Growing up as a child, you participate in many different ways of playing. From organized sports to hide and seek in your house, children seem to always be playing games for fun. One of the first forms of interaction children have is through play. Play is any activity that is fun, spontaneous and open-ended. The main focus of play is for children to use their imagination. By putting an emphasis on play being created through imagination, children have the ability to control what play is. While play is very broad and open-ended, there are a few different types of play that are most present when children play games. The main ways of play are social, parallel, sociodramatic, language, object, and locomotor play. Social play is playful interaction …show more content…
The development of these motor skills will lead to more exploration through walking, crawling, and using their hands to explore objects in more complex ways. Parallel play usually occurs between the ages of two and three. Parallel play is where children really start to interact with other children. Through parallel play, children will start to learn how to share and expand their imagination. In parallel play, children play next to each other but with little to no interaction (“Learning Through Play”, 2013). By sharing, using teamwork, and imagination, children will start to develop their own rules for games and actually follow them. Sociodramatic play occurs when children are interacting with peers of the same age. This is seen a lot between the ages of three and five. As children grow older, they start to become more independent and use the skills they have learned in the first years of their life to communicate and play. Children will tend to participate in small group games at this time, which helps increase their interpersonal skills and simple rule following. However, children still play individual games such as reading, rhyming games and arts & crafts. Locomotor …show more content…
Students who have been exposed to play growing up will enter the classroom setting with increased imagination and interpersonal skills. This will allow for these students to have an open-mind when it comes to whatever games you are playing and be able to follow rules correctly. Aside from their increased social skills, students who were exposed to play will have a stronger base of locomotor skills. This will allow you to continue further development of those skills. Incorporating dancing and rhythm games will create a bridge between play and locomotor activities that will comfortably shift the students into more rigorous physical activity. Students already have a fundamental base of interpersonal skills that will allow for group activities in the classroom. While play education might not be a priority in the classroom, play is an important component to physical education. Teachers may not be educating in play, but children being exposed to play will create success in physical
When Albert Einstein stated that “play is the highest form of research,” I believe that from a child's perspective he could not have been anymore right. Through analyzing the play episodes of a four year old girl named Noelle, I was able to relate my observations to research and theory regarding the development and benefits of play that influence the social, emotional, and cognitive development of children. As children play they learn which helps them to progress and develop their minds and social skills. Play is one of the most influential exercises to progressively develop children.
According to the cognitive development theory, the purpose of play is to develop intelligence. While children play, it is theorized that they are able to learn to solve problems (Wyver & Spence, 1999). One of the most influential contributors to understanding play was Jean Piaget.
All children play and it is something that most children do because they are having fun, but without realising children are developing and learning skills when they are engaged in play. Play helps stimulate the mind as it is practical and gives children the chance to explore and experience new situations. It can also ensure that children get to think by themselves and be spontaneous as they control their own play. Children get the chance to be creative and imaginative which develops independence for children. Play is vital for child development and helps children develop five main areas of development:
Many theorists have tried to define play as a concept, however, no two agree on a set definition. Their backgrounds and induvial lifestyles influence the way they see the importance of play. Reed and Brown also believe that there isn’t an agreed definition of play because is something that is felt rather than done (Reed & Brown, 2000 cited in Brock, Dodd’s, Jarvis & Olusoga, 2009). In spite of this, it is clear that most theorists uphold the ethos that play is imperative to a child’s learning and development. There is a wide range of different studies and theories which helps us develop our own perception of what play is. In my personal experience I have found play to be a way of expressive our emotions, exploring and learning new things, thus
Social play is defined as play that occurs in the interaction of children with caregivers or other children. Typically, social play is not classified as a unique category of play because any type of play – object play, pretend play, and physical play – has the potential to be enacted alone or with others (Tarman & Tarman, 2011).
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.
Thinking back on my childhood, I first remember all the times I played outside in my backyard. I would pretend to dig up dinosaur bones or create imaginary realms of ancient lands; there I would perform diplomatic services for the people in need. I was usually alone, and those are some of my fondest memories. When I first decided to become a teacher and thought about what is important to my philosophy on how children learn, I immediately knew I was a strong believer in play. Although, many decision makers such as legislators and school district leaders believe in more academic types of learning styles, my paper will discuss why play is so powerful and important to children.
...ctive. Play is an essential learning tool and one that must not be ignored within the classroom. It is a catalyst to help children develop socially, emotionally, physically and cognitively. It is not only an important part of a child’s development as a pupil but also a child’s development as an individual.
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.
Isenberg, J. P., & Jalongo, M. R. (n.d.). Why is play important? Social and emotional development, physical development, creative development. In Creative thinking and arts-based learning preschool through fourth grade (2006 ed., pp. 53-55). Retrieved from http://www.education.com/ reference/article/importance-play--social-emotional/
Motor-Physical Play- Examples of such play happens when children run, jump, and play games such as hide and seek and tag. This offers a chance for children to exercise and develop muscle strength as well as teaches children social skills while enjoying good exercise not forgetting that they learn to take turns and accept winning or
Play Education is the most important activity in the lives of children. Play is the foundation of learning for young children. For children play, is how they begin to understand and process their world? The best part for children is that play is fun and this keeps them always wanting more because they enjoy participating in it. Play education is for children up until age 12. And different ages are broken down into groups. Giving the child time and some few basic toys can provide them with a variety of valuable learning opportunities. It is important to let children explore and learn how to play, if the child can’t seem to figure it out then a person can guide them. Play Education is simple and very effective; this is an individual education and it helps gaining the skills to understand the world around them better.
A very wise man; Charles Schaefer, once said “We are never more fully alive, more completely ourselves, or more deeply engrossed in anything than when we are playing.” To begin with, there is no one explanation about what play really is, other than the fact that it holds infinite numbers of definitions according to every single individual. Play is just not a physical body movement involved in an activity, but more than that if you look outside of the box. For centuries, play has been practiced in its own unique way with not only children, but adults as well.
Before diving into my research, I reflected on the knowledge I already knew regarding play and play based learning. From experience, I know that play is an enjoyable activity for children, and even some adults. I know that there are different ways one can play. For example, playing with others is known as cooperative play and playing alone is considered solitary play. There are different types of play. For example, there is dress up or pretend games, which is considered dramatic, play and there is playing with building blocks which is constructive play. After my reflection I realized that I was more knowledgeable on the action of playing rather then the benefits of it.
Play is a verb that describes when one “engages in an activity for enjoyment and recreation rather than a serious or practical purpose”. (Oxford Dictionary 2014) Play relates to the notion of “having fun” and defines the idea of “frivolity, light hearted, chaotic, free and open (child’s play), repetitive (ritual/child’s play/instrument), leisurely, productive, non-productive (opposite of work), creative, profane, sacred, innocent, competitive, interpretive, simulation, improvisation, happy (opposite of depression).” (Chau 2014) Play is an aspect of game. Game on the other hand is a noun that explains “a form of competitive activity or sport played according to rules”. (Oxford Dictionary 2014) Game is a play activity with rules that involves challenges and creates a form of distraction and diversion in the players’ lives. Given the definition, there are a few ways in which ‘play’ and ‘games’ can be different from one another.