Letting children play clay has unexpected benefits

Clay is a fun toy for all ages, especially in young children. Squeezing, rolling and shaping with clay are all fun activities babies can do. Playing clay not only encourages them to develop their imagination, but also gives them many other benefits.

You can let children 3 years and older play clay because at this age, they are aware of and do not put clay in their mouths. Although clay is as safe as wheat flour and natural dyes, clay can choke your child if swallowed. According to pediatric experts, playing clay can help children develop strength in fingers and hands. This will be of great help for your child to learn to grip and hold pens in the future. In addition, playing clay also helps children learn better hand-eye coordination skills.

Playing clay with your child is how you can interact with your child. It is very important that parents play with their children, especially before they start school. Not only does this help your child develop skills needed for life and learning, it also helps build a parent-child relationship . These games also help children learn social skills and confidence to cope with future difficulties.

Let children play clay to help develop cognitive skills

During adulthood, children develop self-regulation and management skills. These skills are formed based on 3 factors: memory, control and flexibility. The first factor helps children keep information in mind. The second factor prevents children from impulses, helps to resist temptation and can stop at all actions. The last factor helps children adjust the plan according to the situation.

There are many games to help young children develop these skills, and playing clay is one of them. Playing clay helps children learn how to set goals (for example, make a flower out of clay), learn what to do, and adjust the plan during implementation (adding extra petals to make the flower more beautiful).

Creativity is a very important life skill to help children overcome difficulties and find solutions. Playing clay also stimulates the child's curiosity. More importantly, playing clay also helps children develop their brain. The visual and tactile experiences of playing clay will help form neural cells and new nerve connections in the brain.

Develop motor skills

One of the interesting things about clay is that this game is very soft, flexible and can be changed in shape at will. It is this property that strengthens the hand muscles and tendons, assisting children in learning how to hold scissors and pens in the future.

While playing, children can roll, rub, crush, cut, stab… clay. These actions all help children develop muscles in many ways and help them learn hand-eye coordination skills.

Imagination and creativity

Clay is a great game for children to develop their imagination and a means for children to create many toys they can think of. With a small scone with a few candles made of clay, children can immediately think of a birthday party or small clay pebbles can lead them to a beautiful beach.

Reduce stress

Playing clay can help reduce stress and help your child feel relaxed. If the child has difficulty expressing emotions, when playing clay, the child has the opportunity to talk to their parents, so it can help improve this situation.

Help your child learn math and letters

When playing clay with your child, you can use the clay to form letters, numbers, names, or fun pictures for them to learn to count and recognize letters.

Playing clay is a sedentary activity. Therefore, this is a game suitable for children on rainy days to help them relax and they can develop other essential skills.