Play is fundamental to healthy cognitive, intellectual, emotional and social development. It is so important to optimal child development that play has been recognized by the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights as a right of every child. However, with today’s hurried and pressured lifestyles children may not be receiving the full benefits of play. With declining opportunities for children to experience free play, it is imperative that classroom curriculum and schools provide greater opportunities for children to play. Encouraging children to learn through play promotes a well rounded and healthy child development of social-emotional behavior, language skills, cognition, and problem-solving skills. In the words of Maria Montessori, “play is the work of the child”.
Play is an integral part of many mammalian’s development. Like human children, most young mammals devote a significant amount of time and energy playing together, and social play is fun. Play is not a meaningless activity; it is vital to the development of mental and behavioral flexibility, social and intellectual proficiency and maintaining social unity. Social-play, or rough-and-tumble play, is the earliest form of social behavior that is focused toward peers, rather than the mother. Similar to most young mammals, human children spend a great deal of their maturation engaging in play with others. The ability to engage in social play is an important indicator of healthy development. Social
Similarly, Keating et al (2000) reported the dilemma facing teachers who are required to provide continual recorded evidence of learning and achievement to both parents and professionals. So, should teaching professionals encourage quality learning through active play, which is often difficult to formally assess compared to the readily assessable written tasks, or should we choose more formal work which may sacrifice the quality of the child's learning experience? The current focus on the expectations of achievement that I have observed, and have suffered scrutiny of, has highlighted a perception of play being somehow inferior and supplementary to learning rather than as an important medium of learning in its own right. Keating (2000) believed that through observing child initiated play, especially in its recreational form, play may not directly relate to better cognition as measured in SATs tests, but conversely, can foster other important abilities, such as persistence, self-esteem, task-orientation, creativity and positive attitudes to learning. Then, if play highlights so many important learning aptitudes within the classroom, what does or should good practice entail?
Play is essential to every part of children’s lives and is important to their development. It provides the children with different ways of doing things children will want to explore and learn new things.
Play is the way children learn and is a word that is used to describe the different activities behaviours that children participate in, this would concur with “Vygotsky’s (1978) social constructivist theory that suggests that play promotes both mental and social development for children” (cited in Goulding, 2016, p16). Early childhood educators such as Froebel and Vygotsky have always promoted the importance of the outdoor learning environment. According to Vygotsky (1978), children learn through interacting with the environment and through social interaction with others. Social constructivist theory, believes play is important for the growth of a child’s cognitive emotional and social development and
The relationship between play and learning seems obvious to many child professionals and parents, and yet there are still lack of understanding surrounding the importance of children's play. Some people believe that children need to "work" not play, and that playing serves no useful purpose in a learning and development environment. This is surprising considering that play, with its high levels of motivation and potential enjoyment empowers children (as well as people
Did you know that play expands a child’s learning and development? Once parents understand that play is crucial in their child’s life then they can begin to help their son or daughter be the best he or she can be. According to Lev Vygotsky “play shapes how children make sense of their worlds, how they learn thinking skills, and how they acquire language.” After spending time at the Bombeck Center I learned that children play in many diverse ways, thus learning numerous new things within each center in which they interact. Lev Vygotsky along with Jean Piaget researched the need for guided social interaction as well as the necessity for spontaneous, self-discovered learning. The Bombeck Center focuses on a play-based learning curriculum to ensure a child’s ability to access social interactions and self-discoveries at the tip of their fingers.
This assignment is all about play and learning for children and young people. Play is engaging in an activity for enjoyment and pleasure however can also be used for learning purposes and development in children and young people. Play activities can be planned by practitioners within the setting or can be free-play, when a child goes off and plays by themselves. Play can be carried out individually or in groups and can also be carried out in different environments such as indoors and outdoors. ‘Research confirms the importance of play for infants in developing children’s brains and minds.’ (http://playtherapy.org.uk/ChildrensEmotionalWellBeing/AboutPlayTherapy/MainPrinciples/PlayDefinition) this is why practitioners encourage young children
Children develop normally when they are exposed to different types of play that allow them to express themselves while using their imaginations and being physically active. According to the Center for Health Education, Training and Nutrition Awareness, “Play is child’s work”; this is true because it is a child’s job is to learn and develop in their first few years of life, in order for them to do this, they play (CHETNA). Not only is playing a child’s full time job, the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights listed play as a right of every child (Ginsburg). Through their full time job of play, the children develop emotionally, socially, physically, and creatively. Children need to participate in child-led play in order to
The Early Years Learning Framework relates the importance of play to notions of belonging, being and becoming. It states that children make sense of their social worlds through playing with others (DEEWR, 2009). Article 13 of the UN Convention reads that every child has the right to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child (Connor, 2010). It is important to note that play has multiple approaches and that children’s play varies greatly according to culture, interests,
Play is central to the development of children, enabling them to make sense of their world as they learn through exploration and experimentation. Susan Isaacs said ‘play is indeed the child’s work and the means whereby he grows and develops’. (Isaacs,1929) Play can support a child’s social, emotional and behavioural development through the following:
There is a part in the handbook, learning and teaching play. Play involves the holistic child, from the physical, psychological, intellectual, social, and emotional. Either by working independently or group work. Play is now a big part of the curriculum as doesn’t just help with the teaching side, but it also gives the children a way to relax and be themselves, and to express their feelings or what is going on in their life through play. (http://ccea.org.uk accessed on 29th November 2016)
In the case of play, there has being a long time, been misunderstood as the opposite of work or something not serious. Actually, using play to mentor children does not mean the curriculum is not professional and beneficial. In contrast, it means cherishing children and respecting the nature of learning at their age. In fact, play is essential for children’s development and for their learning life skills. Pramling & Fleer (2009) suggests that there is no standard definition for play, it is more like an attitude of mind, play could be viewed in its broadest sense as describing almost all the activities that young children engage in. In this essay, I briefly describe the value of play and how play relates to children’s learning and
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
Play is the foundation stone of children’s healthy and productive lives (Oliver & Klugman, 2002) and is also a significant means of child’s learning and development (Zigler, Singer & Bishop-
Play is usually a natural activity in early childhood and has significant importance in early childhood special education. Play assists in enhancing the children social competence, creativity, language development, and their thinking skills. Play is usually the key vehicle for the developing of language, social skulls in young children (Rogers ET all. 2009). Moreover, it serves as a functional behavior which contributes to the life quality of the children. .
Alice Sterling Honig, author of an article “Play: Ten Power Boosts for Children’s Early Learning”, states that “children gain powerful knowledge and useful social skills through play” (p.126). Honig, who believes that play is essential for young children’s development, points out ten ways in which children can learn through play activity.