Exploring How Psychologists Study the Role of Play in Child Development
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, New Edition, 1995 defines
“play” as: “[Children] when children play, they do things that they
enjoy, often together or with toys.” Play is one of the most powerful
vehicles children have for trying out and mastering new social skills,
concepts and experiences. Psychologists, such as Faulkner (1995),
present evidence that play is seen as a mean of developing social
skills and interpersonal relationships with others. The first section
of the essay will present the different approaches psychologists use
in the quest to learn about the role of children’s play and their
related issues. This section will briefly define the nature of play
and the different types of play that influence social development. The
second section will evaluate the importance of play on different
aspects of social development and in various stages of an individual.
The third section will analyze how viewpoints on function of play on
development are shaped by historical and contextual factors such as
culture and economy.
Developmental psychologists use various research methods such as
naturalistic observations, interviews, experimental research and
examining the natural context of children’s everyday interaction
within the family to study the role of play in children’s development.
They apply different approaches to study different types of play. Play
by nature, creates a natural learning environment for the child.
Wasserman (1992, p135) describes five benefits of play: children are
able to create something new, take risks, avoid the fear of failure,
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...ocial development. Different types of
play promote different aspects of social development such as social
competence, achievement of sense of self and social perspective-taking
skills. However, play is not the single causal factor that promotes a
child’s social development. Family relationships and the discourse
that occurs between carers and children do influence social
development of a child. One example is the impact of divorce between
parents made the child’s social interactions with others immature and
ineffective (Hetherington et al., 1970). Peer culture plays
significant impact on adolescent’s social development. Recent changes
in toys and changing views of childhood which focus shifts on academic
pursuits show the change in the role of play in children’s social
development across different cultures and regions.
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)....
Play is an important part of emotional-social development. Play can act as a way for children to reveal their innermost feelings and express thought. As defined by the text, play is “voluntary activities done for enjoyment or recreation that are not performed for any sake beyond themselves.” Children move through different levels of play as they mature. One form of play which scientists have become increasingly interested in is imaginative play. With imagination children learn how to be creative. Many children between ages 3-5 create imaginary friends for themselves.
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.
The word play cannot be easily defined because it always depends on the contexts and the contexts also vary. There are different forms of play such as fantasy play, free flow play, constructive play, imaginative play, role play, socio-dramatic play, structured play, pretend play and heuristic play. These forms of play are categorised as “Play as learning”, and “Play as Practice” (Macintyre 2001:6). Moyles (2005), states that it is quite adverse that the phrase play has numerous meanings, and this makes parents to be wary of it. Meckley (2002) in his framework suggests that all different types of play involves varieties of activities and behaviours which results in diverse developmental and learning outcomes. Research suggest that the means to spoken language development in children’s brain is hearing language consistently because it is as a result of this that they would be able to speak (Brotherson,2005).There are evidences that toddlers who experienced talking with their mothers when they were infants have advanced vocabularies and a firm foundation for future communication. Snow (1997) claims that children who are deprived of language experiences at age four encounter a breach which barely expands over the school years. Claxton (1984) defined play as a method and approach which offer learning culture in which children’s fundamental learning needs can be met. He argued that these needs include the chance to communicate, question, interact with others and be part of a wider social experience in which flexibility, lenience and self –discipline are crucial. Moreover, different typ...
Childhood play behavior is an important part of every child’s life. Starting in infancy, children begin to explore their world through play. This behavior can serve as an indicator of the child’s cognitive and social development. The research on play and development is a key to helping caregivers understand the importance of childhood play. This paper will focus on the psychological aspects of childhood play behavior and its relation to cognitive development.
