- Mengasah perkembangan kognitif. Anak kecil mempunyai organ memori, yaitu otak (cerebri) yang belum banyak terisi. Melalui bermain, anak akan mengeksplorasi dan memanipulasi benda-benda di sekitarnya.
- Mengembangkan perkembangan moral dan etika. Melalui interaksi dengan teman-temannya di dalam kelompok, anak akan belajar tentang bagaimana aturan bermain di dalam kelompok.
- Meningkatkan kreativitas. Di dalam melakukan permainan, anak-anak dapat menerapkan ide-ide mereka.
- Melatih perkembangan komunikasi dan bahasa. Bagi bayi dan anak-anak, bermain merupakan alat komunikasi.
1. Train the sensory and motor development of children. Games that will actively involve all the senses as sensory organs and involves most of the muscle as a motor organ.
2. Hone cognitive development. Small children have a memory organ, the brain (cerebri) which has not been filled. Through play, children will explore and manipulate objects in the vicinity.
3. Develop moral and ethical development. Through interaction with his friends in the group, children will learn about how the rules play in the group.
4. Enhance creativity. In doing the game, children can apply their ideas.
5. Raising self-awareness. Through play, children will recognize the advantages and disadvantages, strengths and weaknesses
6. Train communication and language development. For infants and children, play is a means of communication.
7. As therapy. When children feel discomfort, playing is the solution to relieve the discomfort. When the sick and cared for, play can relieve pain and discomfort due to hospitalization.
Apa yang membuat anak-anak tetap berada di dalam ruangan? Survei menyebutkan, takut penculikan adalah salah satu penyebab yang utama, diikuti oleh kekhawatiran anak-anak akan tertabrak mobil, dan di-bullying.
“Ketakutan tersebut telah menciptakan kumpulan orang tua yang sangat mengekang yang membesarkan seorang ‘pengecut’ yang tidak mampu mengatasi naik turunnya masalah kehidupan karena mereka umumnya tidak punya pengalaman seperti itu,” ujar Hara Estroff Marano, penulis buku A Nation of Wimps: The High Cost of Invasive Parenting, yang berbasis di NewYork, Amerika Serikat.
Menurut Marano : "Rumah dari suatu keberanian telah memberikan jalan bagi rumah ketakutan, yang diberi judul, risiko penolakan, dan rasa narsistik,"
Although the narrative of the experts about the play is very important for mental and physical children, research shows that the amount of time children play today has decreased significantly. One survey cited Gray asked a nationally representative sample of parents who regularly track the activities of their children on the days chosen at random in 1981 and another in 1997.
The researchers found that children aged 6 to 8 years in 1997 has decreased the time to play about 25% of the same age group in 1981. Other studies also suggest, about 70% of mothers reported playing outdoors every day, only 31% said that their children do well.
So what makes the children remain in the room? Survey says, fear of kidnapping is one of the main causes, followed by fears the children will be hit by a car, and on-bullying.
"Fear has created a collection of very old people who raised curb a 'coward' who are unable to cope with the ups and downs of life issues because they generally do not have any experience like that," says Hara Estroff Marano, author of A Nation of WIMPs: The High Cost of Invasive Parenting, based in New York, United States.
Peter Gray, professor riset bidang psikologi di Boston College, Amerika Serikat, mengemukakan risetnya bahwa 50 tahun-an silam para orang tua tak jarang bahkan hampir semua menyuruh anak-anak mereka untuk pergi bermain, tapi sekarang anak-anak kebanyakan dilarang untuk bermain ke luar rumah. Padahal banyak hal yang dapat dipelajari di luar rumah.
Ketika anak-anak diizinkan untuk bermain, mereka akan menyusun games, bernegosiasi aturan dan memastikan bahwa orang lain akan bermain adil. Semua itu membantu untuk mengajarkan anak bagaimana membuat keputusan, memecahkan masalah, dan mendapatkan control diri. “Anak yang punya terlalu banyak ledakan emosional atau yang bersikeras memaksakan kehendaknya, akan belajar bahwa mereka perlu mengubah perilaku jika ingin terus diterima ke dalam sebuah kelompok,” tutur Gray.
“Melalui bermain bebas, mereka memperoleh kompetensi dasar yang akhirnya diperlukan saat menjadi orang dewasa,” sebut Gray, penulis dari dua studi dalam American Journal of Play, “Tetapi, sejak pertengahan 1950-an, orang dewasa telah memainkan peran yang lebih besar dalam kegiatan anak-anak mereka, dengan mengorbankan kesehatan mental anak-anaknya,” katanya.
Limited land and child in the yard makes the intensity of playing on the wane. The researchers found that children in the U.S. has far less time to play compared to children at 50 years ago. A trend that would have serious consequences for development and mental health of children.
"Until the 1950's, children are free to do the best part of their childhood. If you stay at home with her mother, she would say 'go out and play'. Natural place for children is outdoors, "said Peter Gray, research associate professor of psychology at Boston College, USA.
"At present, just the opposite. Parents do not allow children to play freely. In fact, if they do, no other kids out there who are invited to play, or his mother may have limits on their children, such as 'not out of the home page' even the kids do not want to live out there, "he continued as HealthDay quoted by page.
When the children were allowed to play, they will arrange games, negotiating rules and ensure that other people will play fair. All of that helps to teach children how to make decisions, solve problems, and gain self-control. "Children who have too much emotional outbursts or who insist on imposing their will, will learn that they need to change behavior if you want to continue to be accepted into a group," said Gray.
"Through free play, they eventually acquire the basic competencies required when becoming an adult," said Gray, author of two studies in the American Journal of Play, "But, since the mid-1950s, adults have played a greater role in the activities their children, at the expense of the mental health of children, "he said.
