Play In Children’s Development

Essay: Question

What does Play mean to children in the sense of their learning growth? What does Play mean for educators of young children in how they prepare and design their learning activities? How can educators justify the decision to establish play-based activities in the class-room?”

Introduction:

This essay discusses the primary principles and values of Play In Children’s Development (Degotardi, 2005, p.14-5). The importance of Play Generated Curriculum and its conflicts with teacher’s academic goals will be evaluated. It is asserted here that the principle values of play and its meaning to children are the role of qualified teachers in a pre-school setting . Also teacher’s specialism to establish Play Based Curriculums to suite every individual child’s developmental needs (Dockett and Fleer, 2002, p.3, para.2).

Some people have different opinions about play and curriculum. Often early childhood educators and some parent’s say that play is the best way for young children to learn concepts, skills and tasks needed to set foundations for later school and life success. However, some people including some parents believe that play is off task behavior, messy and noisy. This debate about play and children’s development requires evidence based on studies to prove that play is effective and has a great impact on children’s future learning and development.

Body:

Play is a free choice activity, has value, it is self motivated and creates meaning for children. Children play to experience meanings. It has been confirmed by Vygotsky’s theory (Lindqvist, 2001, p.9, para. 2-7), When children play, they create imaginary situations, setting and place to perform actions. They create reality through play on a deeper level. Play connects young people’s emotions and thoughts with the real world. Children use the imaginary world of play to interpret reality. Thus they develop their ability (Lindqvist, 2001, p.8-9, Samuelsson and Johansson, 2004, p.51 and Hoorn, Lieberman, 2005, p.6, para. 4).

A study was done on how young children create and originate meaning in their play while with adults. The findings proven that children imagine and say stories about objects that they play with, which these stories has meaning to them (Lindqvist, 2001, p.8, para.1 & Dockett and Fleer, 2002, p.106, para.5).

However, some people including some parents argue some children may not yet grow and reach the appropriate stage of development to imagine, create real life experiences and meanings in their free or spontaneous play. They also say that play is fantasy and takes children away from academic learning (Johnson, 1999, p.330, para. 4-5).


For example in the following observation which was done on two children in a childcare centre. Both children were age four and half years. Child ‘A’ is playing on the sand pit and child ‘B’ joined him.

Child ‘A’ was playing on a sand pit and pouring sand on the kitchen sink, which was placed on the sand pit.
Child ‘B’ walked in sand pit and said more.
Both children were pouring sand on the kitchen sink, child ‘A’ said to child ‘B’ we need more water in the sea. The sea is not full and he shakes his head.
Child ‘B’ was pouring sand and child ‘A’ was observation for a few seconds. Then child ‘A’ looked at the kitchen sink placed on the sand pit and said more water ...more and more.
Both children were pouring sand till the kitchen sink was half pour. Then both of them were looking at the sink, child ‘A’ said sea is not full. Child ‘B’ said my boat drowned, look then he placed small plastic cup toy and said look drowned. Although the plastic cup was placed on the top of the sand in kitchen sink.

This observation suggests that children do create imaginative situations while playing (Dockett & Fleer, 1999, p.101).

Children use real life experiences to express what they know, they act as players, they express themselves, and they explore and experiment through play. Play is a good opportunity for them to build new skills, knowledge, and ideas (Dockett & Fleer, 1999 and Degotardi, 2005, p.134, para. 4). During play session children interact equally, and continuously collaborate and re-negotiate among each other. They define play rules, and see play as doing something always right. They have faith in fantasies (Samuelsson & Johansson, 2004, p.52).

Children’s play lays a perfect opportunity for professionals to provide educational encouragement, appropriate materials, and stress free settings for children to use their imaginations and create scripts in free play (Johnson, 1999, p.331, para. 1-5 & Doris & Doris, 2009, p.429, para. 8-10).