Developmental Psychology according to Goldstein and Weiner’s (2003) Handbook of Psychology, Volume 6, Developmental Psychology states that this is the study of “how temporal changes in the familial, social, and cultural contexts of life shape the quality of the trajectories of change that individuals traverse across their life spans.” Developmental psychology is basically the study of an individual, from the cradle to the grave and how they contrast and develop in various life spans. Developmental Psychology tackles numerous concepts; however, one of the most controversial and prominent concepts which aims to elucidate the development of a child’s cognitive, emotional and behavioral state would be Diana Baumrind’s conceptualization of the parenting
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
The Target store located at Dallas Highway in Marietta, Georgia, was chosen for the fieldwork assignment. This particular store was selected because of recent renovations to the toy area. The new arrangement of the toy department appears slightly different than traditional organizations of toys in the past. The location of the toys is in direct relation and physical flow from the baby equipment, supplies, and apparel. Toys transition from birth in the infant area initially in terms of age demographics, type of activity, and brand of toy to more obvious gender divisions beginning in the preschool toys. In the toy section for school age children, gender separation is clearly established. Gender divisions become more obvious in this age group according to colors, themes, and character depiction. The girl toys feature pink, purple, and pastel colors. The highlighted décor in the store’s displays and packaging for girls involves embellishments such as pictures of girls, flowers, glitter, and jewels. The boy section portrays color schemes that are primarily in blue, red, yellow, gray, and black. Packaging images are of male children. The sections including educational toys, games, sporting equipment, outdoor play, sound and music, building, puzzles, and arts appear to be more gender neutral although some gender specific items can be identified by color or themes such as princess/fairytale or Ninja Turtle. The configuration of the toys clearly states that color, themes, and character representation are irrelevant to infants and toddlers, while parent’s attitudes about color and gender may be important aspects of unintentional socialization in the maturation of children. Marketing strategies appeal to children, but adult’s perception of ...
Children have a natural inclination to play, alongside a natural instinct to learn and to be curious and inventive, which are characteristics of the human race in general. This quote taken from Janet Moyles is a good starting point for this essay. It is well known that children love to play. If a child were to be left to his/her own devices they would happily play and create new worlds anywhere they were left. It has been well documented and researched that children learn excellently through play. However they are not always given the opportunity to do so, instead being told to, ‘finish your work and then you can go play’. Obviously this is not always the case, but the fact that it is a common practice shows that we do not all fully appreciate the importance of play to children’s learning. This essay will attempt to show how children learn through play, making reference to current theory and practice. I will also give examples from my own first-hand experience of how children learn and develop as people through play.
Children develop normally when they are exposed to different types of play that allow them to express themselves while using their imaginations and being physically active. According to the Center for Health Education, Training and Nutrition Awareness, “Play is child’s work”; this is true because it is a child’s job to learn and develop in their first few years of life, in order for them to do this, they play. Not only is playing a child’s full time job, the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights listed play as a right of every child. Through their full time job of play, the children develop emotionally, socially, physically, and creatively. Children need to participate in child-led play in order to facilitate healthy development of their minds, body, and creativity.
When you’re a parent, it’s common to worry if your child is developing accordingly, but more exclusively if your child seems to be delayed from other children in their age group. Every stage of development happens differently for every child, but learning to detect these skills or behaviors that are associated with each stage could be beneficial to you and your child in the long run. The three common domains of development are physical, cognitive, and psychosocial. Throughout this paper I will try to help get a different outlook and a possible understanding of the development stage of early childhood (ages 2-6). Unfortunately, I do not have any children of my own yet, but I do
I reviewed Weil and Pascal’s (1990) article, The Place of Verbal Games in the Framework of In-patient Group Psychotherapy with Late Adolescents which was published in the Journal of Group Psychotherapy. This article focused the importance of games for the social and emotional development of children and adults. The article expounds on the significance of group therapy that contains the use of verbal games in a psychiatric setting with late adolescents who suffer from instability in their environments. The authors described each game that was used in group therapy along with the significance of the game as a therapeutic and a diagnostic tool (Weil & Pascal, 1990). There are clear limitations of this research that provide for an argument for
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.
From stage one, the social development was focused on relationship with parents. In this stage, social development would be focused on the outset of play with others and developing of social skills. In Erikson’s psychosocial theory (1950), children aged between 3 to 5 years old are in the stage ‘initiative vs. guilt’. Initiative ensues when children explore the environment on their own, ask question about the world and imagine possibilities for themselves. Initiative enhances children willingness to join in activities with peers and tackle new tasks. Play can act as a role that children can learn about their social world (Parten, 1932). In my social development, play was begun with nonsocial activity, which is unoccupied, observer behavior and solitary play. Following by parallel play, which I will play beside my brother or other children with similar toy but play it individually and not trying to influence him. Then it would come to simply social play, in which I involve in similar activities with my kinder garden schoolmates, for instance drawing, with some interaction such as smile and talk with them. At last, it was cooperative play. That was theme-based play where children take special role, like I will play the role of chief and my schoolmate act as customer so I can serve them. It creates a small social organization of children who must cooperate to achieve common goal. The act of being cooperative enhances peer sociability and facilitates the development of social skills in early