{"id":5416,"date":"2026-07-06T22:26:51","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T20:26:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.gyerekrehangolva.hu\/?p=5416"},"modified":"2026-07-06T22:26:51","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T20:26:51","slug":"fejleszto-foglalkozasok-szabad-jatek","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.gyerekrehangolva.hu\/en\/fejleszto-foglalkozasok-szabad-jatek\/","title":{"rendered":"That\u2019s why it\u2019s not a good idea to keep dragging your child off to developmental classes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Whilst baby gyms, baby yoga, music classes and numerous other similar structured activities are enjoying ever-increasing popularity, the time children have set aside for free play is \u2013 according to experts \u2013 declining at an alarming rate. This draws our attention to a serious problem, as the two are not mutually exclusive.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In recent decades, the range of different educational activities aimed at children has grown spectacularly. An ever-wider variety of enjoyable and genuinely effective guided, group activities have become available, where children, from a very young age, can develop their skills through shared play, deepen their bond with their parents, and, incidentally, burn off what might be considered excess energy. However, whilst these playgroup sessions, baby yoga classes, music nurseries and other similar guided activities are enjoying ever-increasing popularity, experts according to<\/a> \u2013 The time children have set aside for free play is falling alarmingly. This is a serious problem, as the two are not mutually exclusive. Although various developmental activities can often help with a child\u2019s proper development and boost parental confidence, the power of free play to influence development is decisive. Suppressing or excessively restricting children\u2019s innate drive towards this will have a negative impact on their emotional and behavioural self-regulation, their problem-solving and experience-processing abilities, and indeed their overall self-esteem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is free play?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

<\/span> Play \u2013 and, within that, free play in particular \u2013 is what most defines childhood. This is no coincidence, as this activity is our most important tool for comprehensive personality development, serving a child\u2019s development in every tiny detail. It helps children to process their experiences, express their emotions, organise their experiences, learn patterns, and think creatively, to name but a few. And all this takes place without any external guidance or direction!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The essence of free play is that it is free from any external goal; it is fuelled by the experience derived from the activity itself, whilst the information gained through it also shapes a unique (and highly effective) learning process. Children are born with an innate, instinctive urge to play. They see play in everything; it\u2019s just that we often fail to notice it. A baby sees play in gazing intently at the colourful garland hanging above its head, or in trying to reach for something, or perhaps in getting to know its own voice. As they get a bit older, they might be wobbling in front of the mirror, or dragging themselves along the floor, or perhaps imitating us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To us, it might seem like nonsense, or perhaps even a bit of a bore, but to them it\u2019s a game. The little cogs in their heads are certainly turning at full speed. They\u2019re practising controlling their bodies, influencing their environment, testing the accuracy of their knowledge, interpreting their emotions and enjoying the freedom their imagination affords them. Free play fulfils important needs, and this cannot be replaced by structured, playful activities. Our children need \u2018me-time\u2019 too \u2013 time when they don\u2019t necessarily get our attention, but rather the solitude they require.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neglect or trust?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The importance of free play and the emphasis placed on it do not mean that various guided, developmental activities are of no use. They have their place in child-rearing, as they help to address any developmental delays, in channelling children\u2019s pent-up energy, and indeed, in many cases, in meeting parents\u2019 social needs. Sometimes, however, we fear boredom, that our child might be neglected, or that we are unsuitable as playmates, and so we want to rid ourselves of what we perceive as empty moments. We don\u2019t want our child to be lonely or antisocial, nor do we want them to think we don\u2019t care about them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Free, independent play is a real joy for children. They don\u2019t just put up with it; they actually crave it, provided they\u2019ve had the chance to practise it from an early age instead of passive entertainment (screen time). They retreat to a corner to look at a storybook, talk to themselves whilst playing with their toys, toss blocks about, or simply roll around silently on the carpet staring at the ceiling, and in doing so: they absorb what they have observed from adults, process the events affecting them, express their pent-up feelings, and find harmony within themselves. Through free play, they practise understanding themselves, solving their own problems and developing their skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Would ensuring this be a form of neglect? No. On the contrary, supporting this shows that the parent has faith in their child: in their resourcefulness, their ability to cope, and the gradual and continuous development of their self-regulation skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/span> Let\u2019s not rush our children! Neither their development nor their performance, because rushing and overloading them will never yield the results they are capable of! The foundations must be laid properly, which requires time, patience and calm. Our world has sped up, and we\u2019re increasingly caught up in that pace too, even though we don\u2019t need it \u2013 and our children certainly don\u2019t. The free play<\/a> is able to lay the most solid foundations, together with the safe and trusting environment provided by the parent. To achieve this, we must set aside sufficient time to allow all this to happen without a hectic pace or external control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Originally published on: divany.hu, 27 April 2021.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mik\u00f6zben a kerek\u00edt\u0151 foglalkoz\u00e1sok, babaj\u00f3g\u00e1k, zeneb\u00f6lcs\u0151d\u00e9k \u00e9s sz\u00e1mos m\u00e1s hasonl\u00f3 vezetett elfoglalts\u00e1g egyre n\u00f6vekv\u0151 \u00e9rdekl\u0151d\u00e9snek \u00f6rvend, addig \u2013 szak\u00e9rt\u0151k szerint \u2013 v\u00e9szesen cs\u00f6kken a gyerekek szabad j\u00e1t\u00e9kra sz\u00e1nt ideje. Ez pedig komoly probl\u00e9m\u00e1ra h\u00edvja fel a figyelm\u00fcnket, ugyanis a kett\u0151 nem v\u00e1ltja ki egym\u00e1st. Az ut\u00f3bbi \u00e9vtizedekben l\u00e1tv\u00e1nyosan megn\u0151tt a k\u00fcl\u00f6nb\u00f6z\u0151, gyerekeknek sz\u00f3l\u00f3 fejleszt\u0151 foglalkoz\u00e1sok […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5417,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[209],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5416","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-divany"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.gyerekrehangolva.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5416","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.gyerekrehangolva.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.gyerekrehangolva.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.gyerekrehangolva.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.gyerekrehangolva.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5416"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dev.gyerekrehangolva.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5416\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5419,"href":"https:\/\/dev.gyerekrehangolva.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5416\/revisions\/5419"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.gyerekrehangolva.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.gyerekrehangolva.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.gyerekrehangolva.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5416"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.gyerekrehangolva.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}