Kentucky Baby Cracks Up at Dad's Funny Karate Moves [WATCH]

To me, some of the best parenting happens when you are playing with your kids. While playing you teach the things that you don't even realize.

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Why is playing with your kids so important?

According to the Exchange Family Center, experts agree with me.

Playing with your child is one way to help him or her develop social skills and self-control. Children's minds are like little sponges. They soak up everything around them. As they interact with parents and others, they learn how people behave in social settings.

Research has shown that parent-child play and pretend help to develop skills including:

Creativity,
Working memory,
Gross motor skills,
Cognitive flexibility,
Regulation of emotions, and
Peer group leadership skills

So, go play and just have fun with your kids, nieces and nephews, and grandkids because it's so important.

If you need an example, do something silly like this dad from Louisville, Kentucky. He is a professor of development in this funny pretend karate video.

1-year-old gets a big laugh out of his dad doing karate! #karatedad.

- Viral Hog via rumble

My husband is very gifted at playing with our grandkids just like this dad from Kentucky. Even though he made ME the villain, it still reflects his skills in helping her develop some very important social skills.

This time her uncle got in on the pretend action. She was pretending she had a magic wand and they were reacting. Love it!