Guiding the development of the child in the right manner is no mean task but parents must put in  their best foot forward to achieve the desired results. It is important that you do not lay overstress on disciplining the child or making him adhere to rules which may not do much good in terms of letting him explore things around him the way he should. Excess of disciplining is asking too much of the child while giving him too little.

Motivating your child holds the key to encouraging him develop the right skills and cultivating a sense of self-confidence in him. You need to keep an eye on the most subtle of his achievements and come forth with appreciation every now and then to push him to go that extra mile without putting too much pressure. One might reward the child in different ways to achieve the desired effect and nurture a desire to achieve in him, no matter on how small a scale. However, certain parents feel like showing their appreciation by offering money as reward.

This has usually been shown to be not the best way to encourage the child because it kind of takes away from the quality value of the appreciation that is forthcoming. Money is instantly associated with the kidnof power which does not lead to many creative results. On the other hand, if you reward the child with an hour of video game for doing something worthwhile it could bring a different kind of sense of satisfaction. Of course, there are still better alternatives like taking out your child for a weekend outing or picnic.

One must learn to differentiate between coming up with a reward system for the child which really encourages him to explore his creative side and one which can make it a way to earn more power, as in the case of money, which does not necessarily leads to creative growth. As far as play is concerned, most of the modern parents tend to think that structured activities are better suited for even preschool kids which can help them begin early in something they might want to pursue later in their life.

For instance, getting your child into music lessons may be considered a great thing for developing his latent potential but in the process talking away the opportunity for unstructured play can be detrimental to his creative growth. In some of the scientific studies, it has been demonstrated that as parents are becoming more inclined to send their children into sports, music and other structured activities as early as possible in their lives, it is increasing the tendency to have adjustment issues later in life.

Experts suggest that it is because lack of unstructured playtime can result in disruption of social development of the child. It is also believed to have an impact on the emotional and cognitive development of a child which can have negative consequences for the child in later years. If one thinks that by offering more attractive incentives to the child for structured activities can turn it into something better, then they are grossly mistaken. Instead of letting your child suffer from depression, social issues and an unhappy life in grown-up years it is much better to let him have his time for unstructured play.

Earlier, it used to be the order of the day as children usually engaged in unstructured play in afterschool hours but as trends for bringing up children underwent a change, parents started preferring to send their child for something they consider more meaningful as compared to simply whiling away their time. This unthoughtful sacrifice of playtime started costing children badly in terms of their holistic development and in the area of social skills.

More and more such children were shown to grow up into unhappy adults as compared to those who had ample opportunity to exercise their right to unstructured playtime and imaginative game play. In response to queries about why structured activities are less fruitful in a creative sense as compared to unstructured game play experts suggest that in absence of clear rules for play, the creative element occupies the center stage which is all needed to make the child pick up the right skills in a natural and open learning environment. If parents rightly understood this concept it can do a world of good for bringing up the children in the best possible manner.

Article by Kenny Leichester of PatioShoppers, who is also a specialist in parenting. For more information on patio umbrella and garden wicker furniture, visit his site today.