The Role of Play in Supporting Healthy Development and Learning Increased knowledge of a child’s developmental milestones can lead to early detection of developmental delays and health issues is beneficial to parents and professionals that work with children. Knowledge of the development of different types of play gives educators and parents a foundation for proper teaching strategies. Goodman (1994) reported that the preeminent teaching for young children happens at the midpoint of a continuum between play and work. Therefore, it is worth understanding the contextual origins and current research related on these issues. At the upcoming National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Conference, I will be handing out flyers …show more content…
Play is necessary element of healthy development for children of all ages. They will gain knowledge on how parents and educators use play to help children learn and develop. My presentation title for this conference will be The Importance of Play. Play influences all areas of development; it offers children the opportunity to learn about the self, others, and the physical environment (Catron & Allen, 2007). It encourages aspects of social, emotional, cognitive, and physical development that cannot be achieved any other way. Children learn how to interact with peers when engaged in play activities while also building on important schemas about the real world. Although play has been looked at by many as just a time filler for caretakers, much research has been dedicated to the benefits of play that would suggest that play is vital for every …show more content…
He recognized many of children’s play behaviors in adult games, customs, and competitions. Groos, through his research created a system that grouped the different types of play, such as games with rules, rough-and-tumble play, and dramatic play. Play, according to Groos, encourages children to emulate behaviors that are similar to adult roles, which in turn they will assume in the future. For instance, children enact parental roles in dramatic play (e.g., a child pretending to drive a car to go to work). The pre-exercise theory suggests that play is a natural way of preparing children for the endeavors of adult life because their play experiences are similar to those they will encounter as they get older (Mellon, 1994). Having Groos on the panel would be beneficial and provided for a well-rounded educational experience for the audience. Coupled with, the classical theories are the foundations for the contemporary theories of
Interestingly it was through this process of sharing our professional experiences that we established the central idea of our exhibition. We had determined that the importance of play in the Early Years was a theme that was often debated by parents, colleagues and policy makers. By choosing this as our topic we hoped to have an enhanced understanding of the historical implications of play in Early Years Education, resulting in professional competence and the ability to guide and mentor others on the significance of play. Rodd (1996) endorses this importance of Early Years Professionals having the skills to build, establish and maintain credibility in the fast-changing sector of Early Years.
Leong was featured in the May 2003 issue of the NAEYC’s Young Children. The article explores the conflict between children's play and meeting academic standards; more frequently, teachers are forced to limit playtime in order to teach essential skills to students; however because of limited imaginary play, increased academic demands of young children, and more realistic toys, children are almost unable to imagine. Although play has been proven to benefit children’s cognitive and social development, administrators do not consider it to be an important aspect of young children’s education. Because of this, preschool and kindergarten teachers are put in a challenging predicament; in order to compensate for children’s lack of play, teachers would need to prioritize play development at the level in which they prioritize phonics awareness and fine motor skills development. Although it is difficult to do, it is not impossible to incorporate play into the curriculum. Teachers can facilitate mature play by providing multi purpose props, encouraging children to create their own props, and allowing time for children to plan their roles and scenarios for dramatic play. In addition to play helping children develop foundational skills and concepts necessary to master math and reading, it has been shown to increase classroom cooperation, the effectiveness of instructional time, and the number of friendships developed in the
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)....
Wood, E. Attfield, J. (1996) Play learning and the early childhood curriculum. London: Paul Chapman.
..., J., & Garzoli, E. (2007, November 11). The Effectiveness of a Play-Based Curriculum in Early Childhood Education. Retrieved from http://teachplaybasedlearning.com/8.html
Ginsburg, K. R. (2006). "The Species of the World. " The Importance of Play in Promoting Healthy Child Development and Maintaining Strong Parent–Child Bonds. USA: American Academy of Pediatrics.
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.
A major question that is continuously being researched and observed is whether children’s play is beneficial to children’s development. While many scientists have proved that play is, in fact, helpful in the development of children, I want to research how the different types of play affect children’s development, specifically children that are transitioning from late infancy to toddlerhood. The four different types of play that I will focus on observing is exploratory and manipulative play, functional or relational play, social play routines and pretend play. Furthermore, I would observe the children’s agency during their play and the social structures that can prevent children from playing, thus, resulting in lack of development.
All children play and it is something that most children do because they are having fun, but without realising children are developing and learning skills when they are engaged in play. Play helps stimulate the mind as it is practical and gives children the chance to explore and experience new situations. It can also ensure that children get to think by themselves and be spontaneous as they control their own play. Children get the chance to be creative and imaginative which develops independence for children. Play is vital for child development and helps children develop five main areas of development:
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 book, Exploring Your role in Early Childhood Education, defines play as, “any activity that is freely chosen, meaningful, active, enjoyable, and open-ended.”(pg. 140) Play has many positive characteristics such as freedom to explore and create. Suppose when a child enters his/her classroom and has various self-selection activities available, the child can become engaged in something of interest specifically to that individual child. The book also states, “Play is active and is natural process of mentally and actively doing something.”(pg. 140) When children can act out or explore experiences they are having hands on experience and learning by actually doing. Without knowing it, children are practicing body movements as well as mental processing though acting imaginary games out.
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.
I am very much the type of person that prefers hard copies such as books, magazines, or newspapers so I started there. I looked at past textbooks I have used during my time in school and found two that were extremely helpful; the first titled Play, Learning and the Early Childhood Curriculum by Elizabeth Wood and Jan Attfield, and the second titled Crisis in the Kindergarten: Why Children Need to Play in School by Edward Miller and Joan Almon. After finding two books, I decided it was time to look on the Internet. Instead of using the normal Google search, I decided to use Google Scholar as a way to find dependable sources. I used the key words pay based learning, childcare, and teaching styles. From those key words alone I found many scholarly articles and experiment papers. One article I really liked was by Ageliki Nicolopoulou, a professor from Lehigh University located in Pennsylvania. What stuck out about her article was that she also used the text by Miller and Almon. Another source I reference in this paper is How Dramatic Play Can Enhance Learning by Marie E. Cecchini, which I quickly mentioned above. Dolores A. Steglin wrote the last article I used. Her article Making the Case for Play Policy: Research-Based Reasons to Support Play Based Environments was really helpful when I started to link the NAEYC Code’s and Early Childhood Educator Competencies to play based learning strategies. I also used
Holistic development of young children is the key determination and through play they are able to survive and become physically healthy, able to learn, and emotionally secure and into where they progress into responsible and productive adults with positive reinforcements in the future. When there are societal issues that are barriers such as “technology, childhood obesity, culture, etc.” (Gaston, A, Module 1, Unit 1, 2016), children are then unable to revel in freedom of movement in where play is adventurous and brings out positive behavior. “Play supports the holistic development through the development of intellectual, emotions, socially, physical, creative and spiritual” (Gaston, A, Module 1, Unit 2, 2016), signifying that holistic development is an important factor to be aware of as the child grows. An example would be when in Workshop 1 of Social and Cognitive Styles of Play, we had to play in the given activity for the time being and observe our members and distinguish what kind of cognitive play it was. And one of the assigned question to
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.