• Home
  • About
    • Our Family
    • Our Purpose
    • Our Beliefs
    • Our Christmas Letters
    • Other FAQ’s
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Shop
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter

Flanders Family Homelife

Living, Loving, & Learning Together

  • Home
  • Love
    • Respect your Husband
    • Love your Wife
    • Get Along with In-laws
    • Find Time for Intimacy
    • More on Marriage
  • Learn
    • Why Homeschool? Our Family’s Reasons
    • Occupying Toddlers
    • Kindergarten Plan
    • Choosing Curriculum: Cultivate Your Child’s Love for Learning
    • Report Cards
    • High School Transcripts
    • CLEP/ Dual Credit
    • High School Diplomas
  • Parent
    • Tips on Potty Training
    • Stop Sibling Squabbles
    • Chore Assignments
    • Computer TIme
    • Adult Children at Home
  • Eat
    • Breakfasts
    • Breads
    • Salads
    • Soups
    • Sides
    • Main DIshes
    • Desserts
  • Celebrate
    • New Year’s
    • Valentine’s Day
    • Easter
    • Summer Vacation
    • Independence Day
    • Back to School
    • Halloween
    • Thanksgiving
    • Christmas
  • Save
    • Kids Eat Free
    • Budgeting Tips
    • Earn Cash Back w/Ebates
  • Read
    • Recent Reads
    • Books We’ve Authored
    • Reading Rewards
    • Free Books!!
  • Travel
    • Vacation Planning
    • We Flew FREE to Europe
    • Sample Itineraries
  • Organize
    • General Tips
    • Goal Setting
    • Mom’s Notebook
    • Kitchen
    • Bedrooms
    • Garage
  • Print
    • Calendars
    • Chore Charts
    • Coloring Pages
    • Math Drills
    • Prayer Guides
    • View All >
  • Subscribe
You are here: Home / Parenting / 3 Life Lessons Kids Learn through Play

in Parenting

3 Life Lessons Kids Learn through Play

58 shares
  • 58

3 Important Life Lessons Learned through Play
Our children love playing games.

Whether they are gathered around the kitchen table with a deck of cards, shooting hoops in our driveway, or tossing a Frisbee with friends at a neighborhood park, they can often be found doing something competitive with their minds or muscles.

For the most part, our family has managed to avoid organized sports. I don’t know how mothers with even one child in a travel league do what they do – multiply all the midweek practices, private coaching sessions, and away games by twelve kids, and it becomes logistically impossible to keep the pace. Still, we recognize there are many important life lessons to be learned through play, so we purposefully set apart at least a little time for sports and games.

During the summer months, we swim, play tennis, and ride bikes. During the winter, we break out the board games and basketballs and ping pong paddles.

Competition has a way of revealing character deficits in children — and sometimes in their parents, as well. That’s one of the main reasons we continue to play.

Learning to win graciously and to lose with dignity takes a lot of practice. Some of our family members must summon a great deal of self-control to quell their disappointment when they lose.

Several years ago, when our most competitive sons were younger, my husband found a great way to reinforce the good character traits we wanted to see all our children develop: He’d grab a couple of basketballs every night after dinner and take the kids out to the driveway to shoot hoops in a family “Knock Out tournament.” Anyone who failed to control his temper during the game got to serve as “guest speaker” during Bible time afterward by reading aloud selected passages from Proverbs for Parenting, a topical arrangement of Scripture under such headings as anger, pride, patience, and humility.

Those old clichés coaches have been using for years are still true and represent some of the best lessons to be learned through competition. And they underscore Biblical truths, as well.

3 Important Life Lessons Kids Learn through Play

  1. “It’s not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game.”

    As a parent, integrity is far much more important to me than outcome. I would much rather my children lose fairly than win by cheating. I would be far prouder for my students to bring home an honest C than a dishonest A.

    “Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out.” – Proverbs 10:9

  2. “Your greatest opponent is yourself.”

    We’ve tried to teach our children not to view rival teams as enemies. Instead, we encourage them to do their best, to learn from the competition, and to shake hands when the game is over, grateful for the opportunity to have participated.

    “I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.” – 1 Corinthians 9:27

  3. “The only thing worse than a sore loser is a sore winner.”

