Play in childhood

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Play 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) While playing, children are gaining creative skills for creative development, which enhances the ability of creativity, learning techniques, and academic success. The most important development is cognitive. This development is vital for school success. Cognitive development enables a child to solve problems, mentally plan, self-monitor, remember, and evaluate. (Isenburg & Jalongo, 2010) Types of play Mildred Parten classified social play/behaviors into six categories: unoccupied, onlooker, solitary, parallel, associative, and cooperative. Unoccupied behavior is a non-play behavior, in which the child is occupied by looking at anything that is interesting at the moment, but does not engage in any type of play. The child may entertain him/her self by moving around, getting on and off furniture, playing with their body, or by glancing at their at surroundings while remaining in one spot. (Wortham & Reifel, 2010) Onlooker behavior is described when a child spends the majority of their time watching other children play. Unlike unoccupied behavior, onlooker behavior observes a specific group of children regardless if the children are doing anything exciting or not. The observant child frequently talks to the observed children, gives suggestions, or asks questions. The child is not involved ... ... middle of paper ... ... 3, 2014, from http://www.child-development-guide.com/stages-of-play-during-child-development.html Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development | Home. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.child-encyclopedia.com/pages/PDF/play.pdf Frost, J. L., Wortham, S. C., & Reifel, S. (2010, July 20). Characteristics of Social Play | Education.com. Retrieved March 3, 2014, from http://www.education.com/reference/article/characteristics-social-play/ Isenberg, J. P., & Jalongo, M. R. (2010, July 20). Why Is Play Important? Cognitive Development, Language Development, Literacy Development | Education.com. Retrieved March 3, 2014, from http://www.education.com/reference/article/importantance-play-cognitive-language/ Isenberg, J. P., & Jalongo, M. R. (2010, July 20). Why is Play Important? Social and Emotional Development, Physical Development, Creative Development | Education.com.

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