On the other hand, it is evident that educators may not reach their planned academic goals because they need to look at every individual child’s interests to help them to reach the appropriate developmental stage. Some children move beyond the standard pattern and some may need extra assistance, to reach appropriate level of development (Dockett and Fleer, 2002, p.112-13, par a.3-5 & Doris & Doris, 2009, p.429, para. 8-10). It is educator’s responsibility to provide supervision and fair interaction to shape children’s ideas delicately and connecting free play with education (Dockett and Fleer, 2002, p.12, para.3-4).

Early childhood educators interpret play as a means to provide learning materials for children. It is the educator’s decision, to support children in free play sessions and to decide that a play-based programs will be developmentally appropriate for young children. In fact the most powerful way of learning is through play (Hill, 2010, p.5, para. 2-7). Play has strong relationship with children‘developmental domain and curriculum (Hoorn & Liebermen, 2007, p.3-4 & Dockett and Fleer, 2002, p.112, para.2). Play-Based Activities involves children in thinking, and use of oral language (Hill, 2010, p.5, para. 2-7). It is the educator’s accountability to make sure that children grow and progress within developmentally appropriate norm of development in order to become mature adults (Degotardi, 2005, p.132-3, para.2-5). It is required of them to ensure that each child receives quality education and meets the expectations of early childhood standards (Johnson, 1999, p.329, para. 3-4).

Play is a means for teachers to support children’s social, emotional, cognitive, and physical skills while playing (Doris & Doris , 2009, p.429, para. 8-10 and Hoorn & Liebermen, 2007, p.3-4), which helps children to be self-motivated, explore, experiment, and build relationships with other peers.

It is confirmed by children’s theorists, Maria Montessori, who claims that early childhood curriculum shall be based on play as a means to instruct children to gain particular skills. Children should be taught. Children need to feel free in selecting play materials. The use of play materials needs to be instructed to achieve a result or product (Degotardi, 2005, p.132-3, para.2-5).

Also it is confirmed by another children’s theorist’s, Issac that when young children are interested in a task and they are interacting with an adult who responds sensitively to their interests and involvement, they can grapple with complex ideas and issues (Dockett and Fleer, 2002, p.12, para.3-4).

Play based activities provide a supportive context for learning and development to practice newly acquired skills where teachers illustrate on children's current knowledge during play experiences (Degotardi, 2005, p.132-3, para.2-5). It means that children demonstrate their own play and their behaviour (Hoorn & Liebermen, 2007, p.3-4) although play is the core of developmentally appropriate early childhood curriculum, where children act as an active constructor of knowledge (Degotardi, 2005, p.132-3, para.2-5 & Hoorn & Liebermen, 2007, p.3-4).

On the other hand , teachers appear to use play to admire children’s work, provide spontaneous play activities (Hoorn & Liebermen, 2007, p.3-4) and focus on children’s interests (Johnson, 1999 , p.329, para. 3-4 & p.330, para. 4-5) , to use it as a means in providing developmentally appropriate learning materials, arranging inviting spaces and to make the activities meaningful and creative for children (Johnson , 1999, p.329, para. 3-4).

For argument, some educators may decide to do series of repetitive observations during free play session to bring children’s concentration, interest and relate children’s understanding in every day’s program (Johnson, 1999, p.329, para. 3-4). On the other hand, some children may not meet the terms that educators propose, some may not want to participate and some may follow teacher’s instructions in their own way (Doris & Doris, 2009, p.430, para. 1).

Consequently, teachers may discuss the result among the group of children to evaluate children’s responses (Johnson , 1999, p.329, para. 3-4) , the teacher tends to ask questions, suggest alternative solutions , observe children's creative expressions as well as finding clarification in group problem-solving (Degotardi, 2005, p.132-3, para.2-5).

For example, a few children show interest in sea creatures such as fish. The educator needs to design classroom programs based on that interest and provide activities for all children to assists them in learning skills and knowledge related to children’s interest and combine it with literacy, mathematics, and science. On the other hand, some children may not have any interest in sea creatures. In the same class, some children will benefit from learning materials and some will not benefit at all. Some children either experience loss of interests or will not learn (Johnson, 1999, p.321, para. 1-2 & Dockett and Fleer, 2002, p.109, para.5).

