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sigmund freud's psychodynamic theory of play
play influencing growth and development
one strength of Piaget’s theory of play.
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The purpose of this essay is to determine the importance of Symbolic play as a component for the development of cognitive and social skills. Play is second nature to children and they will naturally engage in symbolic play throughout their developing years. Play is one of the recognisable essential factors in children’s learning and development, cchildren’s ability to use language and talk in a practical way coincides with the rise of predictable symbolic play sequences. This is also supported by Deacon’s view that the reason humans are so unique in comparison to the rest of the species is our ability to theorize emblematically. (Deacon, 1997) Freud 1969 established the view that the role of symbolic plays was the skill of controlling impulses …show more content…
Theoretical opinions of the significance and importance of symbolic play differ. Piaget (1962) highlighted the assimilative value of play. He proposed that through symbolic play, children are able to make sense and meaning of experiences and events that are beyond their understanding. Symbolic play is a private world that is personal to the child where the rules of societal convention and the logic of the real world do not necessarily apply. From this view, symbolic play enables the child to be free from reality, allowing mental manipulations of objects and events. One cognitive benefit of symbolic play is the chance to participate in role reversal, taking turns playing the numerous characters which helps to advance perception among play companions. (Newman, …show more content…
Research has shown that symbolic play improves literacy and language through the use of materials and toys. (Singer, 2006) As well as improving these skills, symbolic play helps to build the child’s confidence, and it is through play that he/she discovers out their true character. The child learns vital social skills that can be used to solve problems and work together as a team. Children create metal images throughout symbolic play, developing their memory of symbols and words. Cognitive development is lead by social and culture interactions and improves cognition and
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)....
Piaget stated that children function in a concrete world and therefore are unable to use language in an abstract way until about eleven years old. Consequently language does not afford young children the structure for appropriate self-expression. Piaget believed that children design symbols to communicate their wishes, ideas and emotions. This system of symbols characterises symbolic play (Piaget & Inhelder,
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
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.
Jean Piaget, a cognitivist, believed children progressed through a series of four key stages of cognitive development. These four major stages, sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational, are marked by shifts in how people understand the world. Although the stages correspond with an approximate age, Piaget’s stages are flexible in that as long as the child is ready they are able to reach a stage. In kindergarten, many of the stages of both sensorimotor and preoperational stage were easy to find. For instance, the teacher allowed the students to have a couple minutes of free time. Many of the students chose to go to the tree house play area and began playing house. This is an example of the sensorimotor stage of symbolic thought or the cognitive ability to have one thing stand for another (Bergin & Bergin, 2012). In this case, students were able to use play toys to create a “real-life” kitchen, and the students were able to play characters such as mom, dad, brother, and sister. I was also able to spot aspects of the preoperational stage during their free time. Many students played with inanimate objects and gave the objects lifelike qualities, this is also known as animism. For instance, one little girl in particular was carrying around a baby doll and kept feeding the baby, calling her Lucy, and talking to the baby doll as if it was real. Although features of the sensorimotor and the preoperational stage were easy to find in the kindergarten classroom, I discovered that it was challenging to find evidence of the concrete and formal operational stages in their corresponding, approximate age groups. I did not find evidence that contradicts any of Piaget’s stages, but I also did not find enough evidenc...
This stage of development is categorized by imagination and symbolic language. During the beginning of this stage, toddlers spend most of their playtime using their imagination and playing pretend. This helps them to decipher the difference between reality and fantasy. Between the ages of five and seven, these children transition from parallel play, to associative and cooperative types of play behavior. These new play behaviors increase their social skills as they interact with peers, siblings, and parents. During this period, children also start engaging in dramatic play with others. This helps them explore different social roles, such as pretending to be a mother while playing house. Dramatic play opens up an entirely new world to children as they use their imagination with others (Hughes, 2006). By playing in a world that does not provide the child with any negative consequences, they are free to play without
The word “play” has numerous meanings to different people in different contexts. Therefore it cannot have one definition and is described in a number of ways. Smith (2010) describes play as involvement in an activity, purely for amusement and to take part for fun. That play is “done for it’s own sake, for fun, not for any external purpose.” (Smith, 2010. P4) Therefore, as one precise definition cannot be presented for the word ‘play,’ it is described in a number of ways such as social dramatic play. Briggs and Hanson (2012) portray social dramatic play as the building blocks of a child’s ability to accept the possibility to step into another world, building and developing on children’s higher order thinking, accentuating the child as a social learner. Another example of play is exploratory play, which is described as children being placed in an explorer or investigator role, to identify the cause or affect a resources that is presented to them has. (Briggs, M and Hanson, A. 2012) Games are also another example of play. They are included on the basis that playing games with rules, regardless of age, can develop a child’s intellectual capabilities along with their physical, behavioural and emotional health. (Briggs, M and Hanson, A. 2012).
