Play Fosters Physical Development
Sensorimotor Skills
On a very simple level, play promotes the development of sensorimotor skills, or skills that require the coordination of movement with the senses, such as using eye-hand coordination to stack blocks (Frost et al., 2008; Jones & Reynolds, 2011; Morrison, 2004; Tokarz, 2008). Children spend hours perfecting such abilities and increasing the level of difficulty to make the task ever more challenging. Anyone who has lived with a 1-year-old will recall the tireless persistence with which the child pursues the acquisition of basic physical skills.