1. Understand the Nature and Importance of Play and Leisure
1.1 Describe the Importance of Play and Leisure for young people
Both Play and Leisure are vital components of a child's life as a range of stimulating play and leisure opportunities will support the physical emotional sensory and spiritual and intellectual growth of the child. It helps them to form and sustain relationships and also improves communication, educational development and achievement.
Play is satisfying to the child, creative for the child and freely chosen by the child.
1.2 Describe how play and leisure contributes to a child's development
Play is extremely important for the development of children. It is important that from a young age children play with things like toys and even with other children. Between the ages of 0 – 3 is when children develop the most. Through play children can improve their fine and gross motor skills by using toys such as shape sorters and using musical tables which have buttons and things to turn. This helps to develop fine motor skills. If children have toys that are spread out whilst playing then it will encourage them to either crawl or try to walk to retrieve the toys that they want to play with. Also playing with toys such as shape sorters can also help with intellectual development as children begin to become more aware of which shape is which, They may not know what they are called but they begin to recognise a pattern in the shapes and which hole they need to sort them into. Also play provides opportunities for parents/carers/peers to praise the child and this will improve their self-esteem. It is also important for children to play with other children as this will teach them to share and also they will learn to manage their own feelings as parents cannot always be there to remind children to share so the child will have to figure it out on their own sometimes in