During the first years, children’s life is like a sponge that absorbs everything around them; they acquire knowledge from research, exploration, and what they hear and feel. In this initial stage, self-esteem, confidence, values, respect, communication, and other aspects are forged that will be not only part of the child’s physical development but also their emotional and psychological part.
From this initial stage, it is imperative to strengthen the child’s confidence since this will allow him to feel capable of taking on new challenges and complementing his self-esteem. An element that can help with this process is the playgrounds. This post will explain why playgrounds help develop children’s confidence.
Overcome the challenges
The playgrounds have different elements of varying difficulty; some are used to climb, others to swing, and some to slide, fulfilling a specific function to have fun, exercise, and develop particular skills in children.
Using this equipment for the first time, climbing a tall ladder, or crossing a suspension bridge, can represent a challenge for children, either due to fear of the unknown, of heights, or simply because they do not feel capable of achieving it. Playgrounds help children gain the courage and self-confidence to take that step further and to dare to reach that goal, which also means setting new goals and working to achieve them.
To be more sociable
Playing outdoors in a playground allows children to meet, socialize and make new friends by sharing equipment, creating and developing stories, making them more outgoing, and leaving shyness behind. The game can be an ideal link to learn to interact effectively with other people, to flow communication, develop language and gain greater confidence to express their emotions, communicate their ideas and establish their limits.
Know your capabilities
A person cannot know what he can achieve if he does not try. In many cases, the parents do not let the children know what they are capable of or dare to do something different, the leading cause being the fear of being hurt. Still, in a safe environment such as a playground, they can be given enough freedom, under appropriate supervision, so that the child can dare to, for example, climb to the top of a rope structure or use a parkour course, knowing that it is capable of reaching further.
Impact on adulthood
A child who grows with self-confidence becomes an adult who feels good about himself and others. Children with self-confidence have greater security when making decisions, feel happy for being the way they are, and do not need the approval of others to define their actions, and can achieve any goal they set for themselves.
In many cases, we do not realize the damage that negative comments can have on children and their repercussions in the future, so we must always bear in mind that the words spoken by children today echo in the adult of the future.
What do you think about this topic? Do you think that playgrounds are important to the development of kids?
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