Some people say that parents should encourage their children to take part in organised group activities in their free time. Others say that it is important for children to learn how to occupy themselves on their own. Discuss both these views and give your own opinion

With a growing number of toys, games and events for children to engage in, there are two schools of thought on what is the best combination of activities to opt for. Some people are of the view that guardians should advise their wards to partake in structured team events in their spare time, whereas others believe that children should learn to engage themselves. While I have outlined both views ahead, personally, I am in favour of the

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school of thought. Structured team activities have multiple developmental benefits.

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, they force children to try out new activities in a safe environment, helping them to discover new hobbies that were earlier unknown.

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, they

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push children out of their comfort zone by encouraging them to make new and diverse friends.

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, through a set of carefully curated activities, children learn

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lessons on communication, team-building, sharing and coping with failure. Since all of

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is done in a controlled environment with skilled adults around, there is minimal risk of negative experience for the child.

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, by spending time playing on their own, children are often forced to creatively invent interesting situations or events to occupy themselves.

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boosts their creativity and

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teaches them to engage themselves and structure their own play games. Since children are free to adjust activities based on their preferences and energy levels, they have more freedom to dictate their own schedule.

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, unstructured play likely results in children with higher levels of creativity, individual freedom and independence. I am firmly of the opinion that, of the two options, structured team activities are more essential for children at

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stage of life.

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is because, learning how to play on their own is something that they can always learn later on their own, but it is harder to develop social skills as they grow older. It is,

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, imperative for children to learn to make new friends and to experiment with many things rather than to restrict themselves to their comfort zone. For me, structured events like summer schools, camps, group dance classes, language classes helped me develop a good network of friends and strong social skills which have been of immense value as I grew older. To conclude, I believe that while both schools of thought have their benefits, parents should focus on enrolling young children in multiple structured activities.

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will help children to develop

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skills that will benefit them across their lifetime.