While organized events and outings are crucial for teens, they also need time and space to pursue their interests and other passions. Teenagers benefit in various ways when given the opportunity to have fun. Playfulness aids in their emotional, physical, cognitive, and emotional strength, as well as boosting their creativity, dexterity, healthy brain development, and more.
This type of leisure can take numerous forms, like engaging in non-competitive sports, skateboarding, bicycling, fitness pursuits, role-playing, and video games with imaginative plots. Here are ways to encourage playful behavior in teens.
Bringing Playfulness to Your Teen
Motivating your teen to participate in lighthearted behavior may seem challenging, but it can get accomplished. Here are a few ideas to pique their interest and encourage them to be more playful.
Allow Them to Act Like Children
Your teen could think that play is juvenile and inappropriate to try. Yet, you can relieve the pressure to act like adults and encourage teens to rely on their inner child to create fun activities.
Allow Privacy
Providing your teen with space and privacy to reflect and experiment is crucial to fostering their developing independence. They should have ample time to play on their own. They can manage novel concepts, feelings, and interests independently and responsibly.
Establish Goals
Begin your day or week by creating goals for how much time your teen will spend in playful pursuits. Discuss the arrangement of their day and what schedule would be most suitable for them.
Sneak Play into Daily Life
Start a family dance party, hold home cooking contests, host a push-up or jumping jacks contest during commercial breaks, or race around the home to complete chores.
Promote Play in Your Environment
Post and display images of teens and adults participating in recreational ventures. Read stories and watch movies that feature playfulness as an integral component of the plot.
How Does Play Look for a Teenager?
Teen play can be structured or unstructured, guided or autonomous, and done in or outside the home or classroom. Teen play includes building with various materials, board games, writing stories, rock-climbing, making creative videos, gardening, baking, crafting, and much more.
Encouraging your teen to play will promote healthy growth, strengthen bonds, and rewire the brain in positive ways during teen development.