I really enjoyed observing for this notebook activity because for the first time in my whole life, I had to determine which toys fostered symbolic play and then I had to analyze why a certain toy was beneficial in promoting symbolic play. I observed three different classrooms for this experiment: Cherub’s Preschool, Bethel’s Mom2Mom group, and Mrs. Dexter’s kindergarten class. In the Cherub’s Preschool, the children had multiple toys that promoted symbolic learning. For example, Brody found some farm animals in a bin and he took them out and began to make the sounds that those animals make. This demonstrated symbolic play because he was able to place a symbol (the sound of the animal)
It is characterized by the use of symbols to represents objects and relationships among them (Rathus , S., & Longmuir, S., 2011 , p.125). This is the time children pretend play , Piaget (1962 [ 1946 ])wrote that pretend play usually begins in the second year , when the child begins to symbolize the objects . The quality of pretend play influences pre-schoolers’ later academic performances , their creativity, and their social skills (Russ,2006; Stagnitti et al.,2000) . Imaginery friends are an example of pretend play . As many as 65% of pre-schoolers have imaginery friends , they are most common first born and only children (Gleason et al.,2003). Children with imaginery friends are usually less aggressive , more cooperative, and show greater language development and concentration (Rathus, S., & Longmuir, S., 2011 , p.126). In conclusion, we have learned that in the preoperational stage you learn to symbolize objects and you can connect to people relationship wise. – you’re missing several theoretical concepts for this stage;
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
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.
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/
This theory suggests that play plays a vital role of treating children’s disorders, children are able to gain some sense of control and alleviate their negative emotions including anxieties, fears and traumas through playing (Heidman & Hewitt, 2010; Freud, 1961). From the psychoanalytic perspective, play has a cathartic effect for children as it can assist children to cope with adverse feelings (Wolfberg, 2009, p. 32). Therefore, play is regarded as a therapeutic method to deal with the emotional problems (Wolfberg, 2009, p. 32). Moreover, this theory is of the view that play is an avenue to connect children’s past, current and future inner life (Willians, 2009, p. 575). Sigmund Freud was the pioneer who made a considerable contribution to this theory and he called “play” as the “royal road” to the child’s conscious and unconscious world (Willians, 2009, p. 575). He believed that play allows a combination of fantasy with reality, children should spend time playing every day as it is very healthy and necessarily (Willians, 2009, p. 575). Children are able to resolve psychological dilemmas, soften their worries and develop their understanding of life experiences (Wolfberg, 2009, p. 32). Erikson had further developed this theory, he recognized that the particular events are critical to shape the nature of
By interacting with others in play settings, children learn social rules such as, taking turns, trade, cooperation, sharing, rules, and mixing with other. They discover scenes and stories, solve problems, and negotiate their idea through social barriers. They know what they want to do and work conscientiously to do it. they learn the powerful lesson of pursuing their own ideas to a successful conclusion. Also, support most children progress from an egocentric view of the world to an understanding of the importance of social skills and rules, they learn that games such as follows the Leader, baseball, and soccer cannot work without everyone obeying to the same set of rules. It teaches children life has rules (laws) that we all must follow to function effectively. Research shows that children who involve “(in complex forms of socio-dramatic play have greater language skills than non-players, better social skills, more empathy, more imagination, and more of the subtle capacity to know what others mean. They are less aggressive and show more self-control and higher levels of thinking”.