Prescription for Play: Children’s play is critical for healthy development [Peninsula Clarion]

Some doctors are starting to write a very different kind of prescription for their young patients — a strong recommendation to “play every day.”

While this may sound curious or frivolous to some, research shows that unstructured play is an essential building block for healthy child development. Unfortunately, children today have fewer opportunities to play and grow in healthy ways, which negatively affects their ability to decrease stress, overcome adverse childhood experiences, learn positive social behaviors and develop higher-level reasoning skills. The lack of play affects not only children and families, but also schools, communities and society.

To read the full article written by Dr. Lily Lou and Adam Crum, click HERE