At Chicago Children’s Museum, we know the power of play, especially during difficult times.
To highlight our commitment to our mission, to your children and families, and to play, we’re featuring Natalie Bortoli, Chicago Children’s Museum’s Vice President of Educational Programming and Experience Development. In this five-part Parenting Playbook series, we’ll hear Natalie’s expert thoughts on why we need play now—maybe more than ever.
Why PLAY is More Important Than Ever in the Time of COVID-19
By Natalie Bortoli
This is a time of back-to-basics, focusing on the essentials of our families’ well-being: food, shelter, health, and security.
More than ever, parents and caregivers are seeking ways to best care for and engage their children, within the new context of sheltering-in-place, no school, and no community activities.
Suddenly, we live in a strange new world in which essential human connection is even compromised, as we must socially distance ourselves from our closest friends and extended family.
All of this leads to stress and anxiety—for adults, certainly, but also for children, who absorb what they hear on the news, witness adults’ worries, miss their friends and school mates, experience major disturbances in their routines, and struggle to make sense of what exactly all of these changes (and a scary, invisible virus) mean for themselves and their loved ones.
As we prioritize our medical experts’ advice during these unprecedented times, we need look no further than the American Academy of Pediatrics 2018 report, “The Power of Play,” for advice that is strikingly relevant now:
“In the presence of childhood adversity, play becomes even more important.”
Yes, play.
While the doors of Chicago Children’s Museum may be temporarily closed and our exhibits may sit eerily quiet, the ubiquitous power of play that has been central to our mission for nearly four decades, has never seemed more alive and more critical.
We advocate that play is essential to families’ well-being in these times, and we work, now, to help parents and caregivers support play in their own settings.
Stay tuned in the coming days as we share why play matters now more than ever, and how you can keep playing at home.