The environment that children live, their cultural beliefs and expectations guide the way they play (Dockett in and Fleer, 2002, p. 7&10, para.2-3). Educators need to consider the changes in ways of lives, equipments; the ways things are used, expectations and nature of the play in has great influence on play (Dockett and Fleer, 2002, p.10-11, para.3-5).

In one hand, Cultural beliefs have great influence on the type of play children are engaged in. On the other hand, a child’s interests may clash, other children‘s interests and beliefs. Or a child’s interests may not be developmentally appropriate for their stage of development. Then educators may need to establish activities that are developmentally appropriate as well as socially and culturally sensitive. Therefore some children will not show interest (Degotardi, 2005, p.141-2).

It is asserted here that, Young people use power in play. They start with the feeling of having rights in their play, for example girls in home corner show their power over boys visa-versa boys in block corner are in more control. Therefore it is the teachers role to extend children’s play (Dockett and Fleer, 2002, p.144-6).


It has been proven through a study which was done on children’s development , that play is vital and most favourable means to support children’s social, emotional, physical, and cognitive development particularly in middle childhood (Doris & Doris, 2009, p.426,para.1 & Hoorn & Liebermen, 2007, p.17 ).

Piaget claims that children's play increases their cognitive growth as well as social involvement, because they interact with their peers and adults. Children’s cognitive developmental level has strong connection with their play behaviour.

Smilanski clarifies that in constructive play, children use solid objects to construct an object while engage in practical play which is mainly repetitive use of actions or objects. This type of play is goal oriented, and involves problem-solving and prediction as children work towards producing something. When young children engage in solitary pretend play, they move on and use their imagination to replace one object for another, their pretend play becomes social which enhances their social and communication skill develops , as children grow they advance cognitive levels of development where they begin to engage in play with rules; either invent their own or follow scripts and instructions (Degotardi,2005,p.136-7 ).

It has been confirmed by studies and theorists such as Froebel, that play would lead children to develop a spiritual understanding of the physical and aesthetic features of their world and there is a vital relationship between play and learning (Dockett and Fleer, 2002, p.12, para.3-4).

Consequently teachers can use a combination of both Play Generated Curriculum and Curriculum Generated Play. Educators and children need to be as co-decision makers in planning and establishing curriculum (Johnson, 1999,p.332, para. 1). Professionals can provide assistance as well as interesting and challenging play activities for children to challenge those (Hoorn & Liebermen, 2007, p.17).

Conclusion:

As discussed play has great influence on children's individual level of development and their social and cultural background . Children come to play with their individual skills and knowledge. These individual skills influences the way in which they engage in play with peers, adults and materials (Degotardi, 2005, p.141-2). Children touch, manipulate and show interest in the objects that surrounds them. They initiate play with objects first, then they tend to join in role-play as they grow (Lindqvist, 2001, p.9, para. 2-7).


Early childhood educators recognise play as a powerful learning medium. According to children’s developmental level, children practice their skills, experiences and experiment new ideas while playing. Play is a vital tool for educators; it is used as a means but not the only source, in teaching and learning. However children engage in play with the aim of playing after all play what children want to do. Children like to follow play generated curriculum. Teachers would provide structured programs based on criculumn to support children’s learning and development (Degotardi, 2005, p.14-5).

Children’s cognitive and social developmental domains have been regarded as being particularly significant in understanding why developmental and age-related differences in play behaviours occur.
Children shaping the context as well as being shaped by it (Dockett and Fleer, 2002, p.115, para.5)

To look at children’s theorists Piaget, Elkonin, and Trageton, who claim, children’s development and play is based on a biological approach. This means children’s growth relates to a set pattern from playing with objects then to symbols and roles-play. These developmental theories clarify that play is a ‘free’ activity, which adults should not interrupt. Froebel argues that educators or adults involvement is necessary (Dockett and Fleer, 2002, p.12, para.3-4). Teachers or adults usually guide children’s play and interpret their play as a realistic presentation of a certain action (Lindqvist, 2001, p.8 & Dockett and Fleer,2002, p.101, para.7).


References list is in APA system.

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