Six Benefits of Staying With Your Child At a Preschool Play School

*This is a sponsored collaboration with Rossall Boarding School*. Taking your child to a preschool group, like a playgroup or group play centre, can allow them to really start to learn and develop before they start school. But while it can be good to drop your child off at a group, leaving them to explore, learn and socialise independently and with teachers, there are many benefits of staying with them or choosing a stay and play centre instead. From recreating new experiences to providing a gradual pace of change for them, Rossall lists Six Benefits of Staying With Your Child At a Preschool Play School.

1. Enjoying Activities With Your Child

A first benefit of staying with your child at a group play centre is that it allows you and your child to enjoy activities together. Whether they’re playing in a sandpit or creating something with building blocks, you can be there to enjoy and share these experiences with them – quality time that any parent should make the most of.

2. Allowing You To Recreate New Experiences

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The activities your child can enjoy with you at a playgroup can give them new experiences, which you can recreate at home. The activities children do at a stay and play centre are also often chosen so they can be recreated and enjoyed at home. For instance, those where you don’t need much space, like making things with play dough.

This can allow your child to play and explore with you at a playgroup, and then explore more by enjoying those same experiences back at home.

3. Giving Them Better Learning and Development

A child can learn and develop best when they play and explore with a supportive adult who cares for them and their needs. So a child being with their caring parent, in an environment where they are able to freely play and explore, can help more with their learning and development.

Part of learning and developing is also about trying new things, taking risks and making mistakes. If a child is with someone who they know cares for them, they might feel more comfortable and confident to try new things, learn from their mistakes and develop faster in the process.

4. Helping Them Get More Involved

Attending a playgroup can be an overwhelming experience for a child, as they’re faced with people and things they don’t know, in surroundings that they’re not familiar. It’s a lot for them to take in without the comfort of a parent that they’re used to. So it’s understandable if a child takes some time to get involved, or seems scared to try out certain activities.

But if you’re there with them, standing close by, they’re more likely to get involved. You could encourage them to try things out, or you could do an activity first in the hope they might then have a go.

5. Providing Them With A Gradual Change

The change, from being at home with you to being left on their own at a playgroup, can feel quite sudden for your child and present a bit of a leap. But if you stay with them, it can make this change feel far more gradual, especially in those later years when they start school.

They can instead be away from your home with you, and then away from home without you – providing stepping stones of change for your child, rather than one big leap.

6. Watching Them Grow and Develop

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Finally, being with your child at a playgroup can give you some extra hours each day to see exactly how they’re growing and developing. You can observe many things that can help you as a parent, from what they are (and aren’t) eating to how they play with new toys to how they interact with other children their age.

You can also just enjoy and appreciate the delight of watching them really notice, explore and get to know the world around them.