Children like to play. Play is essential for a child’s development and for learning life skills. It provides a natural, comfortable setting for young children to develop and learn. Froebel and Montessori have said that play is children’s work, but it is also adult work. Preschool must work to better understand the role of play in the lives of young children, and how to nurture and utilize play with children.
When children participate in play they are engaging in collaboration, communication, content, creativity, critical thinking, and confidence. This can also be described as “the Six Cs” (Gillespie, 2017). These are skills that young children will need in adulthood and they are developing them through play. When students are engaging in play, they are developing physical, mental, cognitive, language, and motor skills. Playing allows students to use their imagination and creativity.
"However, children's play is not only focused on amusement but also provides opportunities to build fundamental life skills. Through play, children can develop physical, emotional, social and cognitive ability as they can increase the intellectual level such as colors, shapes and even language, and also develop communication ability to share emotions such as joy, fear, sorrow and anxiety. These development acquired during all stages of childhood becomes the core building blocks for their adolescence and adulthood and is "fundamental
Children are given the opportunity to grow and develop through their play experiences. Educators support the children by giving them the proper tools and materials, and modeling the behaviours and skills they would like the children to follow to develop appropriately. Children will learn to do many things with the help and guidance of their educators, but while the children are playing, the main focus is on them and how they will learn and interpret things. Children are continually growing and developing through many different ways. They grow physically, cognitively (mentally), and finally emotionally.
To build a curriculum-generated play, the educator has to prepare and structure an area that includes different subjects in which the children can engage in the content provided. According to Saracho, "The children's play experiences assist them in learning academic concepts and skills. The play centers are academically enriched..." Play-generated curriculum is built by allowing the children’s play to determine what they learn. Saracho also states, "The children's play experiences indicate their interests, which guides the development of the curriculum activities.” Once the educator decides how he/she wants to build their curriculum, he/she can incorporate play into the different
Through the use of teacher directed and student initiated activities, students become more engaged in learning and therefore develop the skills necessary to become self-directed learners. By stimulating their interest and motivating a love for learning, teachers can use preschool curricula to build school- and life-related skills. There have been links between play and child development, especially in the areas of creativity, reasoning, executive function, and regulation of emotions (Bodrova, Germeroth, & Leong 2103). Active play is needed for healthy brain growth and not only strengthens muscles, but stimulates brain activity leading to higher levels of interest and curiosity. Through play children are able to try out different ways to handle and address stressful or hurtful situations and stand strong when facing challenging situations.
Moreover, children are more developed by social play, that is, it helps them to train more of the oral and non-verbal communication by exchanging roles. It also helps children to wait for the turn taking and sharing of toys. Smilansky and Shefatya (1990) contend that the success of the school mostly rely on the children’s skill to cooperate clearly with peers as well as adults. Further, social play helps shaping a child on who he or she will become as an individual in the future and which roles they are given in
The importance of incorporating a play based curriculum Play is something every child looks forward to. It is where they will learn valuable skills to aid in the growth of their development. Play can be in many forms for example, purposeful play and child-initiated play. Child initiated play is self explanatory whereas purposeful play is devised and structured by the teachers or parents and it comes with objectives. Children are curious learners and would love to explore and make sense of the things around them.
The importance of the adult?s role during the child?s play will be discussed. 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 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. First, during infancy, the development of relationships, cognitive abilities and growing interests in the external world can be seen while