    I don’t want my kids to bellyache or cast blame when they lose, but neither do I want them to gloat and rub it in when they win.

    “Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before stumbling. It is better to be humble in spirit with the lowly Than to divide the spoil with the proud.” – Proverbs 16:18-19

These are important life lessons for all of us to remember – children and adults alike. The world would be a much better place if everybody would learn to play nice, don’t you agree?


“3 Important Life Lessons Kids Learn through Play” was first published on 11/9/16 in my weekly “Family Matters” column for the Tyler Morning Telegraph.

Related

58 shares
  • 58

Leave a Comment

« Diabetes Warning Signs You Can’t Afford to Miss
Bless the Lord Coloring Page »

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




meet the parents

Doug & Jennifer Flanders - www.flandersfamily.info

We love Jesus, love each other, love our 12 children, and love the life God's given us. We started this blog as a way to share resources with others who want strong marriages, happy families, & healthy homes.

Read more

connect with us

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

looking for something?

freebies in your inbox

Join over 19K other subscribers and get sunshine delivered weekly to your inbox.

Unsure? Browse my newsletter archives to see what you're missing

get your family talking

Table Talk Book

cook gourmet meals at home

HelloFresh delivers great recipes and fresh ingredients to your home each week.

start your day right

make over your mornings

If your mornings don't run as smoothly as you'd like, this course can help. Good for night owls & early birds alike!

join the conversation

  • Jennifer Flanders on Free Printing Practice Sheets
  • EJIEH HOPE on Free Printing Practice Sheets
  • Jennifer Flanders on Best 2022 Reading Rewards Programs for Kids
  • Emily on Best 2022 Reading Rewards Programs for Kids
  • Jennifer Flanders on 2023 Calendars for Advanced Planning
  • Valerie on 2023 Calendars for Advanced Planning
  • Julie on Pretty Printable Scripture Bookmarks
  • Jennifer Flanders on Children are a Blessing Coloring Page

Readers' Favorites

Name that Line - Christmas Movie Game

Name that Line Christmas Quiz

Shares: 32657

How Well Do You Know Your Christmas Carols

How Well Do You Know Your Christmas Carols?

Shares: 27336

Age-Appropriate Children's Chore Chart - IG

Age-Appropriate Chores for Children

Shares: 92699

Make Every Month More Meaningful

Make Every Month More Memorable

Shares: 52583

most popular posts this week

  • 2023 Calendars for Advanced Planning
  • 2022 Calendars (Free Printables)
  • Free Editable High School Transcript Template
  • Number Writing Practice Sheet (Free Printable)
  • Armor of God Coloring Page
  • Homeschool Report Cards
  • Free Printing Practice Sheets
  • Best 2022 Reading Rewards Programs for Kids
  • One-Year Bible Reading Plan
  • Baby Shower Word Scramble (Free Printable)

earn free books and bibles

Tyndale Rewards Club

This is a great program, and it's FREE! Bonus: when you sign up through this link, you get 25 points (& I get 10 -- so, thanks!).

free starter set

Free Starter Set from Grove Collaborativefree starter set from Grove

unleash your child’s creativity

agathon web hoting
Christian Family Blogs
  • Home
  • Faith
  • Family
  • Food
  • Fun
  • Freebies

visit jennifer’s blog

Jennifer Flanders' Blog: Loving Life At Home Loving Life at Home

visit doug’s blog

Doug Flanders' Blog: All Truth Is God's Truth All Truth is God's Truth

privacy policy | disclosure statement

shop our books

25 Ways to Communicate Respect to Your Husband 25 Ways to Show Love to Your Wife
Sit Down & Eat Get Up & Go

thanks for dropping by

Thank you for visiting our website Let's Get Social
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

looking for something?

recommended resources

as seen on:

America Tonight ABC Australia BBC Tyler Morning Telegraph

Doug hired a limo on our wedding day to transport Doug hired a limo on our wedding day to transport us on from the church to our hotel — a limo that maintained a strict “no shoe polish policy.” So I’ve been making up for that unmarked car ride ever since. Ha!  #happilyeverafter #weddinganniversary #thehoneymoonstillisntover #35years #everydaywithyoudearissweeterthanthedaybefore
Do you see those black clouds rolling in? No soone Do you see those black clouds rolling in? No sooner did we get checked into our hotel and suited up to swim than they closed down the attached water park due to the impending storm. #badtiming  Fortunately, the sun was back out early the following morning, and we enjoyed some very short lines to some very long slides for several hours before time to check out.  We had a wonderful time there, but when we later heard our kids recounting their favorite parts of our trip, that water park hotel didn’t even make the list.  Do you know what did? Playing Marco Polo with Mom and Dad at another hotel’s small indoor pool. We couldn’t have spent more than a half hour playing, but it paid big dividends in terms of good memories and grateful hearts.  Which just goes to show that the time parents invest with their children trumps the money they spend on them every time.  That’s because, deep down, kids don’t want stuff. They want attention. They don’t need more of your paycheck. They need more of you.  #flandersfamilytravels #familyfun #homeschoollife #timetogether
Our daughter’s colleagues staged a “friendly r Our daughter’s colleagues staged a “friendly roast” last week, and here’s what they had to say about her: “If your mom wrote a book on sex, you may be Bek Flanders.”  They’re right. I did!  The thing I love about this photo (besides Bek’s big, beautiful grin)? Realizing her co-workers would never have even known about my book had Rebekah not shared that information herself, which means she can’t be too embarrassed about the fact.  Doubtlessly, it also helps that what I wrote is NOT a how-to book, but a why-to. (Swipe for a peek at the cover or follow link in profile for more details.)  Bek answered: “Yeah, I’m not embarrassed about it. I think it’s funny and starts good and important conversations. I’ve been able to encourage people from all over the country to think and talk about sex in a healthy/scientific/biblical/serious and lighthearted way, and how to raise the next generation to do the same. If we want our world to have a healthy view of sex, we’ve got to be vocal about it. If we stay silent then the only advice this generation will hear is the world’s, and I certainly don’t want that.”  #smartgirl #goodadvice #importantconversations #loveyourhusband #loveyourself #embracinggodspurposeforpassioninmarriage
We’re all heading to a homeschool dance tonight, We’re all heading to a homeschool dance tonight, and Abby’s feeling a little like Millie out of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. (Here’s hoping the evening doesn’t end in a fist fight. Ha!)  #ohitsetsyoursensesinaswirl 
#doodinuptogoandseeagirl
The most economical souvenirs we’ve ever collect The most economical souvenirs we’ve ever collected on our travels are also some of my children’s favorites: #juniorranger badges and/or patches from the #nationalparks we visit. Nearly every Park has one. The booklets/activities the kids must complete to earn their badges are usually free and very educational, too! Abby ended up earning nine new badges on this trip (not pictured: the one she got in Gettysburg).  #flandersfamilytravels #roadtrip #homeschoolfieldtrip
We spent a day at George Washington’s Mount Vern We spent a day at George Washington’s Mount Vernon, too, but my phone ran out of battery before we got to the property’s magnificent museum.  #flandersfamilytravels
We toured Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello and were We toured Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello and were delighted by the character actor’s knowledge of all things Jefferson-related. Obviously a huge history buff!  #flandersfamilytravels #ushistory
Three cheers for my boys and their keen puzzle-sol Three cheers for my boys and their keen puzzle-solving skills for figuring out how to stuff luggage for six people, plus assorted souvenirs, colonial costumes, pillows, and snacks for the road, into very limited space in the back of our Armada. And repacking it again and again, without complaint, every time we leave one city and drive to the next.  #whatwouldwedowithoutthem #roadtrip #flandersfamilytravels
A quick stop by the Lincoln Memorial on our return A quick stop by the Lincoln Memorial on our return trip through Washington DC…  #flandersfamilytravels #honestabe
Gettysburg is so full of history — even the hote Gettysburg is so full of history — even the hotels have a long and rich backstory. When this one was first built in 1896, it served as a high school.  One of the US flags to which its students pledged their allegiance every morning now hangs in the upstairs foyer of the hotel.  #federalpointeinn #oldglory #gettysburg #pennsylvania #fourscoreandsevenyearsago
#flandersfamilytravels

Copyright © 2022 · Market theme by Restored 316

58 shares
  • 58