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Rebecca Rico
HD306 ONL Play in Childhood
August 15, 2015
Emotional Development Philosophy
Play is often trivialized in many settings with people dismissing it as an immature activity that children engage in and that they will eventually outgrow. It is common to hear people dismiss adult play as childishness because playing is often considered childish and immature. There is some truth in that statement, but it is not entirely true. While a play is important to children and is often associated with children, it is just as crucial to adults as well. Play during childhood is important and critical in determining many facets of a child’s life including, but not restricted to mental health, intellectual ability, as well as social soundness (Brock et al., 2013). In the past, the society was structured in a way that afforded children more time to play. However, in recent times, formal education is taking more of the children 's supposed play time. ‘Earlier is better ' is the principle these days as more children are thrust into formal education early in life which tends to limit severely their playing time. Parent’s tight working schedules and the employment sector becoming more competitive, the parent’s time with their kids has also been limited. While parents may not feel the impact these actions may have on the
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 a process that is freely chosen, personally directed and intrinsically motivated. Children and young people determine and control the content and intent of their play by following their instincts, ideas and interests in their own way and for their own reasons. The child chooses when and how to play and this is seen as a biological drive, essential to health and well-being.”
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
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
“What makes something play and what play ‘means’ to culture continues to be potential redefined through changing social practice. The strength of the concept of play relies on the binding together of many different social conditions which people may understand as play, but which cannot be collectively defined by any firm set of rules or boundaries. Because play is not a distinct, discrete set of activities, but rather a characteristic which is present to varying degrees in many different kinds of human behavior, it is necessary to look at play from multiple perspectives, drawing together threads of analysis.”26
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 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
In addition to play promoting pleasure as well as physical activity, play forms the holistic growth in children’s development, or to put it in another way using Brown (2003) acronym, acknowledged as ‘SPICE’; play represents the ‘social interaction’; ‘physical activity’; ‘intellectual stimulation’; creative achievement and emotional stability, (with the addition of “compound flexibility”) in a child’s development. Compound flexibility is the idea that a child’s psychological development occurs using the relationship between his/her environment with the adaptability of the child himself. Thus the flexibility of surroundings and his/her adaptableness can provide children the means to explore; experiment and investigate (Brown, 2003, pp. 53-4). On the contrary, the absence of social interaction and physical activity through the means of play can inhibit children’s overall development and without the consistency of play children suffer a “chronic lack of sensory interaction with the world, [which leads to] a form of sensory deprivation” (Hughes, 2001, p.217 in Lester and Maudsley 2006).
When you hear Child Development you think of Children and the way they’re raised. When in reality Child Development is way more than that. Child Development is the biological, physical, and emotional changes that occur between birth and the end of adolescence. Child development is a continuous movement with the child. Early Childhood programs promote child development in their curriculums which is based off of the child care center’s education philosophy.
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-
In this essay I am going to show my understanding of a child's early emotional development based on the psychoanalytical view of child development. I will show how emotional skills gained in the early years can be of a significant relevance to later life. I will show my understanding by illustrating it with the clinical material. Although I am focusing on the psychoanalytical approach to child development I believe that it is beneficial to present also some general background knowledge of child development.
There are multiple factors in a child’s development. Parents have a responsibility, as well as a privilege, to contribute to every milestone. Most parents stress over physical and mental stages so much so that play-time is ignored. By making decisions that sacrifice play parents hinder their social development. Parents must take action and encourage their youth to play more, before childhood is lost forever.
"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)
“For young children, there is no distinction between play and learning; they are one and the same. Playing is a priority in early childhood, yet not all play is the same” (Butler, 2008, p. 1). Since the beginning of mankind children have imitated adults and learned to survive through play. Evidence of this includes toys and board games from 6,000 years ago that have been found in Egypt and Asia (Dollinger, 2000). In the last two centuries, child’s play has been observed and studied by theorists and recognized as an important tool for adult life. Three theorists that studied children and spent their lives researching how children develop were Erik Erikson, Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky. These theorists agreed that from the time a child is