Child Care

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Health and Safety

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Money Matters

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Growth and Development

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Resources

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Community Child Care Connection, Inc. 1004 North Milton Avenue Springfield, IL 62702-4430 Directions Local: (217) 525-2805 Toll Free: 1-800-676-2805 Fax: (217) 525-5859 Office Hours:
M: T: W: Th: F:	9:00 AM to 4:30PM 8:00 AM to 4:30PM 8:00 AM to 4:30PM 8:00 AM to 6:30PM 8:00 AM to 4:30PM

Children Play... Children Learn

It is said that “a child’s work is his play.” Play develops imagination and creativity. Play also gives children practice in the social skills they need in our world. It offers opportunities to teach children when to give or take, when to share, how to get along with others, how to listen, to plan, and to check on how their ideas are working out.

Through good play, children learn to live with themselves and with others and to develop a better sense of how our world operates. Play also offers children the opportunity to experience success and the chance to work through uncomfortable feelings in a secure and supportive way.

We all want our children to face problems, to think them through, and to learn how to solve them. Increasingly our lives demand this ability and skill. Play gives children experiences in creating and rearranging possibilities to reach a solution. Play continually confronts children with real situations and problems and provides them the means for working through them. Play also promotes the total development of the child and enhances self-esteem as children succeed in play.

A child playing in the following ways is forming a solid foundation for a life of learning:

When I dress-up and pretend play with household items, I am:

practicing to understand and master adult roles

practicing math and language skills

organizing and using ideas

symbolically using materials in meaningful ways

When I am listening to or looking at books with others, I am:

making friends with books

learning that printed words have meaning

learning about other people and places

often interacting with an important adult to develop verbal and listening skills

When I am building with blocks, I am:

using my imagination and creativity

learning about height, width, depth, and length

experiencing patterns, symmetry, and balance

gaining feelings of competence

learning to cooperate, share, plan, negotiate

When I notice and play with things in nature, I am:

investigating the world around me

developing my curiosity

growing in my sensory awareness

appreciating beauty and order in nature

When I am playing with playdough and modeling clay, I am:

being creative and imaginative

strengthening and developing my small muscles

developing my sensory awareness

When I am doing woodworking activities, I am:

creating in my own way, two and three-dimensional objects with various materials

gaining skill in hammering, using screws, and other tools

developing my eye-hand coordination

feeling good about being allowed to do an “adult activity”

learning about safety for my friends and myself

problem solving

When I am playing with paints and watercolors, I am:

being creative and imaginative

experimenting with colors, lines, form, spatial relationships, and methods of applying paint

expressing my feelings and moods

Source: www.parentstages.com