Dramatic Play As A Great Developmental Learning Tool

Explain the role of play in literacy learning and examine its position in relation to society, the National Curriculum, and cultural issues. In what ways should early playful learning encounters be built upon in the context of schooling?

I observed a classroom of four-year-old students who are enrolled at the Child Development Center on the George Mason University campus. This observation lasted about fifteen minutes with a total of twelve students in the classroom. At the time of my observation the students were engaging in free playtime where they are allowed to play games, make crafts, and interact with their fellow classmates. I was seated in the corner of the classroom where the children could not easily see me or get distracted by me. I stayed seated throughout the whole observation so the students would not be affected by my presence. Many different activities were happening at the same time, but a couple standout situations reminded me of many subject areas we

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 activity is developmentally appropriate for this age group because it gives children self-esteem and teaches them autonomy. When children engage in pretend play, they are actively experimenting with the social and emotional roles of life. Through cooperative play, they learns how to take turns, share responsibility, and creatively problem-solve. When children pretend to be different characters, they have the experience of "walking in someone else's shoes," which helps teach the important moral development skill of empathy. It is normal for

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 her article “Role Play in Early Years Settings“, Julie Meighan points out the importance for preschools to “provide children with the opportunity to develop their imagination” through role plays. Furthermore, she talks about how “Imaginative play not only aids intellectual development but also improves children’s social skills and their creativity. In addition, it gives children a chance to play out events that they have observed or experienced in real life.” This is also true for the grown-up students. Role play helps the student to develop the skill to act small skits and shed their inhibitions while speaking.

The type of play depicted is solely organized by the children themselves and is an important experience all children must undergo. This is because it teaches them teamwork skills that become more vital as they mature such as sharing, organization, and conflict resolution. Furthermore, it can even teach them how to be independent as play time alone can launch them into imaginary play, creating characters, settings,

Lilly what a great time you had outside in the winter sunshine bathing our baby. You and Oscar both spent time together bathing the babies and after a while left and headed to the sandpit. I watched as you carried on bathing the babies happily on your own for about an hour, you did such a wonderful job making sure that the babies face and wee feet were nice and clean .

There are numerous theories of play and countless theorists, from Freud and Spencer to Piaget and Vygotsky, who have studied play in relation to what it is and what it does for the child. This essay will outline the definition and value of play and the importance of how it can foster the child’s learning in regards to these theorists who studied the effects in great detail. It will discuss the how the environments constructed by educators can impact play and the theories of learning relating to the quote “play and learning are inextricably woven together ...” Ebbeck and Waniganayake, 2010, p. 5).

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 tests the ability of the children to be able to develop ideas around places and objective. The pretend play assists children in developing important critical thinking and evaluative skills. For instance, the board games tech the children importance concept such as waiting, turn-taking and socialization with other students. Children during play use gross and fine motor skills and react socially to each other. The children thinking what they are going to do and use language to communicate with one another and they respond emotionally to the activities.

"Play that is initiated and directed by children and that bubbles up from within the child rather than being imposed by adults is disappearing from our landscape of childhood. There are many reasons for this, such as long hours spent in front of a TV, fear of "stranger danger" when outside." (Exchange Every Day, 2009)

The child I observed engaging in dramatic play was my nephew who is three years old. During my observation, my nephew rocky decided to play dress up with my son. The outfit Rocky decided to wear while he played dress up was a cop outfit. He required to wear the cop outfit the entire time he played with my son. He immediately suggested that my son need to be the robber. My son agreed and the moment my son agreed he began to chase after my son Dominic. As Rocky chased Dominic around he would repeatedly say “Stop right there, you are under arrest”. However as Rocky said to stop he would continue to chase Dominic as they both laughed with excitement.

Despite the claim that Drama in Education ( DIE) as a pedagogy dimmed its popularity in the Western world since 1990 until 2016 (Gallagher, et al. , 2017), in the year of 2011, Morrow, et al. included it as one of the best practices in literacy instruction. Some of the teachers who had the experience of trying process drama in their classrooms found that the pedagogy improved students’ participations, pushed students to use their imaginations, performed deeper understanding of the topics being learned and made the students learn to have empathy ( Long, 1998). Do the voices from the classroom resemble to what researchers and theories have to say on process drama?