Functional play is the "first game" for children, because it is the first game they use when they start using things to entertain themselves. The game starts in early childhood and lasts for about two years when the constructive play phase begins.

The importance of these games is to capture, disassemble, and touch objects that are near children. It doesn't matter whether games or everyday things are at home. They just want to play so that they can develop themselves.

When young children start playing, they do it in parallel with career play, which is very important for the growth and development of these small creatures, the author, Maria José Roldan Prieto, said in a report in the Spanish magazine Bequia Padres.

Structural pieces turn into a house or whatever else they need in order to play in the constructive stage (Getty Images)

Why does the child love the box?
If you give a box to a young child who will inevitably love to play with it, the child can imagine these boxes (cubes) as fictional worlds and invisible friends, because his imagination and creativity will help him to enjoy these simple pieces.

These construction pieces can be turned into a house or whatever else it needs to play in the constructive play phase. In turn, to get there, he should first experience these games by touching them in the stage of playing career.

At this point, the games don't matter much or what they will do or how they will test them by touching them, playing them and making them fall. As all parents have noticed, just a box of cartoon kids will admire so much like a new train game, because it has many great features worth exploring.

Functional play does not mean the use of everyday games or objects in a symbolic way, as this will be dedicated to later stages, since at this stage your child will focus on the physical physical characteristics of an object.

Your child interacts with objects and examines them and uses their senses to learn more about the game and is attracted to bright colors (Pixabee)

Playing is a total joy
When your child interacts and examines things, he will use his senses to learn more about the game and its world. A child may be attracted to the bright colors of an object, the sound it makes when it hits it with a spoon, or the soft sensation of new and unusual aspects or odors emitting.

It is essential that children's toys be of good quality, as they should stimulate your child's senses. It should also be safe enough to be sucked, sucked and thrown out of bed without breaking. Specifically, toys and materials for young children must comply with the safety standards established by law.

Another feature of playing career is that it often involves repetition. For example, your child can pass the ball on purpose again and again simply because he likes to see the colors rotate and wants to hear the sound of their bounce, so this way he will benefit from the sight and sound, especially as he enjoys this repetition.

"First Game" prepares the child for the complex skills he will need in school and everyday life (Getty Images)

The benefits of playing in the functional phase
Children enjoy much of what the games offer at the sensory level, even from the simplest activities, such as repetitive activities commonly used in play career that already build reading, writing, motor and thinking skills.

For example, there are some ways you can learn that your child is playing, including putting cars in line according to size or color to enhance skills such as identifying and classifying objects, as well as assembling objects without doing anything else specific to introduce the concept of cause and effect.

As a result, career play may be known as the “first game,” but it also prepares children for the complex skills they will need to use both in school and in everyday life.