PLAYCappal, Escaña, Santos

ECEDTRD L91

“In the home, childhood has moved indoors as television watching, computer game playing

and internet activities have increasingly replaced active outdoor play such as bike

riding and hide and seek.”

THE NEED FOR PLAY IS WELL DOCUMENTED

The Power of Play Play, love and work are the three necessary

ingredients of a full, happy and productive life.

Psychiatrist Stuart Brown Reviewed more than 6000 case histories to

explore a person’s play experiences over his or her life.

Association for Childhood Education International and American Academy of Pediatrics (Crisis in the Kindergarten: Why Children Need to Play in School)

Demonstrates that when academics are substituted for play in kindergarten, the long term results on literacy and math are significantly worse not better.

“While many European countries have returned to play based kindergartens, the

United States has not.”

WHAT RESEARCH TELL US ABOUT PLAY

The research about play clearly illustrates its has beneficial effects on both social-emotional and academic growth. Research also notes important variations in play behavior related to specific situations such as peer group and gender interactions; block play; parent play; and clinical studies.

PEER GROUP AND GENDER INTERACTIONS

A related study indicates that outdoor play is more facilitative of complex peer interactions than is indoor play. This effect is partly due to the absence of major adult presence during outdoor play.

Emotional competence with peers Peer play at home was a good indicator of social

adaptation to peers at a child care center. A related study found that high levels of peer

play at the beginning of the school year predicted good emotional regulation, initiative and self determination and vocabulary skills at the end of the school year.

Girls Boys

More closely associated with that of adults

More stereotyped and less adult oriented

Tend to create imaginary companions that are alter egos, and that serve as confidants

Seem to identify with their imaginary companions and to impersonate them; use as the culprits for their own misdeeds

Playing with a child at a higher level advanced the play of the child at the older level

BLOCK PLAY

Research investigation– facilitates logico-mathematical

Case History– Mathematical thinking Boys tend to play more with blocks than do

girls. And girls tend to do more poorly than boys on math, at least initially. An interesting study of the effects of block play would be a longitudinal one that looked at block play by gender over time and assessed children’s mathematical competence.

Providing parents and children with blocks and with ways in which to play with them together can have beneficial effects upon children’s language development and potentially their cognitive development as well.

PARENT CHILD PLAY

Parent involvement in children’s play has beneficial effects in the children’s emotional knowledge and peer social competence.

Apparently, secure attachment facilitates higher level of play for fathers but higher levels of social interaction and participation for mothers.

On a study, parents intuitively know how to support the play of their children depending upon their level of mental or sensory ability.

The quality of mother-child interaction may be determined by the gender of the child as well as by the security of attachment.

Cultural bias gives girls and women more flexibility in exploring boys toys and play than is the reverse.

CLINICAL STUDIES

Adult interventions with children who have potential language delays have a positive effect on the children’s language skills.

Outdoor play has advantages over indoor play for most children. But when home play is compared to classroom play, home play seems to have the advantage.

Context does affect play but the range of possible contexts has to be taken into account.

CLINICAL STUDIES

Children who preferred solitary play were socially, emotionally and intellectually less mature than peers who engage in social play.

Solitary play is thus a marker of potential social and emotional problems at a later stage.

NEW INSIGHT INTO THE DIFFERENT TYPES

OF PLAY

Play and WorkKinship playHarmful play

PLAY AND WORK

Piaget argued that play was pure assimilation, the transformation of reality in the service of the self. Work, in contras, was accommodation, the transformation of the self to meet the demands of reality.

Play is the motivation for children’s work

KINSHIP PLAY

Children’s play could be described as including mastery, innovation, kinship and therapeutic activities.

Kinship is a basic way in which young children learn to deal with social relationships and skills.

HARMFUL PLAY

Some play can be negative and hurtful Play has the power to do good but also has

the power to do evil. We have to acknowledge that imagination

and creativity are often used for evil purposes including torture and innovative weaponry.

CONCLUSION

Books and position papers have also described the many ways in which play has been being limited, over-programmed and overscheduled.

Research studies reinforce the importance of self-initiated play for social, emotional and intellectual development.

The real task is to make parents, educators and legislators realize and support the importance of play for young children.

The commercialization of childhood has pitted what is in the best interest of economic gain. It is a battle we may not be able to win, but it is one we cannot afford to lose.

HOPE FOR THE CHILDREN OF 2020

That we as a society will come to our senses and stop the

damage being done to children and youth by our schools, the

media and unscrupulous advertisers and merchandisers

to the young.