Babies and young children learn through play and playgroup offers a wide variety of experiences for them to explore.
As a new parent, the first year of your baby's life will be full of learning, excitement, challenges and expectations. Playgroup gives parents and carers the opportunity to meet, share ideas and talk about the joy and challenges of parenting.
Playgroup provides the ideal environment for babies of all ages, including newborns, to interact with adults and children, and learn more about their world. Playgroup will build the foundations for a baby's social, emotional and physical development as they take their first steps in lifelong learning.
Unstructured play allows babies to explore their world, develop confidence, experiment and repeat the practice. Babies are social beings and enjoy meeting other babies.
Benefits of playgroups
Regularly participating in play with other babies can help a child's:
Physical development—crawling, sitting, rolling and learning to make mouth movements
Language and literacy development—face-to-face interaction/non-verbal skills
Sensory development—recognising sounds, their name and tone of voice
Emotional and social development—recognising objects and people
Cognitive development—recognising and identifying objects.
Free Play Stars membership
The Queensland Government has partnered with Play Matters Australia to deliver
Play Stars. Under this initiative, a 12-months Play Matters Australia membership is provided free to families with children under the age of one.
So don't forget to take advantage of this generous offer, before your bub turns one!
Read more in the
Play Stars brochure (PDF, 25MB).
Contact
Contact Play Matters Australia on 1800 007 529 or visit
Play Matters Australia website for more information on Play Stars, joining playgroup or finding a playgroup near you.
Article courtesy of Play Matters Australia.