Why Do Children Need To Play In Preschool

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

The purpose of the study was to see if play will enhance the cognitive development of the child or children. We want to find out if play really shows us that the child or children is thinking or using problem-solving skills. The aspect of cognitive development the is the focus of the study is classification and symbolic play.

Little and Wyver (2008:33) clearly state that, “Within the early childhood field, play has been acknowledged as an important context for children’s learning and development.”

Before exploring the benefits of learning through play, it is important to gain an understanding of what play is. It is difficult to define exactly what play is. Play can vary amongst different types of activities, social contexts, and also age groups. Free, imaginative play is vital for normal social, emotional and cognitive development. Play is important for children’s learning as it helps them to become socially adept, managing with stress and developing cognitive skills such as problem solving. Through play children explore social, material and imaginary worlds and their relationship with them. There are many different reasons why children play, sometimes they are discovering or learning new things. Play can be a way of building or strengthening relationships with either other children or adults. Children more often play simply for the fun and enjoyment it offers them. Many theorists have tried to make a concrete definition of what play is.

Now, play is understood not as a waste of time, but as an activity through which education and development happens. Playing is essential for children because they learn from each other and they can correct each other. Children benefit a great deal from playful learning and they achieve higher levels of cognition, literacy, and social skills. Children benefit from play because they interact with other children and be social. Play helps children to make friends and interact with their peers easily.

I am going to say that play does play an important role of toddler’s development; the reason that I say this would be because they learn and explore their environment. By letting children to play it gives their brain stimulation and this also helps them develop skills like motor and their cognitive development. Toddlers experience during play allows them to be taught how things are used and what they might be. Every toddler receives benefits from interacting with other children. For the majority of toddlers you will see that they like pretend play. Pretend play helps toddlers to develop their cognitive development. “Playing allows children to use their creativity while developing their imagination.”(Ginsburg, K. (2013) when having toddlers

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 a very important aspect in the development of human health and happiness (Schaefer, 1993). The following are some of the ways in which play can be beneficial, as described by play theorists. Play alleviates feelings of stress and helps us positively connect to others (Landreth, 2002). Play also stimulates the exploration of creative thinking and boosts our ego while working to regulate our emotions (Landreth, 2002). Furthermore, play gives us the opportunity to practice the skills and roles needed for survival. “Learning and development are best fostered through play” (Russ, 2004).

Through play children develop language skills, fine and gross motor skills, sensory knowledge, social skills, intellectual development, problem solving and thinking skills; play enables children to learn interact with others and be part of the community experience and manage feelings and to be control and confident about themselves and their abilities.

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-

Children and young people learn through many different ways and one of those are play. Play helps children enhance their imagination and gives them a chance to explore the world around them. Play is important for developing children’s social, emotional, cognitive and physical skills, it is a time when children learn the most as it gives them a chance to explore and think for themselves. Play helps build a child’s confidence and self-esteem. Play is often underestimated.

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. .

Playtime benefits a child cognitive understanding and academically. Comparing two student, student A and student B, student A is allowed to have playtime while student B is restricted from playtime. Academic results of both student shows that student A achieves better academically compared to student B. Several studies show that activities carried out during playtime has a connection with learning in the classroom. For example, an article by Davis and Pollock (2012) mentioned that ‘impact of exercise on children’s cognition implies a link to academic performance. Population studies provide evidence that inactivity and excess weight are associated with poor academic achievement’. Parker (2013) stated that playtime which is made use for role play can aid in child’s literacy skills.

Play is a part of our lives! There are playgrounds everywhere: in parks, fast-food restaurants, malls, schools and homes. Playing with peers, toys, blocks, music, dance, sociodramatic play and coloring are important for young children’s development progress. Effective early childhood educators help and develop young children’s innate capacity for learning. Especially teaching young children, fun activity helps them easily learn language. Teachers should encourage conversation between children. Through practices, preschoolers have more opportunities to speak. Learning while playing, preschoolers easily adapt to new environments and make successful transitions to kindergarten. Once their language skills are developed, they are ready to read and write.

When you think of play you don’t really think about or realize how important it really is in a child’s life. It consists of five elements, and these elements are the make-up and the meaning of play. The first element is that it is pleasurable and enjoyable. This means it must be fun! In order for it to be considered play, there must be a fun and enjoyable element to it. Play also has no extrinsic goal which means it is engaged for