Imaginative Play

Psychosocial development is a debatable concept that many psychologists such as Sigmund Freud and Erik Erikson have formulated theories to explain. The film “Everybody Rides the Carousel of Life” develops the ideas behind Erikson’s theory of development which is composed of eight stages, each with its own surprise and crisis. The idea of the carousel symbolizes how life keeps turning, and the only way to stop in this case is with death. Erikson’s first stage explains the battle between trust and mistrust infants face when allowing others like their parents to take care of them. It is an age of developing awareness, and recognition of faces like the primary caregiver through feeding, which bring the infant closer to trusting the parent. Freud discusses this

“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.”

According to this theory, Mead suggested that people live in a world that is in a large part constructed in accordance with social and societal norms. He believed that objects, events, and behaviors come from the interpretation people give them, and interpretations vary from one group to another. In specific, the meaning of objects, events, and behaviors comes from the meaning people give these objects events, and behavior; thus, the interpretations may certainly vary from one group of people to the next. Mead emphasized that human beings do not react directly to events; they act based on their interpretation of the meaning of events (Symbolic Interactions, 2015). First, to follow is a discussion which will explain the concept of Mead 's role of play in the formation of a child 's self-concept, second other symbolic integrationists, such as Stryker’s, will emphasize and provide collaborative insight into the higher identity that emerges in the creation of the self-concept, and finally, in the development of self, what role does mass communication play in forming one 's self-concept.

In addition, children’s play holds significant therapeutic value in providing a safe, protective environment in a space where children can recreate themselves and self-cure” (Campbell et al., 2010). The strongest therapeutic tool used in this process is the child’s innate drive to self-actualize.

The paper topic is focused on how play therapy can help children develop their behavioral and emotional structures. The primary research question for the paper is Can Play Therapy help children with emotional and behavioral issues get better? The primary hypotheses for this paper are: If play therapy can help a child overcome his self-esteem issues, then it can help the child grow emotionally and if play therapy can help a child overcome his self-esteem issues, then it can help the child grow a strong behavioral structure. The paper is divided into an introduction which gives a brief background of the topic, literature review which focuses on the results of 10 recent studies with familiar topics, the methods section, and the results sections which provides the primary results of the study and the discussions section which illustrates the lessons learnt from conducting this study as well as the differences and limitations of the study alongside the new directions that similar researches in the future could look to explore.

Based on relevant reading and personal experience outline the theoretical rationale for play in the development of young children.

In this journal they justify the level of manner a child is with the game characters, and players’ interpretation, or whether or not the actions of the characters are visualized as virtuous.

In the article “Play” by the author Nellie McCaslin, McCaslin talks about play and how play is expressed in different ways. Some of the ways are through theatre, children, sports, rituals and theories. McCaslin discusses is, “All of us recognize pay in the young, but a precise definition of it eludes us, perhaps because play takes many forms and can move in opposing directions” (McCaslin 39).

Virginia Axline’s work in Child-Centered Play Therapy stemmed from the Person-Centered theoretical orientation of Carl Rogers. She shared the perspective in which the value of the therapeutic nature is derived from the recognition by the individual as a capable being and the realization of responsibility. A desired goal of therapy is understanding, which

Such Child needs several adjustments in their environment to encourage them participate in manipulatives play; “Children who are not able to stand (such as those with crutches) or sit without support need to have tables that are built with recesses and strap harnesses. Wooden or metal poles are strapped to the child's body to free their hands and allow them to participate in play”. (Saracho, 2012, P. 106) (6). Children who are using a wheelchair need “manipulative play tables to be high enough for a wheelchair to be rolled under the table. “Effective modifications to develop active and independent play consist of stabilizing the toys, limiting the movement of movable toys, and offering grasping aids, manipulation aids, and switches”. (Saracho,

Play is a very important part of a student’s education at an early age. There are many different kinds of play that will benefit children. Superhero and Rough play, also known as “Big Body Play” (Carlson, 2011, p. 18), are thought to be harmful to a student’s well being, considering it can lead to violence. When teaching, instructors need to know that they can’t shield students from violence forever. Children need to be exposed to it, but they need positive constructive ways in order to make it safe.

Child's Play is an odd film when you think about it. Who exactly was it made for? It certainly couldn't have been made for kids, due to the vulgar language from Chucky, so unless you are sneaking a peek at the film or if you are like me and were allowed to watch them at a young age, the film must be for adults. Right? I don't know, cause doesn't you think most people wouldn't have given the film a chance when they heard the plot? A story about a child's doll coming to life and killing people? Most people would roll their eyes and scoff at the idea of seeing it.

Open ended play is where children are not given any goals to achieve and they are not given any set of rules to follow. In this kind of play children are given a number of resources that are open ended which means the children can use the given resources in a number of ways based on their imaginations and creativity.

‘whenever people play games, they are stepping into one of three scripty roles: Persecutor, Rescuer or Victim’. (Stewart & Joines 1987:236)

Children pretend to be other people in their play and in so doing learn what these other people expect of them. Younger children take the role of significant others, or the people, most typically parents and siblings, who have the most contact with them; older children when they play sports and other games take on the roles of other people and internalize the expectations of the generalized other, or society itself.