Chapter 8 – The Benefits of Play

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, with Resolution 44/25 of November 20, 1989, recognizes play as an “inalienable and non-negotiable right” of every child. Play contributes decisively to the social, physical, cognitive, and emotional development of children and to their overall wellness. Among the key elements needed for a child’s psychophysical development, play holds a fundamental place: it is the ultimate tool through which a child builds an understanding of the world and learns to relate to others.

Play allows children to actively explore and make sense of their surroundings, learn about themselves and their environment, and begin to develop early self-control and social interaction skills.

In early childhood, play and learning are inseparable: from the infant’s first sensory exploration with hands and mouth—shaking objects to hear sounds—to older children pretending to be astronauts, doctors, or wizards and inventing rules for interacting in their imaginary worlds, play literally grows the brain.

Exploring a stimulus-rich environment supports the production of brain-derived neurotrophic, a protein that acts on neurons and promotes memory development, higher thinking, and psycho-motor skills.

At first, it’s cuddles, hugs, and smiles from mom and dad that provide the most stimulating and reassuring play experiences, introducing the newborn to the world. Loving sounds and gestures nourish the relationship and help the child gain new cognitive, social, and emotional skills.

Between 3 and 6 months, the child begins to play by exploring their own body: they start with their hands, moving, watching, chewing them – and move on to their feet, touching and bringing them to their mouth. Gradually, they discover objects, stare at them to study their details, grab them and bring them to the mouth, or shake them to find the source of a sound. During tummy time on a soft mat, they try to reach nearby objects by stretching their arms and lifting their head. Bath time becomes an immersive play experience as they splash water and grab floating toys, often trying to bite them.

Between 6 and 9 months it’s time for peek-a-boo: a parent smiles, hides their face with their hands, then reveals it while saying “peekaboo.”

At this stage, the child starts reacting to objects disappearing and reappearing. Hiding a toy under a blanket and revealing it moments later helps them understand “object permanence”—the awareness that something still exists even when not visible. This will be crucial in coping with early separations from caregivers.

As they begin to sit up, they see the world from a new angle and use their hands and arms more efficiently. A favorite activity during this phase is emptying a container of objects and then putting them back. A classic is the “treasure basket”, filled with items of different shapes, colors, and textures that the child can explore one by one or dump out all at once, receiving varied and gratifying sensory input.

They will gradually enjoy stacking toys and puzzles that refine motor skills.

To improve coordination and help the child discover their physical abilities, “pat-a-cake” games are ideal: watching a parent clap hands and sing a rhyme brings great joy, especially when the child learns to imitate the gestures.

Between 9 and 12 months, block play becomes particularly beneficial (27). From basic stacking cubes to more complex building toys, they enhance motor coordination, visual-spatial skills, and abstract thinking. Children also start enjoying soft or rubber balls, sized just right for them to hold, roll, or throw.

Between 12 and 18 months, after learning to walk and refining fine motor skills, the child will enjoy push-and-pull toys, more complex puzzles, and will begin to scribble using chalk, crayons, or colored pencils with increasing control.

After 18 months they’ll experiment with pretend play: imagining themselves as someone else and creating scenarios with dolls and stuffed animals. Studies have shown the benefits of pretend play (28), which supports language development, empathy, reasoning, problem-solving, emotional control, open-mindedness, and creativity. This is also the time for pouring activities using flour, sand, seeds, modeling clay, and more complex building toys.

Boys and girls typically approach play in different ways (29). Boys often favor physical contact and active play, influenced both by biology and cultural norms. But no toy or type of play is inherently suited only to boys or only to girls. Both can enjoy and benefit from all forms of play and entertainment.