Children 's Own Personal Interests

Outdoor play is a great tool to engage a child and incorporate all seven areas of learning. Well thought out activities can excite, challenge and memorize children, teaching them new skills or experience new ideas all through play. For example, building a ball run is a simple activity in itself. However children often work as a team, sharing ideas and overcoming problems in the process. Number could be incorporated if the children are asked to build the ball run from a pre-drawn instruction

As an early years practitioner you will recognise that children’s play is closely linked to their learning and development. Children learn in so many different ways but you will notice that they learn mainly through play. When children are able to do many different activity’s that allows them to lean but have fun at the same time thy will find what they are doing fun and will engage the children. It is important that when in you your setting you set up a variety of educational activity’s this way the children will be able to choose freely what they want to do.

Dramatic play permits children to fit the reality of the world into their own interests and knowledge. One of the purest forms of symbolic thought available to young children, dramatic play, contributes strongly to the intellectual development of children. Young children learn by imagining and doing and dramatic play allows them to do so. Dramatic play also promotes the use of speaking and listening skills. When children take part in this type of play, they practice words they have heard others say, and realize that they must listen to what other “players” say in order to be able to respond in an appropriate fashion. This style of play also promotes the development of social skills through interaction with others, peers or adults, which is a necessary factor in a child’s future.

Play for a child is an opportunity to develop the skills needed to form relationships with

Socio-dramatic play- children act out real or potential experiences based on situations they see in their lives. For example drama, role play, puppets.

In order for a child to develop productive social skills, it is important to choose toys to enhance active, imaginative play, and discourage time at the computer or television. A game in which a child is encouraged to think for themselves rather than sit motionless staring at an electronic screen, is better for the development of the child’s social skills (Moore, 2). Time spent with other children, rather the child’s own age or older, will help develop necessary social skills that will stick with the child through adulthood (Roode, 1). From the day they are born, infants and children begin to form relationships, these relationships eventually deepen and enable them to handle future relationships with others outside their initial circle (Roode, 1). The ability for a person to build and further relationships, make moral judgments, etc. can be enhanced with games played with a group of children, stuffed animals, puppets or instruments (Roode, 1).

Through play, children are also able to form relationships with their peers, therefore developing socially. They are able to “learn how to work in groups, to share, to negotiate, to resolve conflicts, and to learn self-advocacy skills” all of which are important skills in a child’s world as well as the adult world (Ginsberg 183). This is especially prevalent in young school age children, who have had relatively few social encounters without the presence of their parents before entering school. These young children will often make life time friends by sharing a popular treat at snack time or borrowing a color crayon to another child who has broken theirs.

The game is the primary way to learn about themselves, others and the environment; universal, all children known, instinctive and essential part of growing up and the formation of personality. Childhood without games and hanging out with friends is unthinkable. The children most of the time in the game, and the development, learning and work will be more successful if they take place through the game or contain elements of the game. Through play a child learns, develops, and reveals him and the world through experimenting with different materials, sounds, resources, research, and other methods, role-play. It develops the child a sense of security, self-reliance, self-control, competence and develop skills in all areas (motor, emotional, cognitive, social and language skills), and to strengthen self-confidence. Parents and other considerate adults can help children how to cope with psychological stress. Symptoms in children may vary depending on their age. If children shows significant changes in behavior or if any of the following symptoms over an extended period of time adults should contact a

165 and Wood & Attfield's 1996, p.76.) It encourages children to develop the ability to control their actions and emotions and adjust them to the recognized social norm and in addition to that, play helps children to prepare themselves to become an active member of a culture and their own family by interacting with the people closest to them, such as parents and other family members (Vygotsky, as cited in Brennan, 2012, p.162.) As a result of this, their social and emotional development is advanced from an early stage.

Play contributes to children’s “physical, emotional and social well-being” (Else, 2009, p.8) and through play, the child’s holistic development and well-being is being constantly accounted for as is it led by the individual. The child decides what s/he wants to do and does it; it is

Parental involvement in education is necessary in order for children to be successful when learning how to read. Children who lack support from their parents and guardians often have difficulty advancing in school, and those who do have parental support and positive home literacy experiences often find academic success at an early age. Children are expected to become fluent readers, and a foundation for reading must be established at an early age with the support of a child’s parents or guardians. Reading activities at home and the influence a parent has on their child is beneficial for young children in so many ways, and at home, parents can reinforce what is being taught at school with their children in order to create a better understanding of learned curriculum and reading skills. Strong parental support in education is an important aspect of a child’s reading development because print rich

Year 2: Different materials can be combined, including by mixing, for a particular purpose (ACARA, 2015). Investigating what happens when children mix water and cornflour together.

With the expansion in technology, children are hastily becoming more and more inactive. In the past century, kids would play outside from sunrise to sunset. Little did they realize, that playtime served

(Hayes & Casey, 2002) This is because when children are interacting, the learning process is more enjoyable. The fact that the children were engaging in a shared experience made it easier for them to create longer narratives because they were having fun. In addition, Wright, Diener, and Kemp (2013) studied the link between storytelling dramas and the sense of community in the early childhood classroom. Specifically, they found that storytelling dramas creates a sense of community which encourages social interaction for children who had existing social issues (Wright, Diener, & Kemp, 2013). Preschooler’s with existing social issues have a hard time entering play and engaging with others because they are still learning how to do so. For this reason, creating a sense of community in the classroom through storytelling establishes a feeling of belonging for children who have less social skills. Children are more likely to engage in these shared activities if they feel comfortable and valued in the environment they are doing so (Wright et al., 2013). Similarly, storytelling encourages children to have respect for each other by being an active member of the storytelling process. During storytelling, children take turns and collaborate with each other (Kim, 1999). This reciprocal back and forth interaction creates a sense of unity and allows children to identify that their ideas are valued by

Brings humor into the child's life increasing their own sense of wanting to develop skills or, if challenged, to overcome those challenges.