Let's Get Interactive!
Interactive play is an intentional part of the design of every SCCLD play space. Children learn valuable skills through play, and interactive play provides the opportunity to cultivate crucial competencies.
Each play space has fun features for kids to explore and share, giving them the opportunity to develop multiple skills, including:
Sharing and Taking Turns
Young children frequently struggle with sharing and turn-taking and practice these skills as they interact with each other during play. Waiting to go down the slide, press a button, or take a turn moving a bug along a path at Morgan Hill Library's Trusty Trails, requires patience and helps them develop self-control and a concept of fairness.
Cooperation
As they explore the area together, children discover that collaboration and teamwork can bring more joy to their play. Acting out an impromptu puppet show together in Campbell Library’s Dreamy Downtown, or deciding who drives the train and who takes the tickets in Milpitas Library’s Railway Rollick play space, require compromise and cooperation, as children work toward the common goal of engaging in their chosen play scenarios.
Conflict Resolution
Conflicts inevitably arise during social play. These fraught interactions give children the chance to learn how to deal with frustration and resolve issues with peers. Will we pretend to be ocean animals, swashbuckling pirates or deep-sea divers in the submarine at Cupertino’s Aquarium Adventure play space? Toy sharing and negotiating play ideas allow children to practice emotional regulation, preparing them to manage future challenges.
Communication
An important way children learn how to communicate is through social play. Play spaces designed to encourage cooperative imaginative play can strengthen a child's ability to relate to others and interpret social signals. This type of play helps them understand the perspectives of others, what is considered acceptable behavior, what they do and don’t like, and how to express themselves when they interact with peers.
Motor Skills
Playing alongside others helps children practice managing their physical movements and coordination, and interaction with the many manipulative features of the play spaces work their fine and gross motor skills. As children have a blast unleashing their inner miner in Gilroy Library’s Earthen Excursion, moving gems along a conveyor belt, or rotating marshmallows by the campfire as pretend flames appear in Saratoga’s Redwood Romp, they also develop motor skills.
Come explore all of our SCCLD play spaces and discover the interactive features that help children connect, learn and grow!
