Skip to main content
  • Individuals
    • Individuals
    • Business
    • Adviser
    • Financial Wellbeing
    • About us
    • Contact us
    • Claims
    • AIA Vitality Member Login
  • Search
  • AIA Australia
  • Health Insurance
    • Member Benefits
    • Member Login
    • Get a quote
    • Make a claim
  • Life Insurance
    • Life Cover
    • Total and Permanent Disablement
    • Crisis Recovery
    • Income Protection Core
    • Business Expenses
    • Make a claim
    • Medix
  • Retirement & Investment
    • Guaranteed Annuities
    • Investment Growth Bond
    • Unit Prices
  • AIA Vitality
    • Partners and Rewards
    • Already a member? Login
  • Content Hub
    • Move Well
    • Plan Well
    • Eat Well
    • Think Well
  • Help & Support
    • Making a Claim
    • Forms & Documents
    • Policyholder Information
    • Complaints process
    • Contact AIA
    • Customer feedback
    • COVID-19
AIA
  • Individuals
  • Business
  • Adviser
  • Financial Wellbeing
  • About us
  • Contact us
  • Claims
  • AIA Vitality Member Login
  • Health Insurance

    Health Insurance

    Cover that protects and rewards.

    • Member Benefits

      Learn more about the range of benefits available to AIA Health Insurance members.

    • Member Login

      Existing members login here to your online account.

    • Get a quote

      Ready to get started?

    • Make a claim

      Get help with making a claim.

  • Life Insurance

    Life Insurance

    We’re here to help protect your family, your lifestyle and your future.

    For Individuals

    For Business

    • Life Cover

      Helps protect your loved ones if you are diagnosed with a terminal illness or pass away.

    • Total and Permanent Disablement

      A lump sum benefit if you can’t work due to injury or illness

    • Crisis Recovery

      Helps ease the financial burden should you suffer a traumatic event.

    • Income Protection Core

      Can provide you with a monthly income if you become disabled due to injury or illness.

    • Business Expenses

      May assist to pay expenses of your business if you cannot work due to injury or illness.

    • Make a claim

      Get help with making a claim.

    • Medix

      Personal Medical Case Management.

  • Retirement & Investment

    Retirement & Investment

    Plan for a more comfortable tomorrow.

    • Guaranteed Annuities

      Can provide you with a regular, guaranteed income stream throughout your retirement.

    • Investment Growth Bond

      Also known as an insurance bond, it offers a tax-effective way to invest for the future and is flexible enough to suit a wide range of needs.

    • Unit Prices

      Find unit prices for a range of superannuation and investment products.

  • AIA Vitality

    AIA Vitality

    AIA Vitality is a personalised, science-backed health and wellbeing program that supports you every day to make healthier lifestyle choices.

    • Partners and Rewards

      Learn more about our partners and rewards.

    • Already a member? Login

      Check your AIA Vitality Status and get access to the tools you need to help improve your health.

  • Content Hub

    Content Hub

    The AIA Vitality Content Hub is your go to for science-backed, health and wellbeing inspiration and advice.

    • Move Well

      Find your further when it comes to exercise and fitness.

    • Plan Well

      Tools and support for your future, because a good tomorrow starts today.

    • Eat Well

      Care for your body with food that makes you feel good.

    • Think Well

      Tools and information to help you cultivate a healthy frame of mind.

  • Help & Support

    Help & Support

    We strive to assist you for all your inquiries with high touch customer service.

    Contact AIA
    • Making a Claim

      Get help with making a claim.

    • Forms & Documents

      A selection of forms and other important product related documents.

    • Policyholder Information

      Useful information for policyholders.

    • Complaints process

      If you have a complaint, we'll do our best to resolve the situation.

    • Contact AIA

      How to get in contact with us.

    • Customer feedback

      Let us know how we're doing.

    • COVID-19

      How we are responding.

  • Search
  • Contact Us
    • Call Us

      Open: 8am to 6pm, AEST Mon - Fri

    • Find an adviser

Move Well
Prev | Next
Back to Top
  • {{title}}

    {{label}}
  • The lost art of unstructured play

    Chris Judd - 4 min read

    09 October 2017


    We may be forgetting the benefits of unstructured, unscheduled downtime for our kids, says Chris Judd.

    The lost art of unstructured play

    I should start with a caveat.

    When it comes to raising kids, I don’t believe we should be banning the gadgets. I think kids can wholly benefit from screen time, and experimenting with new technologies. This is, after all, the future. And tech will be central to how our kids relate to one other.

    Having said that, I don’t know many kids who aren’t getting enough screen time.

    What they may not be getting is enough time and exposure to unstructured play. When we talk about unstructured playtime, we’re talking about time alone, or with friends, or with a parent; when there are no rules, no rigid structure and no limit to the scope of imagination.

    Kids don’t need much to play. I remember when our eldest (Oscar) was younger, he was pretty adamant about taking his footy everywhere he went. When we took a trip to the snow once he made it clear that not having his footy there to play with was a Big. Deal.

    So I rolled some socks up into a ball. That was his footy – his imagination did the rest. He scored a lot of goals through multiple doorways.

