The Importance Of Free Play

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Play benefits a child’s development because it helps them with the cognitive, physical, emotional and social well being. It allows them to use their creativity and imagination. There are many different types of play: Solitary, parallel, onlooker, associative and cooperative. Play is important to the academic environment because it ensures that the school setting attends to the social and emotional development of children as well as their cognitive development. Children adjust to the school setting and enhance their learning, behaviors, and problem-solving skills. Despite the numerous benefits derived from play for both children and parents, time for free play has been markedly reduced for some children. This trend has even affected kindergarten children, who have had free play reduced in their schedules to make room …show more content…

“A 1989 survey taken by the National Association of Elementary School Principals found that 96% of surveyed school systems had at least 1 recess period. Another survey a decade later found that only 70% of even kindergarten classrooms had a recess period. (Ginsburg, Kenneth R. "The Importance of Play in Promoting Healthy Child Development and Maintaining Strong Parent-Child Bonds." Pediatrics, American Academy of Pediatrics, 1 Jan. 2007, pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/119/1/182. (WEB)” Currently, many schoolchildren are given less free time and fewer physical outlets at school; many school districts responded to the No Child Left Behind Act of 200137 by reducing time committed to recess, the creative arts, and even physical education in an effort to focus on reading and mathematics.This change may have implications on children's ability to store new information because children's cognitive capacity is enhanced by a clear-cut and significant change in activity.

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