Smart Play = Smart Kids: How Fort Building and Love Make a Difference

Posted April 2, 2017 by Fort Magic

You’ve seen this list: Enrichment programs. Baby Einstein. Academic team. Science fairs. Tutoring. Brainetics. Fort building? Chess club. Classical music lessons. Homeschool activities from birth. The list rattles on as we parents lament the impossibility of taking advantage of every opportunity to enhance our child’s academic prowess. With a great sense of responsibility, we wonder if we are engaged enough in our kids’ educational encouragement and if they are active enough in optimal pursuits of excellence. Our eyes lower as we hear what other kids are involved with and accomplishing. Are we doing enough for our own children?

When we hear of a program increases intelligence, we quickly to sign our kids up and often boast of their involvement. The hope of nurturing our child prodigy, of lifting him or her to the top of the academic achievement ladder, motivates us to do whatever it takes. We feel the need to find reasons or excuses when our kids fall short of reaching the head of the class.

What if the path to boosting smarts in kids required fewer classes, less money, less angst and yes, decreased guilt? What if the top rung of the class ladder did not hold the only hope of our children achieving intelligence and success? What if all of this meant less pressure on them and us? Are you hesitant to believe this to be true? Well, come in close so you can hear this well. Play and love determine a lot about a child’s intelligence and success. Still skeptical about the reality of this? Neither play nor love cost money, require an expert or consume all the hours in your day. How can they top the list of smart activities?

The Power of Play

Without much prompting and planning, children simply play. Play is one of the most natural activities for kids, it may seem that play offers little value. This thought holds particularly true when we compare our lack of free time as adults and the need to get things done. In truth, learning the value of play from our kids would do us plenty of good. The research continues to roll in as to the benefits of play on kids’ intelligence. Consider a few of the findings. Play:

— Improves memory.

— Stimulates cerebral cortex growth.

— Triggers the substance responsible for brain cell growth.

— Increases focus on academic tasks.

— Develops language skills.

— Promotes problem-solving.

— Enhances the ability to reason.

— Leads to self-regulation.

Physically active play, pretend play and free play all lead to intellectual gains. Furthermore, play allows for the practice of skills children need to master as adults. This early learning helps them to understand the world and prepares them for future challenges.

The Lure of Love

Similarly, love leads to success. In fact, science supports the fact that nurturing communication leads to brain growth. Some researchers venture to say that love is the most crucial variable in developing the well-being of our children.Expressions of love include:

— Hugs.

— Kisses.

— Smiles.

— Unconditional positive regard.

— Inclusion.

— Showing interest.

— Family-based play.

Note there is no taxiing involved or cash exchanged. Many of these love-based activities cost little time and involve minimal to no planning. Yet, these simple acts offer our kids great rewards. Plus, check it out. Lovingly communicating with our kids about what and how they think leads to:

— Increased verbal abilities.

— Enhanced emotional understanding.

— Improved social relatedness.

Each of these abilities relates directly to the development of well-being and success. Yes, simply loving our children through everyday touch and interaction makes them smart. Now, consider the impact of unending activities which keep parent and child separated. Hmmm.

Play + Love = Family Fort Building

Fortunately, the role of play and love in a child’s success brings hope and encouragement to parents. After all, if we slow the schedule just a bit and grab a few moments throughout the daily routine, incorporating both of these into our days is entirely possible. How so? Let’s take the example of family fort building.

Fort Magic represents play at its finest. With plenty of opportunity to run around gathering, creating and imagining, fort building prompts physical play. The dreams of the design and the stories which fill it meet all the requirements of make-believe or pretend play. Finally, forts give parents a safe space to allow kids to play freely with only a few parental guidelines and plenty of time for exploration, learning and problem-solving on their own. Furthermore, engaging the entire family in fort building is easy. Who can resist a fort? Capitalizing on these moments allows you to enter into your children’s activities and imaginations, share smiles, laughter, and hugs, and enter into family-based play. Forts provide the opportunity for all those expressions of love which mean so much to a child’s intelligence and success.

In other words, smart play includes love and forts. This creates successful, smart kids no matter what rung of that proverbial academic ladder the world believes them to be on in the midst of their journey.

How do you include smart play in your child’s day that includes plenty of love and fort building? Share your ideas with us below!

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Photo Credits:

The Artful Parent Blog: One of our absolute favorite creative blogs for children and families.  The Artful Parent blog is filled with simple ideas to fill your family’s life with art and creativity.  A must see blog for sure.

Kids Activities Blog:  A tremendous resource on all things kids-activities based, you can explore hundreds of ideas for learning and playtime for children and families ages toddler – teens.

Play At Home Mom Blog:  This super-amazing blog is definitely one of our favorites.  Loaded with fun ideas for DIY playtime, with an always-present educational spin.

Babble Dabble Do Blog:  One of our absolute favorite blogs for learning, art and hands-on education. The Babble Dabble Do blog will inspire hours of creativity and awesomely-educational playtime in your home.  A must see blog for sure.

Twined: Twined is a blog that helps you to easily discover unbiased product reviews and recommendations from the people you can actually trust.

Fort Magic Customer Photos via Facebook:  Visit our Fort Magic Facebook page to see our customer creativity shine with fun pics and videos of families enjoying their Fort Magic kit during playtime.

Fort Magic Customer Photos via Instagram:  Visit our Fort Magic Instagram page to see our customer creativity shine with fun pics and videos of families enjoying their Fort Magic kit during playtime.