Notebook Activity #6- Symbolic Play
Summary of experience: 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)
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Symbolic play allows children to construct meaning of their everyday life through their activities and experiences. They begin to understand the world by using their imaginations to practice some of the connections that they are making from their observations of it. By engaging in symbolic play, children will learn how to do certain tasks on their own. For example, in the restaurant example mentioned earlier, children who participate in this activity by pretending to be a customer at a restaurant, will help them practice ordering food that they would normally eat, and then eventually helping them overcome their fear of talking to the waiter or waitress. Once this happens the child will be more apt to order their own food when going to a restaurant, which will ultimately make them feel more independent and self-sufficient. In fact, the third stage of Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development, initiative versus guilt, “Children who successfully accomplish the developmental tasks of this stage will emerge confident and competent. They will believe that they can plan and complete a task independently” (Pg. 68, Chapter 3- Erik Erikson). As a future teacher, it will be vital that I allow children to learn on their own and if they make a mistake, it is okay. Research shows that children are likely to feel less competent and take fewer risks in learning when they are constantly reprimanded for their actions. Of course, I cannot just observe two children getting into a fight, but I can help them work through it in a way that will be a learning experience for the both of them. So basically what I am saying is that it is crucial that as a teacher I remember that every moment can be a learning moment, no matter if symbolic play is involved or
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,
Albert Einstein believed that “play is the highest form of research.” For a small child there is not an exact division between the things that are educational and the things that he or she does for fun or play. Through living and playing a child is learning and developing in many ways. 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. The different types and classifications of play occur throughout different stages of a child’s development.
Play is such an important part of the learning and growing, especially for children. Children engage in many different types of play, but the play I saw the most when I observe the children of my daycare is sociodramatic play. The book Understanding Dramatic Play by Judith Kase-Polisini defines sociodramatic play as “both players must tacitly or openly agree to act out the same drama” (Kase-Polisini 40). This shows that children play with each other and make their worlds together as equal creators. Children also work together without argument. There is also some personal play involved in their sociodramatic play. The children involved in the play worked to make a family having dinner, which is great example of how this will prepare them for
Numerous sources have concluded that it is a necessity for children to have time to play for countless reasons; this includes the development of their mind and bodies. When observing a young child at the age of 4 on November 1st, 2016 I found information that supported why play was essential to children 's development. When conducting this observation I was unable to participate in the children 's classroom activities, but only allowed to watch and listen. During this observation, we were asked to pick one student to observe for this observation. I chose a student whose name was Wyatt, he demonstrated that play is a crucial part of their learning in terms of mood and interactions.
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).
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.
...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/
In Kindergarten school, some parent believes play is the best way for young children to learn the conceptions, skills, and set a solid foundation for later school and life success. In the other hand, many parents disagree and believe play is a waste of time, messy, noisy, and uneducationall. I believe play is not waste of time, but it something worth to fight for, in this presentation I would show parent the main importance of some of the numerous kinds of play, and why play is a fundamental basis for improving children’s ability to succeed in school and life.
Resnick, M. (2006). Computer as Paintbrush : Technology , Play , and the Creative Society An Example : Alexandra ’ s Marble Machine. (D. G. Singer, R. M. Golinkoff, & K. Hirsh-Pasek, Eds.)Play Learning How play motivates and enhances childrens cognitive and socialemotional growth, 1-16. Oxford University Press. Retrieved from http://web.media.mit.edu/~mres/papers/playlearn-handout.pdf