Documentation of

Free Play with

Preschoolers By: Beatrice Chavez

CHLD DV 258

Unit 3, Project 3D

Today’s play brought to you by…

Free play is child-

initiated play where

children can use the

materials around

them as they

please.

During my observations, the preschoolers used a variety of provided materials and toys, as well as some that they have created themselves.

Play involves many areas of development for

children. They learn to socialize, share, how to problem solve and work

together, and how to take turns, among other

things.

Play is using provided materials

and toys

Eggs for matching letters

used to make towers

Fire truck made as a project used as

dramatic play

A variety of toys

Different play environments

A variety of roles to take on

Play inside & outside

Play can take place anywhere, indoors or outdoors.

Play can occur at any time as long as it is child-initiated.

Preschoolers should always be allowed

certain times throughout their

day that is devoted purely to free play

of some kind, whether inside or

outside.

Play as a way to learn life skills

Learning to take turns without guidance or

assistance from teacher or adult

Working together toward a common

goal…or to see who wins the basketball

game

Using imagination

and creativity to invent their own

game

Play as socialization

Parallel play with no communication

Small group playing together Small group working

together to take turns

B takes the lead in the play, turns N away, saying there is

a line right now

B engages L, asking “What do you want to

eat, L?”

L tells B “I want a sandwich please.”

B responds, “That will be $5.”

Play has taught me…I thought that 3- and 4-

years old did not know, for the most part, how to share

and how to take turns. When we do lessons

together, they normally cannot wait their turn

patiently. Yet, during their own free play, I realized

just how well they can take turns, share, and work

together with no guidance from a teacher or adult.

There is a new girl, L, that recently started in our center. She is very shy

and quiet, and despite our attempts to socialize with her, she rarely talks to the adults and teachers. Now I have learned

through my observations just how important peer-to-peer socialization is

because B was able to successfully engage L in conversation during their

play. It was very humbling but satisfying to see because B was able to

accomplish something the teachers could not.

Play will now be all about… As a teacher, I have learned through my observations to

take a step back and allow the children to solve their own

problems, unless they cannot work together to solve their

issue.

Free play is sometimes used as a reward for doing your work, but now I see that every child needs to have that time to play because it helps develop so many important skills for preschoolers. I now plan to make more time for free play to ensure that every child in my classroom has those opportunities to learn how to socialize, problem solve, take turns, and

how to develop their imagination and creativity.

The preschoolers that I observed have taught me a lot even though I have worked

with them before. I now see them in a different light because I observed them

objectively and then reflected afterwards on what I observed. I can use what I learned

during these observations to better educate and guide my preschoolers.