Child-Centered Activity

Children learn through playing, which is a wonderful time to bond with your child. Child-centered activities set time aside for you to fully enjoy your child and to be focused only on what the two of you are doing. This kind of time together will help develop a secure attachment and enhance your child’s development.

A few basic conditions will make this an easy, fun way to spend time together:

Set aside 15 to 20 minutes where there will be no distractions or interruptions.
Try putting out toys and materials that are open-ended in nature, can be used in multiple ways, and require imagination—items such as building blocks, Play-Doh, drawing tools, yarn, animals or dolls, Legos, dress-up outfits, or containers and utensils from the kitchen.
Let the child know that this is special time just for him or her, and that it is for a specific length of time. Set a timer for the amount of time you wish to spend and let your child know that when the timer goes off, special time is over for the day.
Get down on the floor with your child. (Some adults find that getting into a playful mindset can be challenging at first; try reducing the time to 10 minutes to start).
Let your child take the lead and you follow. This is very important. Play how he or she wants to. This is not teaching time, so try to avoid setting limits or praising. Just enjoy being together and notice what it is your child is trying to express through his or her play themes.
Avoid cleaning up until playtime is over.
Practice narrating what you see your child doing. This will help you stay in the present.
Try to do this every day. If you have more than one child, set aside time for each child.

(Adapted from Georgia DeGrangi, 2000)

This practice will get easier with time and will be a surprisingly effective way to calm down an anxious or excitable child (and that goes for the parents, too). It is a powerful tool for enhancing your relationship with your child.

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