A closer look at the Make Time 2 Play App

Summer holidays are great for spending quality time with your family, however the six-week period is a long time to think of various activities to keep the little ones entertained– particularly when you can’t rely on the British weather! So, if you’re running out of ideas for

the rest of the summer break then have no fear, as the Make Time 2 Play app aims to relieve the pressure off us parents and carers by providing us with hundreds of play ideas to choose from.

The FREE app features more than 400 play suggestions ranging from arts and crafts ideas to physical activities and group games, and best of all you can cater the ideas to meet the needs of your child’s play setting. You can search for play ideas on the app by filtering their requirements based on whether they are looking for an activity for indoors, outdoors or whilst travelling, the number and age of children that will be playing and how long you want the activity to last for. The app makes playtime that little bit easier for parents and carers and it’s a real relief to finally find some play ideas for long car journeys that don’t just include the words ‘I spy’!

You can also save your favourite ideas on the app for future play time and share them with your friends via social media, text or e-mail, to help them make time to play too!

As well as providing fun ideas for children to do, the app gives advice on the benefits of play – which reminds us all that as well as having fun our children are learning skills as they play. All activities have been carefully selected to provide a mixture of ideas which promote the many benefits of play- physical, emotional, creative, social, behavioural and inquisitive. From activities that improve children’s fine motor skills, which in turn develops dexterity in their fingers, to games that improve children’s fitness and balance, there’s a great selection of ideas and benefits for all children to enjoy.

As parents and carers, we all know how important play is for healthy child development, and the Make Time 2 Play app is just one aspect of the Make Time 2 Play campaign. The play campaign aims to spread the important message of play to a wider audience through various social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram as well as its own website and Youtube channel. Not only does the campaign provide fun play ideas and activities daily, it also promotes the benefits of play through imagery, commissioned research and studies with play experts and ambassadors, and whilst talking to government and opinion formers, to help parents and carers understand the real benefits children receive when playing, and make time in our busy schedules for playtime.

The free Make Time 2 Play app is available to download from i0S and Android devices, and you can also download it from www.maketime2play.co.uk.

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