Unit 2 - Playwork Diploma Essay

The practitioner in an early years setting supporting children’s play learning and development is extremely important, as play helps stimulate the child’s brain, supports their needs on an educational level, as well as helping them with social difficulties such as building relationships, developing them and helping them gain confidence. Many people believe that a child learns best when they are motivated, such as Fredrich Froebel. He believed that children benefitted from all types of play. The McMillan sisters believed that outdoor play was extra important as they studied children who played and slept outside and discovered that they were the happier and healthier children in comparison to those who only played inside.

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.

The Playwork Principles (2006) state “All children and young people need to play. The impulse to play is innate”.

10. Explain how play work organisations seek to balance the health, safety and security of the play environment with children and young people’s need for stimulation, risk and challenge. A play work provision

Making relationships: children play co-operatively, taking turns with others. They take account of one another’s ideas about how to organise their activity. They show sensitivity to others’ needs and feelings, and form positive relationships with adults and other children.”

It could be argued that playworkers are often naturally skilled and adept at making good relationships with the children in the informal setting of a play environment. Whilst adult relationships may take more time and effort, and thus more difficult to achieve it is essential that they maintain positive relationships with other adults within the play environment. As professional’s playworkers are likely to come in to contact with a range of adults be it parents, carers, elder siblings, other playworkers, or the general network of care and as a result need to be proficient in forming positive relations with such

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

1.Briefly explain why it is important that the team work together when supporting children and young people’s play.

“Current theories about inclusive play revolve around the idea that play is important for life and that all play workers should be committed to creating play environments that are inclusive and that offer multi-sensory experiences for all children. Play environments should ensure children and young people can become involved in imaginary play and can help develop motor activity. They should also allow interaction in a safe environment. Play is seen as the language that can bring children of all different abilities together. All children and young people have the same basic needs and go through the same development stages, even though they may not all go through them at the same pace: some go through some stages more quickly than most, while others may become static in their development for a while. None of this should prevent access to any setting. Through play with other children they develop social skills and learn about behaviour, communication and friendship. Play is the tool for practical learning

When learning becomes fun the teachers find it less challenging for trying to keep the child engaged in the activity at hand. The job of the educator working with a play-based curriculum is to facilitate play, to draw out and extend what children learn through play (Play Based Programmes, 2015). Children have a variety of play spaces available that mimic their regular world around them, each space can be intertwined with another centre such as combining the truck centre with the block centre, or adding in some zoo animals to the area. The play based approach can be used by children of all abilities, it allows children to play independently or as a small group, and allows the children the opportunity to bring their home life into their play.

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 involves participation by the children as well the educator. It is essential for the early childhood educator to be able to create a nurturing environment where the child is confident to interact with others and express themselves.

To the general public, play is viewed as a nonchalant activity that children engage in to preoccupy their time. However, occupational therapists view play as the fundamental occupation that introduces a child to the world around them. According to Fazio, 2008, “Play is important because it is an effective way to develop other functions, such as sensory integrative, motor, social, cognitive, self-care, or work skills” (as cited in Parham, 1996). In class, we watched a video and observed a thirteen-month-old boy, named Noah. He was examined by Jacqui in what seemed to be a playroom in his home along with a few of his siblings present. Because play is Noah’s primary occupation, the setting seemed to be a conducive environment for

All children have a right to play; (Article 31, United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child) it can provide knowledge in their understanding of their environment. Play is a way for children to learn about their environment and how interactions occur within it. Children’s buoyancy develops through play, however, some children may experience stressful occurrences during their existence, and therefore, the adult’s role in facilitating a child’s play is a crucial measure towards that child's development. For those adults that work with children experience the skilfulness to prompt or even contribute to a child’s play, which is a principle constituent to therapeutic alliance. However, for those children mentioned above, what happens

To our eyes, each child is seen as a capable, powerful, inquiring, and creative individual; our school instructors trust that the play the children engage in has value. Play is seen as a tool that children utilize daily to explore and to try to make sense of their world. Here, Children are able to test their idea, interest and solve problems through play.