Why play is important to the holistic development of the child & your role as an educator to support the children? 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. Play plays a significant role as young children develop holistically, …show more content…
Holistic development of young children is the key determination and through play they are able to survive and become physically healthy, able to learn, and emotionally secure and into where they progress into responsible and productive adults with positive reinforcements in the future. When there are societal issues that are barriers such as “technology, childhood obesity, culture, etc.” (Gaston, A, Module 1, Unit 1, 2016), children are then unable to revel in freedom of movement in where play is adventurous and brings out positive behavior. “Play supports the holistic development through the development of intellectual, emotions, socially, physical, creative and spiritual” (Gaston, A, Module 1, Unit 2, 2016), signifying that holistic development is an important factor to be aware of as the child grows. An example would be when in Workshop 1 of Social and Cognitive Styles of Play, we had to play in the given activity for the time being and observe our members and distinguish what kind of cognitive play it was. And one of the assigned question to …show more content…
These may seem very complex things, but are full of potential joys as well as sorrow. Our role as an educator is to support the children as its essential to give the children the opportunity they deserve to engage in open ended play. Educators play the role in a child Mesosystem as they are influenced by the interactions a relationships we are able to create as student- teacher according to Urie Bronfenbrenner Ecological theory. Children are born to be curious about a particular aspects and challenge themselves with it creating a fantasy world around themselves during the exploration letting them learn and grasp new concepts and experience new way of learning. To do this, the educator must be flexible and creative enough to create activities that would benefit a child holistic development. The educator must make sure child has a sense of belonging, their well-being is taken care off, are able to engage in a meaningful way, and last but not least, the child is capable enough express themselves. Another example in which the educator can support the child is by doing inquiry
Early Childhood is marked by a time in children’s lives when they develop “a confident self-image, more effective control over their emotions, new social skills, the foundations of morality, and a clear sense of themselves as boy or girl” (Berk, Kauffman & Landrum, 2011, pg. 45). According to Erik Erikson, early childhood is a period of “vigorous unfolding,” one where children have a sense of autonomy and a new sense of purposefulness or initiative (Berk, Kauffman & Landrum, 2011, pg. 45). Play is a means for children to learn about themselves and they begin to adopt the moral and gender-role standards of the society in which they live (Berk, Kauffman & Landrum, 2011). A negative outcome of early childhood is the guilt children feel as a result of excessive punishment and criticism by the adults in their lives (Berk, Kauffman & Landrum, 2011)....
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
In conclusion I will discuss about the importance of play, language and literacy. The importance of play should always be remembered when devising programmes for children. Through imaginative play, children practice and come to terms with aspects of daily life. Children can also be encouraged to express themselves and learn about emotions through play. Play is a vital part of the growth and development process between the stages of being a totally dependent newborn individual and becoming an independent adult.
My desire for children in my care is that their learning journey would be meaningful as they explore the ideas and activities they are interested in. This means that I believe that children are naturally motivated learners and should have the opportunity to learn through their own explorations and through collaboration with other children and educators. I believe this can be done through both teacher-initiated and child-initiated activities and supported through play. I also believe that play is a natural and enjoyable means through which children learn. In my practice I aim to encourage children’s natural ...
When children play, is a way for them to develop and learn new skills. The children that play have a positive future comparing to those that don’t play at all. For example, I was a reading an article regarding the generation from today. There was a study conducted with two groups of children. One group had no technology and was in nature camping. The other group wasn’t in the nature camp. The children that had no technology were able to recognize the emotions from the picture. Playing helps the children to interact and assimilate the roles to the real life world. According to the text, we learn best when we are having fun (p. 287). The reason is that the children are having first-hand experience and impact events are easily to recognize. When we play, we start to develop his concepts: imaginary friend, cognitive, language, feelings, empathy, empathy, and many more. It seems that as young children play, they learn many cognitive and social skills that result in social competence later in their childhood (p. 287). Also, as
...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.
Play has a vital role in brain development. Play is so important that it has actually been
What is play? Play is defined as engaging in activates for enjoyment & recreation rather than a serious practical purpose. Playing is a disorganized voluntary spontaneous activity, which may include objects, one’s body, symbol usage, and relationships. Play is flexible, individualize, grouped, motivating, self-directed, open-ended, or self-directed. (Smith, 2013) (Saskatchewan Ministry of Education, 2010)
In the excerpt of “Reclaiming the Power of Play” written by Stephen T. Asma, the author discusses about the power of play and what defines play. Play, as discussed by the author, is the “highest form of human activity” and is considered “vitally important for humanity”. Play is described as having three stages namely the “camel” where it is the stage where humans are burdened by the cultural, social, ethical and traditional commitments; the “lion” where it is the stage where humans rebel and go against the norms which is also the “holy-nay”; and lastly the “playing child” where it is the stage where humans behave just like when they are in their adolescences years which is the “holy-yea”. So what exactly is play?
Play contributes to the development of a child cognitively, socially, emotionally and physically. In the area of cognitive progress, a child can grow into higher thinking, creativity, and problem solving skills. Socially, they can learn through social interaction taking turns, patience, and sharing in addition to developing friendships. Developing emotionally a child can express their thoughts, feelings, gain self-confidence, and competence. Through play they can develop physically by testing their balance systems, judging distances, and hand-eye coordination. The development of a child also refers to the maturing of a child to a higher level of learning. This can include the structure as well as the content of which educators realize can contribute to a child’s development (Scarlett, 2005). Observing child play, adults should be attentive how children react to their learning experience. A child may need guidance or encouragement from an adult to engage in play through extending play, parallel play, co-play or play tutoring. Children utilize play to attempt using their ideas, learning with reference to relationships, and gaining new information. Through play a child will also develop who they are and who they will be as they grow. They maintain what they discover through play within themselves and apply these skills for the remainder of their life (Stone,
In Video 13, “Growing Minds,” Joanne Hendrick describes the importance of play in learning and its role in the development of a child and their mind. Play is a great way for a child to learn skills including social skills, analytical skills, and responsibility. One way to incorporate play in the classroom is through emergent learning. This is where the teachers learning plan is interactive and is flexible. It is guided by children’s responses and makes the kids the problem solvers with a little guidance from the teacher. It also validates a child’s value, as they are able to come up with their own ideas and be confident in who they are and their choices. Its important that this is incorporated, because self-worth is what allows the students to open up to the challenges of learning and problem solving. To help emphasize this leaning and provide security that their child is learning, parents should be involved too. When parents can see their kids learning through play, they tend to get excited and even enhance the child’s learning by coming up with their own ideas of how to engage their child at home.
The children are put through different learning experiences and tasks, for the professionals to evaluate and observe their different development stages. All this helps to understand the children’s adult characteristics for future life as every child’s play experiences are crucial to their adult life.
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.
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.
To clarify the importance of play I would first explain what is the character of play in early childhood