Outdoor play needed for parent and child
07/08/2009 Parents need to concentrate on the amount of time they spend playing with their children, according to an expert.
Instead of feeling guilty about spending too little time playing with their child, parents need to concentrate on the quality of the time they spend playing with them, according to developmental psychologist Dr Nadja Reissland.
Dr Reissland, a senior lecturer at the University of Durham, said parents often feel bad because commitments such as work limit play time with their children.
The doctor warned said that parents should instead consider taking "minutes where we can completely concentrate on the child rather than anything else".
Talking of the benefits of children playing with adults, Dr Reissland said that it helps youngsters "learn how to engage creatively and how to use their imagination".
The ICM survey commissioned by Play England found that more than half of parents (52 per cent) feel that work, or other unavoidable commitments, limit their time to support their children to play.
Instead of feeling guilty about spending too little time playing with their child, parents need to concentrate on the quality of the time they spend playing with them, according to developmental psychologist Dr Nadja Reissland.
Dr Reissland, a senior lecturer at the University of Durham, said parents often feel bad because commitments such as work limit play time with their children.
The doctor warned said that parents should instead consider taking "minutes where we can completely concentrate on the child rather than anything else".
Talking of the benefits of children playing with adults, Dr Reissland said that it helps youngsters "learn how to engage creatively and how to use their imagination".
The ICM survey commissioned by Play England found that more than half of parents (52 per cent) feel that work, or other unavoidable commitments, limit their time to support their children to play.
