Some people say that parents should encourage their children to take part in organised group activities in their free time. other say that it is important for children to learn how to occupy themselves on their own. Discuss both these views and give your opinion. v.16

These days people believe that parents of a child should make arrangements such as play dates and other group activities to engage them and keep them busy. But, some argue that children should be left to themselves and learn to play on their own. Although both the scenarios provide equal opportunity for learning, I believe that the former statement is more valuable than the latter. On the one hand, organised activities expose a kid to a variety of talents and skills for learning from their peers. For instance, if a child is enrolled in a group swimming class, the kid will initially have a hard time learning the new skill. But seeing other children who are also novice like them, they can discuss the techniques that are easy and comfortable for them. This will enable them to try different approaches in order to achieve the desired result. On the other hand, leaving children to play by themselves will probably result in boredom initially. However, after a few failed attempts, to amuse themselves, they tend to bring out some innovative ideas to keep them busy. For example, on a day when a boy is stuck at home and left to play on his own there might be some struggle in the beginning, but later on as time passes by they eventually end up with quiet interesting ideas and invent their own games to play. While arranging for group activities is not always possible, children will develop better creativity when left to play on their own. To conclude, even though self play develops creativity and innovation in a child, according to me exposure to various talents and diverse thinking is what a kid primarily needs during this developmental phase of their life.