The Importance of Play for Childrens Development.

Jennifer Allen Pin number: 10/677120 Centre number: 579.000 Unit 4

D3:

At the local park children may take part in fantasy play this is when children

D4:

An example of fantasy play in a local park may occur when a child is on the play area. The child could pretend to be on a pirate’s ship pretending to turn the ships wheel and making references to walking the plank……

C1 & D6:

An example of a play activity that could be a risk and challenge in park could be a child climbing on a climbing frame the child is setting themselves a challenge by doing the activity and the risk is them falling off the climbing frame and hurting themselves

In the classroom children can challenge themselves by trying to cut out a big picture. The challenge is whether or not they are able to cut out the picture and the risk is whether or not they are able to cut out the picture safely without hurting themselves.

In a bedroom the challenge children may set themselves is jumping from one end of the bed to the other ten times. The challenge is whether or not they are able to jump from one end of the bed to the other and the risk is the danger of falling off the bed and hurting themselves. Nursery rhymes have also been put in place to teach children the risk of this activity “monkeys jumping on the bed” but children find this fun and will carrying on challenging themselves and amusing themselves through this until they fall off the bed and really do hurt themselves.

D5 & A1

Fredrich Froebel was the first person to write about the importance of play in development and learning. He created a garden where children could learn cooperatively because he believed that it was just as important to allow children to make relationships with other children and also had a strong belief that imaginative and symbolic play would help to encourage children's growth and learning. He called this garden a kindergarten and was for the use of children ages 3 to 7 years of age. He encouraged staff to observe and value children's play and believed that teachers should be approachable within the setting and holds qualities that the children could then respect and imitate in the future. Froebel also encouraged children to learn through rhymes and songs which today are seen in many even childhood educational settings. Froebel also believed that children would learn best by exploring different materials, he did this by designing wooden blocks and many other kinds of materials which also seen in early years settings today. Imaginative play relates to this theory because Froebel believed that pretend play helped children to learn using their imagination, imaginative play can do this by helping to develop children's socialisation and role play skills. If the adult in the childcare setting was unaware of this theory than the way that children would learn within the setting would be very different. The children would not have the same challenges or experiences that they do in their education today. For example activities such as a home corner in a reception on nursery classroom would not be available this would affect the child's education greatly because they would not have the opportunity to develop their ideas, creativity, feelings, ideas and communication skills as they do now. Without Froebel’s theory of play children may not have such an early understanding of the world around them such as the use of materials, movement activities and educational games which can also be used within the family. Froebel also believes that learning through activities would help develop children's social learning with their Piers and stimulates their physical, intellectual, emotional and cognitive development. Therefore this theory improves children's education in many ways such as their ability to learn through role play activities which help to develop their understanding of others behaviour as well as giving them the opportunity of imitation which also helps children's understanding of the world around them. In my own opinion the theory helps adults in the long-term by helping early years staff to have a better understanding of growth and development and the rate of this. I also believe that in learning about this theory adults have a better understanding of children’s abilities. which in my opinion further helps early year’s staff to have realistic expectations of children in order to help support and develop the children’s skills and also allows adults to have a better understanding of children's behaviour and the ways in which they develop.

Children play throughout their daily routines because it gives them pleasure when carrying out activities. Children who do not find activities fun will get bored easily and stop the activity and move on to something else. Play is an essential part of any childcare setting because it helps develop skills and helps children to learn how to socialize with others.

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Children go through stages of play which is an essential in their learning. When children play together this is called co-operative play, when children play together many different types of games and activities become possible. Through playing together children have the opportunity to learn how others behave by watching others body language and by listening to the way others talk. Children often use imitation when playing together for example during role play. Role play activities benefit children through socialization and imitation which enables children to repeat what they have heard earlier on in the week when visiting a restaurant, shop or hairdressers. When children imitate it shows they have listened to a conversation and often children will copy others in their friendship group who have learnt new words and phrases.

Through play children learn whether or not they mix with the children they are playing with, which gives them a feel for their own personality and traits. Sometimes children prefer to play alone this stage of play is called solitary play, this normally occurs at a very young age but is repeated as they get older when at playing alone for example in their bedroom.

Children also benefit from playing alone by learning how to make activities amusing for themselves. This type of play is very important because if children have too much attention from others whilst attempting to play alone the child will then demand attention every time they are playing which takes away the skill of self-amusement. Adults must take a step back and allow the child to learn this useful skill for further practice in the future.

Play enables children to explore their surroundings, others and themselves, it does this by enabling children the opportunity to give themselves risks and challenges when exploring, inventing and discovering new surroundings and objects that they find interesting. Play also enables children to develop their creative skill by allowing children to use their imagination and creating new pictures or objects. This can be done anywhere and an example of this can be using play-do and painting.

Children have the opportunity to develop their concentration skills as well as their ability to co-operate with others. Co-operating with others is also a useful skill as it enables children to share their possessions, learn how others behave, express their own individual ideas and develop their speech. Other than the skills play helps to develop observations have shown that children who become absorbed in play are more likely to be a happy child because it makes children feel like they have achieved something through using play which therefore allows children to have fun without becoming bored and reduces stress levels through using role play for example playing doctors will reduce children’s stress level before having to stay in hospital or visiting their GP for an injection. Play can also prevent aggressive instincts in children. We are all born with these instincts of aggression but play helps children to understand the importance of helping and being kind to others rather than hurting others and damaging property.

As well as indoor play, outdoor play also benefits children through promoting a sense of well-being and developing a healthy appetite through physical play. Physical play outside helps to improve children’s, circulation, muscle tone and develops gross motor and fine manipulative skill for example doing up buttons on a coat before going outside.

Outdoor play also helps children to release emotions and excess energy, as well as promoting good co-ordination and balancing skills for example throwing a ball.

However when children take part in outdoor or indoor play it is important that the adult makes sure the area is safe by doing a risk assessment of the area. This is important in order to keep children and adults safe with the vicinity, safety in the sun and to promote a hygienic environment. In a childcare setting it is also important that parents feel reassured that their child is safe as well as meeting inspectors expectations and requirement’s.

The Importance of Play for Childrens Development.

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