to observe social norms in the future, and it will be difficult for a child who has not developed such a habit to adapt to it, and he may not understand why to adhere to such strict restrictions.
According to the peculiarities of the children's game, one can also judge about the psychological and intellectual development of the child. For example, if the games are constantly repeated, they are of a ritual character, and this continues for a long time, it is necessary to seek the advice of a psychologist. If the child's games are aggressive, this can be a sign of a child's high anxiety, low self-esteem, and sometimes with the help of aggression, children try to attract the attention of adults. And perhaps aggression, this is what the child sees from the side of the parents, and in the game he demonstrates what he has become accustomed to seeing around him.
Depending on the age, the type and nature of games for preschool children must be different. Namely:
- for children under 1.5 years of age - a subject play. A toy for children of this age can be any object that fell into the hands. Walking, running and throwing are the basic game operations.
- for children from 1.5 to 4 years - sensory-motor games. The kid touches objects, moves them, learns to make different operations, gets tactile sensations. Often, at four years old the kid is already playing hide-and-go and catching up, can ride a swing, a bicycle.
- for children from 3 to 5 years - games with reincarnation. By this age the child must learn to transfer the various properties of objects to each other. A child can imagine himself with any object, taking two toys, he can distribute roles to them, for example, one will be a mom, and the second - a dad. At this age, this kind of game is also manifested as "imitation", when the kids imitate and mimic those who surround them. This sometimes causes anger in parents, but this process is an inevitable stage in the development of any child, while games with reincarnation are replaced by social ones.
- for children older than 5 years - many-valued and comprehensive games that must include elements of fantasy, creativity, imagination, be structured and organized.