Dealing with the guilt -FREE PLAY

Many parents with their newborns with Trisomy 21 get into crazy schedules for medical appointments and therapies, so some little ones get into a busy schedule right after birth. Parents feel the "guilt" of not doing enough therapies at home or not doing the therapies quite often as it should be because they also work full-time. I has felt this guilt many times, but what has helped me to deal with the guilt is to know that FREE PLAY is as important as structured or guided play for a child brain development.

Dr. John Medina, a Developmental Molecular Biologist, scientist and Director of the Brain Center for Applied Learning Research, says in his book 'The Brain rule for baby': :"We now know that open-ended play activities are as important to a child's neural growth as protein. Indeed, the box the flash-cards come in is probably more beneficial to a toddler's brain that the flash-cards themselves... Studies show that, compared with controls, kids allowed a specific type of open-ended play time were:

• More Creative

• Better at language

• Better at problem solving

• Less stressed

• Better at memory

• More socially skilled"

Dr. Jill Stamm also mention the importance of FREE PLAY in his book Bright from the star (this book was based on science research). She says:"So I love the moment when I explain that child's FREE PLAY" is critical because it actually causes the brain's energy to be used in a different way –because the pleasure it brings causes repetition, play reinforces healthy wiring. Play suddenly stops being some kind of iddle time -waster in their eyes. It's elevated to the status of something vitally important for their child to do. (As it should be!)...

Here are three kinds of unstructured time —what I call "sloppy time: —that a child should have every day:

Undirected Play: ... don't need to "direct the action" all the time. Create a child-safe space where your little one can freely explore. Fill it with interesting objects, from basic toys to books to household objects, that he can manipulate at his own pace. Certainly some direct play (Chapter 4) is importnat. But so is free play.

Hanging out: We would sometimes lie down and play made-up games... And share lots of giggles when we thought we had stumped the other. Giggling is good for any brain.

Watching the wold go by: Sitting in a stroller or grocery cart are perfect examples of opportunities for a child's mind to wander... This frees the child to look at colors, shapes going by, watch people, or pay attention to nothing in particular. His brain can spend its time consolidating prior stimuli because it doesn't need to concentrate especially hard on what's in front of him."

"A new report from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) says free and unstructured play is healthy and - in fact - essential for helping children reach important social, emotional, and cognitive developmental milestones as well as helping them manage stress and become resilient. The report, " The Importance of Play in Promoting Healthy Child Development and Maintaining Strong Parent-Child Bonds. ," is written in defense of play and in response to forces threatening free play and unscheduled time..."

Doing therapies thru play (structure play) is important for our kids with Trisomy 21, but giving them FREE TIME for playing should be important, too. They discover the world around them by exploring on their own. I also see it as a way to inculcate 'independency' at a very young age because during free play they make choices about what toy to play with or what area they haven't explored enough. Our son has free play time and during this time he is physically active, which it is very important because it helps him to get his muscles stronger while he discovers the world around him.

Encouraging the desire to explore should be in a safe environment, so design a play room is the ideal, but if this not possible save-proof the house and transform it in a big play house, it is what I have done for my son. I changed my decorative items for toys, household items, books, balls, pretend play toys, and so on. I periodically rotate the toys around the house to encourage exploration and novelty. I sets his toys in different areas so he is free to explore and find them in his own schedule without direction from us. This keeps him busy until lunch. After lunch, he takes his nap and when I get from work we often work on structured play based on his therapies for a short period of time. Fee play should be with supervision. For example: My son turned the stove knobs and he was able to turned the stove on. He also discovered how to open the oven. He climbed on the oven door and was getting ready to see what was on the stove and the stove was on. We closely supervise him, therefore these two moments didn't become in serious situations.

I enjoy watching him when he learns to do things from our structured play, but I enjoy more when he discovers how to do things on his own. For example: Last week, he was playing with a Tupperware container for about two hours and he suddenly discovered how to seal the lid. Now, when we play with play-dough, he helps to close the containers.

Welcome to Tommy's World

Tommy vs. Daddy

Rough housing play is an excellent way of FREE play

while parents bound with their kids.

"Giggling is good for any brain."

A Basketball ring can be a necklace

in Tommy's world

Anything can be a hat in Tommy's world.

OLD VHC Box of the movie Titanic

In Tommy's world, Huggie swimmer pants can be wore on

your pants and not underneath.

I want my son enjoy everything as a child regardless his

developmental challenges. I am glad that my husband and I have

fund the balance between FREE PLAY and structured play.