I've to admit as a first time parent - I had not known earlier that there were two different types of play - Structured and Unstructured.
It was not until schools were forced to close this year due to COVID-19 and I had to find different ways to play, teach and entertain my child that I find myself having to pre-plan what my child was to do the following day.
That was when I realised how unstructured my child's playtime had been all along. Afterall, I mostly spent time with him weekday nights (close to bedtime) and we usually went out exploring during the weekends. I didn't think there was anything wrong though given our lifestyle then. But home based learning responsibility during Circuit Breaker Quarantine led to my awareness of how these 2 types of play.
In essence, Structured Play is when your child has to listen to instructions in order to engage in the activity ie. Music class. Unstructured Playis child-led.
Unstructured Play
What I noticed is when unsupervised in an unstructured play, my son is able to play independently for extended periods of time - only with what he likes-vehicles. Its amazing the amount of things he learned and discovered in his independent play - he learned all the names of construction vehicles via Blippi, he learned how to tow a car with a truck, set-up road and train tracks on his own etc.
True enough, unstructured play encourages children to be independent, problem-solve, discover and figure things out on their own.
Structured Play
However, I felt it was time he got introduced to more subjects to expland his knowledge. I wanted him to learn about emotions, weather, sea animals etc. When be showed interest and progress in these topics, I felt a remarkable consolation and pride in both his and my efforts.
Structured play has clear objectives and through parent-child interaction and guidance, the child's mind is shaped and he masters a new skill.
Which is better?
Fortunately and unfortunately, both! Striking a balance between both types of play is integral to early childhood development.
However, I do think that structured play requires more efforts on parents' part. Hence, at Thrivine, my goal is to help busy parents out there to develop more structure around our children's play time so that our children can master a certain skill set or knowledge with the help of parents.
So, do check out our learning resources time and again. I am sure that will help you and your child engage in more meaningful play!
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