{"id":200152,"date":"2015-04-27T04:00:07","date_gmt":"2015-04-26T18:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=200152"},"modified":"2015-04-27T04:00:07","modified_gmt":"2015-04-26T18:00:07","slug":"why-you-should-play-with-your-kids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/why-you-should-play-with-your-kids\/","title":{"rendered":"Why you should play with your kids"},"content":{"rendered":"

Playing is how children learn, according to occupational therapist Barbara Sher.<\/p>\n

\"Occupational<\/a>
Occupational therapist Barbara Sher, also known as \u201cThe Games Lady.\u201d (Thomas A. Manglona II)
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sher, considered by many as a tireless advocate of the vanishing art of kid\u2019s play, said there is a significant correlation between stimulating and joyful activities and healthy brain development in adolescence.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes sense,\u201d she told Saipan Tribune. \u201cFocused attention is a necessary ingredient for learning and children attend to an activity when it is interesting, fun, and meaningful. It\u2019s easy to focus and pay attention when you\u2019re having fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sher explained that being playful is another word for being \u201cengaged\u201d with children. What children and adults define playful as are different depending on interests, she noted.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor one parent it might be sitting on the floor making cars go zoom. For another it might be helping in the kitchen and another it might be having a race,\u201d she said. \u201cIt isn\u2019t the length of time spent doing things together\u201410 minutes here, 15 minutes there can be just fine. It\u2019s about the readiness to spend a moment doing something that your child, at this particular age, would find fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sher, an author of 10 books on the topic, works with the Public School System\u2019s Early Childhood and Special Education Department presenting fun games for children to play. During 15 years of work on Saipan, Tinian, and Rota, Sher said that parents here understand that children thrive when they are engaged in fun activities rather than being told what to do.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince most parents weren\u2019t played with when they were children, they need easy suggestions on ways to engage,\u201d she added. \u201c\u2026I want caregivers to know they can increase their children\u2019s skill and sense of being loved with materials found around the house.\u201d<\/p>\n

From playing baseball with a newspaper bat and balloon to making an instant puzzle by cutting a cereal box, Sher urges parents to be creative at home.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are truly playing together when you are noticing how beautiful your child is and, for that moment, being totally there,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Sher\u2019s books, podcasts, and other work can be found in 11 different languages on her website, www.gameslady.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Playing is how children learn, according to occupational therapist Barbara Sher. Sher, considered by many…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":200177,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[4121,163,41,38],"class_list":["post-200152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","tag-barbara-sher","tag-kids","tag-public-school-system","tag-saipan-tribune"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=200152"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200152\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/200177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=200152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=200152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=200152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}