By the age of 18 months I’ve always said a child needs the company of other babies. Why? Because this playing promotes their development of social skills, personality, curiosity, self-belief and emotional resilience.
These qualities are all crucial to make them psychologically sturdy while growing up. And now there’s research to prove it.
It turns out children who learn to play with others at pre-school age tend to have better mental health as they get older. It would seem “peer-play ability”, the capacity to play successfully with other children, has a protective effect on mental health.
