Simple Invitation to Play

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This post includes ideas on how to hook a child's interest in an activity and a Simple Invitation to Play. My older son has been refusing my many invitations to do an activity to Play. I feel I have failed him. Sure, most of the activities are “fun” and based on learning while playing but over time these activities began to feel more and more contrived.

“Unstructured play, which should be part of every child's life on a daily basis, lays the groundwork for social competence.” ~ Madeline Levine

So, I took a step back and thought about what I need to do to hook him into these learning activities. If he wasn't on board and engaged in the activity, then I could forget about learning or earning his respect for that matter. Then HE gave me the answer.

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Ideas on How to Hook a Child's Interest

Here is what getting a child to participate fully boiled down to for our family:

Observe how and with what he plays
Acknowledge interests even if those interests don't match your own
Join interests by playing with him and showing you're interested in his world
Make the activity about him and make it within the context of his world (e.g. if your child likes Star Wars, create a space theme or use “spaceship” as an example of a compound word)
Add an element of surprise into activities and create an air of excitement and allure to the activity.
Be active with your activity. Moving the body is high with a child's interest and development, generally.