This past month, I’ve had the wonderful opportunity of  volunteering weekly on a school playground. Back at recess, playing games. I’ve been able to experience first hand the benefits of play.

Play breaks down barriers. It breaks down barriers on the playground. It breaks down barriers inside us. And it breaks down barriers in the home. The games I’ve learn while volunteering with Playworks are fun, engaging and inclusive—great for breaking down barriers. These are games that parents can even play at home with their kids.

Games can actually be amazing for the parent-child relationship. Here’s why:

1. While playing, parents learn more about their kids—Do they play honestly? Are they crafty and clever or sly and slick?
2. While playing, parents can teach life lessons like how to be a good winner or loser, how to play fair and how to include everyone in games.
3. While playing, kids learn that parents can be fun! Sometimes kids forget that parents can play too.
4. While playing, parents build a foundation for the teen years by communicating and working on the same team.
5. Playing encourages kids memory and ability to read you and get in sync. In games like Tag or Switch, players have to read each other’s body language, facial expressions and non-verbal clues.

Ask your child to teach you a game. Check out the Playworks database for new games that you can teach your children. Most importantly, find a way to utilize play to take down the barriers in your life.

Vanessa Van Petten, self proclaimed ‘youthologist’, writes and speaks on parenting and adolescents. She runs her parenting website, RadicalParenting.com, writing with 120 teenage writers to answer questions from parents and adults. Her approach has been featured by CNN, Fox News, and Wall Street Journal. Her latest book, “Do I Get My Allowance Before or After I’m Grounded?” with Penguin/Plume USA, won the Moms Choice Award 2012. 

Photo © Martin Valigursky – Fotolia.com