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The influence of play in the child developmental process
The influence of play in the child developmental process
The influence of play in the child developmental process
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Play is essential in supporting development of speech, language and communication. During play children can express themselves and use their imagination. By letting the child lead can build self-confidence and does not put pressure on them to talk or respond all the time. Child led activities - If a child says “car” I could respond with expanding the description of it by saying “yes a big/small car” or “red/blue car”, this allows them to hear new vocabulary and linking it to the item they are focussing on. Reading books with children increases their exposure to language. Singing songs and nursery rhymes contain rhythm and rhyme which could be more entertain/stimulating for those children who prefer to be on the go rather than read
Play is instrumental in the healthy development of children. The development of play throughout an individual life is essential in providing the necessary methods to foster growth and development in critical developmental areas. According to Davies (2011), play is instrumental in providing a bridge for the child to transition from a toddler with a limited capacity to understand the world into a child in the middle years who can think logically. Play is also important in fostering cognitive development, social development, language and communication, moral development, self-regulation, and sense identity.
An Article by Dr. Leong and Dr. Bodrova (2016) stated that play is beneficial to children’s learning especially when it reaches a certain degree of complexity. When they engage in play activities most of their early years, they learn to delay gratification and to prioritize their goals and actions. They also learn to consider the perspectives and needs of other people and to represent things significantly to regulate their behavior and actions in a cautious, intentional way.
“Language in play enable children to share and exchange their knowledge about literacy skills” (Hoorn, Nourot, Scales & Alward, 2011, p.180). Children develop certain skills when they interact with each other. Children are able to convey and communicate in different ways. They may use hand gestures, facial expressions, or evening through writing. Play base curriculums helps children learn language. Children are introduced to language through play. Play helps foster communicate whether in a verbal or non-verbal way. Children also participate in the social form of their culture. “Through a play-centered language arts curriculum, we tap into the richness of the full range of diverse cultures and languages in our classrooms and communities” (Hoorn, Nourot, Scales & Alward, 2011, p.205).
Play is an important part of emotional-social development. Play can act as a way for children to reveal their innermost feelings and express thought. As defined by the text, play is “voluntary activities done for enjoyment or recreation that are not performed for any sake beyond themselves.” Children move through different levels of play as they mature. One form of play which scientists have become increasingly interested in is imaginative play. With imagination children learn how to be creative. Many children between ages 3-5 create imaginary friends for themselves.
Children's development is supported by different types of play and “From age’s three to five, children learn through play by pretending with materials and practicing language.” As children are practicing their language
Isenberg, J. P., & Jalongo, M. R. (2010, July 20). Why Is Play Important? Cognitive Development, Language Development, Literacy Development | Education.com. Retrieved March 3, 2014, from http://www.education.com/reference/article/importantance-play-cognitive-language/
In this article, out of the many main factors that are listed out, only a few points caught my eye. Out of which, it is the effects on play on early language and development and how teachers can be supportive of imaginative play that interest me the most. Starting from the effects on language and development of the children in Singapore, it can be seen that play has indeed helped the children with the ability to master academic content. For example, using a simple example from a play time from a childcare. When playing with their cooking set, the children actually count the amount of food that is in the plate. In this form of play, one can see that play can help with the learning process of a child. Garvey, 1984 mentioned that there are four different types of language play which helps with the different aspects of language. Play let children to be creative and imaginative. As such, the children are able to express themselves as observed during attachment during outdoor play. They would “drive” around if the cars or tricycle provided and go to places like Legoland which is the see-saw and play. It is during that time that the children would create lines of their own to communicate to one another. The children’s mind would go imaginative and creative. This group play would help each and every one of the children that is involved in this play.
Lifter, Karin, et al. “Overview of Play: Its Uses and Importance in Early Intervention/Early Childhood Special Education.” Infants & Young Children, vol. 24, no. 3, 2011, pp. 225–45. CrossRef, doi:10.1097/IYC.0b013e31821e995c.
