Advocating Play💡

Play-Based Learning

For Parents

Words that help kids play nicely with other kids

If you are a parent/guardian or any special person in a Preschool, Toddler, or Young Child’s life, Welcome! If you have ever pondered why Play is incorporated into your child’s daily classroom structure and its significance to Early Childhood Education and Developmental Learning, here you will discover its purpose.

What is Play for Educational, Learning, and Developmental Purposes?

Play entails the child’s cognitive and social processes of creating their own work independently or collaboratively through imagination or connected knowledge. Play is expressive, active, engaging and motivating through manipulation of physical objects, role-playing, and social-emotional communication that supports children’s development. Play is more than meets the eye, and holds a deeper value and purpose in the Early Childhood world of Learning and Building Relationships. Some of the benefits of Play include:

  • Building Confidence, Ownership, and Expression
  • Social-Emotional Growth and Development
  • Fine-Motor Growth and Skills
  • Connect and Refine Background Knowledge and Knowledge Acquired
  • Independent and Collaborative Skills
  • Social Cues and Communication Skills
  • Empathy and Caring for Others
  • Negotiation, Cooperation, Solutions for Resolving Conflict, and Rule Structure
  • Applying Self-Regulation Strategies and Tools
  • Language and Literacy Building
  • Cognitive Thought Processes and Growth
  • Problem Solving
  • Supporting Imagination
  • Discovering Interests and Exploring Curiosities
  • Real-World Connections

Social Origins of Children’s Development

Jean Piaget is one of many brilliant Early Childhood Development Theorists who valued children’s learning through their environment and the experiences/opportunities within these environments that foster cognitive and social growth. Piaget was driven by children’s curiosities and their responsive thought processes in discovery through play independently and socially. Piaget claims through his extensive research that “children construct their own knowledge by giving meaning to the people, places and things in their world” and that “children learn best when they are actually doing the work themselves and creating their own understanding” (Mooney, 2013). Play promotes children’s developmental growth, and through symbolic play, children make sense of the peers, objects and environment surrounding them.

Top 60 Jean Piaget Quotes (2021 Update) - Quotefancy

Play is more than simply sitting out a basket of toys for children to enjoy recreationally. Play is thoughtfully prepared by educators, parents, and influential peers by considering the open-ended opportunities that manipulative objects and props provide in supporting children’s curiosities and imaginations. In relation to this symbolically expressive piece to play, Piaget centralized the Origination, or beginning Stages, in Cognitive and Social Development through play, social experiences and interactive opportunities. Take a look and notice if your child applies to one or more of these categories:

The Impact of Play

Building Cognitive, Social and Language Skills

Lev Vygotsky was a sociocultural theorist who advocated for children’s development through social experiences and make-believe play. In regards to Cognitive Growth in children, Vygotsky emphasized the importance of representational play, or “the make-believe that blossoms during the preschool years and evolves into the games with rules that dominate middle childhood” (Berk, 1994) and its long-term impact on development. 

32 Thought-Provoking Quotes By Lev Vygotsky

Language and Social Skills are also prominently relevant in the midst of play and interaction as children engage in coordinating/reciprocating, correcting each other through discussion, and resolve differing opinions with the mindset of the common goal. From a deeper perspective, these empathetic interactions of recognizing and incorporating other children’s opinions and ideas support internalized language and rules for behaviors. These are some of many social and language skills that are impacted through play.

The Importance of Imagination in Learning

Imagination entails the abstract space, or world of endless possibilities, where children apply their concrete knowledge and interests with their own curiosities and experiencing the ‘impossible’. Through representational play, Vygotsky claims “the child always behaves beyond his average age, above his daily behavior; in play it is as though he were a head taller than himself” (Berk, 1994). Independent efforts, flexible thinking, and the ability to reason with distinguishing concrete realities and the ‘impossible’ are some of the many practices and skills that children acquire through imaginative and representational play that supports cognitive thinking processes/development. Imagination and symbolic play also supports expression of children’s uniquely creative ideas and perceptions of their world. 

Play and Self-Regulation

As we discussed earlier, Play provides many opportunities for constructing and practicing self-regulation strategies and expressive communication with peers. Cooperative dialogue, rules, and role-playing alongside shared responsibilities fosters self-regulation and resolving conflict and differences to achieve a common goal/regulated state of peers. Children internalize these collaborative efforts with peers through becoming “oriented toward clarifying thoughts and regulating, or gaining voluntary control over, behavior” (Berk & Winsler, 1995) in the ability to continue to actively participate in imaginative and representational play. This process entails active internal consciousness and evolves into building self-regulation skills in children. Play provides active interactions and experiences that challenge children’s self-regulation independently as well as recognizing and respecting others contributions. 

Play and the Value as an Educator

I am a Preschool Teacher who actively advocates for Play and its purpose in the Early Childhood Education classrooms. Play historically can seem intimidating in regards to recreation and ‘lack of learning present’. The difference through present and current research is the preparation and thought behind providing young children with these interactions and experiences. When the perception of Play is shifted in visualizing its purpose for development, we discover the many supportive and exposing opportunities it provides for children to independently express themselves as well as collaborating with others. Looking forward long term, these skills progress into adulthood, and are the skills we want our children to acquire in taking ownership in their unique qualities as individuals. As Vygotsky would say, “construction is superior to instruction” (Mooney, 2013), and by this we can recognize that instruction from adults is not always the solution to learning. Motivation by curiosities and the unknown/impossible is explored through Play and its cognitive and social/emotional skills being built and strengthened in the process. Recognizing and gaining knowledge of the importance of Play in Early Childhood learning and development allows for a strong foundation for children’s cognitive growth and social relationships.

Questions to Consider

  • Had you considered these various perspectives of Play before in supporting Children’s Growth and Development?
  • Do you recognize these skills/qualities in your child’s play, communication and interactions?
  • Compare your assumptions of Play prior to reading this blog and how you feel now
  • Does your child’s teacher/educator advocate for Play?

Comment Below!

References

  1. Mooney, C. G. (2013). Chapter 4: Jean Piaget. In Theories of Childhood: An Introduction to Dewey, Montessori, Erikson, Piaget, and Vygotsky (Second, pp. 77–98). essay, Redleaf Press.
  2. Berk, L. E. (1994). Vygotsky’s theory: The Importance of Make-Believe play (Vol. 50). National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) . Retrieved December 12, 2021, from https://www.jstor.org/stable/42728322.
  3. Berk, L. E., & Winsler, A. (1995). Chapter 2: Vygotsky’s Approach to Development: The Social Origins of Individual Mental Functioning . In Scaffolding children’s learning: Vygotsky and early childhood education (pp. 24–24). essay, National Association for the Education of Young Children.