    Free play can help kids to develop problem-solving and resilience skills, while keeping them active. It can also teach them to be alone, to be bored, to be creative, to work as a team.

    This month, TIME released a special edition on The Science of Childhood, which stated, “Nothing is as natural as a child at play.” As part of the edition, writer Siobhan O’Connor revealed that in the US free, unscheduled playtime has been declining steadily over the past 50 years.

    “When children do play, it’s more likely to be highly structured – think playdates and enrichment classes,” she wrote.

    If kids have an activity planned for every night of the week, chances are they’ll get to Friday and be exhausted. We want the best for our children, but we’ve got to be careful not to place our own ambitions onto our kids. If they’re always ticking things off a list they won’t have time for unstructured play; time where they can develop fundamental social and empathetic skills, and figure out what it is they actually like doing, and what they don’t.

    Free play can be indoors or outdoors. It might work with a loose structure to kick things off (we play a game of hide and seek with the kids before letting them do their own thing). Outdoor play areas are great for when the weather behaves; we’re in the habit of just going to the park and seeing what happens. Like with most parenting activities, it’s trial and error, but I reckon the experimentation itself is healthy.

    As parents, one of the biggest things we can do for our kids is to give them our time. This could involve taking them to the park, sitting on the floor to play, kicking off a game of hide and seek, or making sure they enjoy unstructured downtime while we cook dinner in the background.

    It doesn’t cost anything, it can be an energising and creative time for the whole family, and it gives kids the space they need to enjoy themselves while they develop fundamental skills – without even realising it.

    Dr Helen Thomas is a Psychologist and works regularly with children.

    “It’s always been thought that the function of play is to learn how to live; learning how to hunt, catch food, fight, whatever was necessary. But because there have been developments in neuroscience and what we know about the brain, we now know that there are some amazing links between what happens during play and the prefrontal cortex.

    “There’s research that shows that unstructured play – play that’s child-led, no-one else telling them what they should be doing or achieving – is really important for the development of social skills. It’s also shown to assist with emotion regulation – so helping kids learn to manage their feelings and teaching them about the responses of other people.

    “It’s important for kids to play on their own, with peers, and it’s hugely beneficial for parents to be involved too, as it fosters the connection between parent and child.”

    Chris Judd

    Former Australian Rules footballer Chris Judd is familiar with how to get your heart rate up and push yourself physically. Twice winner of the prestigious Brownlow Medal, Chris is an honoured sportsman and father to four children, Oscar, Billie, Tom and Darcy. The information in this article is general information only and is not intended as medical, health, nutritional or other advice. You should obtain professional advice from a medical or health practitioner in relation to your own personal circumstances.

    Disclaimer:
    The information in this article is general information only and is not intended as financial, medical, health, nutritional, tax or other advice. It does not take into account any individual’s personal situation or needs. You should consider obtaining professional advice from a financial adviser and/or tax specialist, or medical or health practitioner, in relation to your own circumstances and before acting on this information.


    This inspirational content is brought to you by AIA Vitality

    AIA Vitality is a science-backed program that helps you learn more about your health, offers ways to improve it and motivates you with rewards along the way.

    Contact AIA

    Choose your preferred way to receive information and support

    Contact AIA

    Choose your preferred way to receive information and support

    Help and support

    Make a claim

    Frequently asked questions

    Customer feedback

    Complaints process

    Whistleblower disclosure

    Forms and documents library

    Target Market Determinations

    Explore AIA

    AIA Vitality

    Health insurance

    Life insurance

    OneLife

    About AIA

    Careers

    Our people

    Our commitments

    Media centre

    Our awards

    FSC commitment

    Help and support

    Make a claim

    Frequently asked questions

    Customer feedback

    Complaints process

    Whistleblower disclosure

    Forms and documents library

    Target Market Determinations

    explore Aia

    AIA Vitality

    Health insurance

    Life insurance

    Retirement & investment

    Content Hub

    about AIA

    Careers

    Our people

    Our commitments

    Media centre

    Our awards

    FSC commitment


    Copyright © 2021. AIA Group Limited and its subsidiaries or affiliates. All rights reserved. Priority Protection and Priority Protection for Platform Investors products are issued by AIA Australia Limited (ABN 79 004 837 861, AFSL 230043). AIA Vitality, a personalised, science-backed program that supports members every day to make healthier choices, is available with eligible products issued by AIA Australia. AIA Health with AIA Vitality is issued by AIA Health Insurance Pty Ltd ABN 32 611 323 034, a registered private health insurer governed by the Private Health Insurance Act 2007, Private Health Insurance Rules 2007 and the AIA Health Insurance Pty Ltd Fund Rules. The information on this website is current as at 1 April 2021 and may be subject to change. It is general information only and is not intended in any way to be financial, legal, tax, health, medical, nutritional or other advice. You should consider your own personal circumstances and needs and view the relevant product documents, fact sheets, fund rules and terms and conditions before making a decision to acquire such products. If necessary you should obtain professional advice from a financial, tax, medical or health professional. Unless expressly stated, any views or expressions of opinion (including any video content) do not represent the opinion of AIA.
    Terms of Use | Privacy