The book, Exploring Your role in Early Childhood Education, defines play as, “any activity that is freely chosen, meaningful, active, enjoyable, and open-ended.”(pg. 140) Play has many positive characteristics such as freedom to explore and create. Suppose when a child enters his/her classroom and has various self-selection activities available, the child can become engaged in something of interest specifically to that individual child. The book also states, “Play is active and is natural process of mentally and actively doing something.”(pg. 140) When children can act out or explore experiences they are having hands on experience and learning by actually doing. Without knowing it, children are practicing body movements as well as mental processing though acting imaginary games out.
Play is necessary for normal cognitive development. When looking at the stages developed by Jean Piaget, it is not difficult to understand how his theory influenced the concept of play therapy. His four stages are greatly influenced by play. In the first stage (sensorimotor) the child learns about object permanence as well as how to master his or her own bodies and external objects. The child does so through practiced play, he or she learns to manipulate objects and the effects of play on their environment. During the second stage (preoperational) the child’s language is at its peak learning, and the child does so through role playing and make-believe games. By the end of this stage, the child starts to become more interested in games with rules, structure and social interaction. The third stage (operational), the rules of play are more focused on the social aspects and are connected with acceptance by the group. During the last stage, (formal operations) the child’s play becomes more competitive and games with codes of rules begin to
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 to learn and develop in their first few years of life, in order for them to do this, they play. 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. 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 facilitate healthy development of their minds, body, and creativity.
Language Development in Children Language is a multifaceted instrument used to communicate an unbelievable number of different things. Primary categories are information, direction, emotion, and ceremony. While information and direction define cognitive meaning, emotional language expresses emotional meaning. Ceremonial language is mostly engaged with emotions, but at some level information and direction collection may be used to define a deeper meaning and purpose. There is perhaps nothing more amazing than the surfacing of language in children.
This is when play is used to support a child in their learning for example language. Many play activities can be used to encourage a child’s language by describing certain things and for the child to gain new vocabulary. (Bach 2013) This approach has many aspects stimulating, unprompted, fun, inherently encouraging, engaging, creative and socially involved, and being able to fail and try again.
Reading can be a fun language lesson for both the teacher and the students. When creating a lesson plan, think of books that you can read each day to the students. Then think of props that you can use with the specific books or even books that you can sing together while the students follow the directions given. Children learn through play and playing is fun! So story time should also be fun and laid back. Language development focuses a lot on interaction between parents, teachers, and students. Children learn from their peers and the experiences that they have. In order for children to develop new skills and abilities, they need to practice with them through developmentally appropriate activities! All of this is possible through reading to children. It is also important to remember when choosing a book to read to young children, not to choose one that is extremely lengthy or has no pictures. Instead, pick a picture book that may have a limited amount of words. There are many different approaches to the style of presenting the information. You can read the words and not show the pictures until after you ask the class questions about for example what they image the character to look like. Promote learning and growth! Language is a developmental skill that follows us throughout the rest of our life’s, it is important that we begin teaching it appropriately and in a fun way while children are
What is play? Is it an activity one does for enjoyment? Is it an essential learning tool? The answer is that there is no definite answer. There are professionals who have studied play and formulated their own answers as to what play is. Some say it’s unstructured peer interactions, others say it’s structured interactions. Some say it’s a special and undefinable activity while others say it’s a basic life activity. The reason for the clear differences about what play is, is because play encompasses many different things and has many different forms. From the moment babies are born until the moment adults die, they all participate in some form of play, whether it be smiling at somebody 's movement, playing hide and seek, or participating in a sport or group. Although the definition of play is not definite, there is at least one definite thing about play. That is that play is an important and crucial part of any developmentally appropriate early childhood classroom and has unfortunately been reduced and replaced by standardized tests and teacher-based teaching and learning. Play is an enormously important tool that human beings use to help them learn new information and without it