Believe it or not, we are already into chapter 9 - and there are only 10 chapters in this book! Jackie has written the first of three entries on this latest chapter. Be sure to savor your enjoyment of reading her entry, as we'll be done soon. Happy reading!
Some of the most precious and cherished moments for many individuals in society begin during our childhood play years. Childhood memories are events that involve some kind of “play” that involves interacting with a favorite toy, other children in the community or simply playing alone. The different types of play positively impact our lives and become part of our human development. Whether we realize it or not, “free play” is very important for children throughout their childhood. Childhood play brings happiness and a great learning experience for children across our society.
As I read Chapter 9 “The Crucible of Learning,” I realized how important play is in a child’s development. My earliest childhood memory was playing with my neighborhood friends, cousins and siblings at a nearby park. Our parents allowed us to go off to play at the park as long as we were back before dark. My friends and I used to play many different games; we played on the playground and in the sand box, pretending we were in different parts of the world. During “free play” we were able to use our imaginations and explore our surroundings. I had the freedom and time to do a lot of free play, unlike Alyson, a 4 year old little girl mentioned in Chapter 9, who didn’t have much free play in her busy schedule. Alyson’s parents bombarded her with many “enrichment’ activities. Alyson’s mom makes dad and Alyson follow the schedule on the calendar that is posted on the refrigerator, making sure Alyson never misses an activity or event. The dad, on the other hand, is much more lenient, and he finds time to relax and catch up on his work while Alyson plays on her own. Allowing Alyson to play on her own promotes her creativity through her play with toys and using her creative imagination. Mom calls Alyson’s free play a waste of time. Little does she know that Alyson is actually using this free time to play, release stress, and take a break from her hectic schedule. In analyzing this scenario, it seems like Alyson has too many responsibilities and not enough free time for a 4 year old.
There are many parents such as Marianne who believe that if children are exposed to different enrichment activities such as sports, music lessons and dance lessons, they will benefit by having an advantage in academics, sports and entertainment careers as they grow older. However, busy schedules can block the child’s learning process. Many parents are oblivious to the benefits of free play, such as promoting creativity and problem solving. Parents think that playing is a waste of time and that children do not benefit from free play. There have been many studies that confirm that child’s play teaches different skills and it expands one’s imagination. “Play promotes problem solving, creativity. It also helps to build better attention spans and encourages social development as well as pretend play and self control” (p. 206). One of the benefits of child’s play is “pretend play” which leads to symbolic play; children learn how to use one object to represent another. Children often use different toys and pretend they are something else; for example, they might use a sand shovel as a telephone. Oftentimes, children use sand, sticks and rocks to represent various forms of food and cooking utensils. Symbolic play helps children use their imagination and think abstractly. Symbolic play helps children think outside the box and how to problem solve. Playing with objects and being exposed to concrete experiences promotes mathematical thinking.
As a Child Development major and a student assistant at the preschool, I agree with the author on how important play is for children. Children need the freedom to choose when they want to play and what they want to play with. For example, I love the philosophy and mission at our preschool here at Fresno State. We believe in promoting the safety of the children and child’s play with the child’s best interests at heart. Not only do we give them the freedom to engage in free play, but we also encourage other educational activities as well. At the preschool, we allow the children to make their own choices when it comes to free play and various activities. We also have group time where we read to the children and sing songs. After group time, we inform the children of different options they have and dismiss them to go play. For instance, we show them the designated play areas around the room that are open, such as the manipulative area, block area, dramatic area and the art area. The children are free to go to any station and use their imagination and creativity. When the teachers are engaged with the children during play activities, the children become really excited and find new ways to communicate with us. The children love to talk, engage in conversations and tell stories while they play. When children interact with their peers and teachers through play, they are exposed to language and self control. They pick up language faster and at the same time learn how to take on different roles and express their feelings. Child play has to come from the desire and interest of the children. We cannot force them to play and expect them to enjoy it. Many parents force their children to play sports which can create pressure, resulting in a loss of interest in any particular sport. The sport becomes a chore instead of a fun pastime.
As parents and teachers, we must provide choices and let our children choose what they want to do. In doing so, this will provide both a fun time and a great learning experience. As adults we have the choice to “facilitate” play time or engage in their playing. Parents should be able to balance both free play and enrichment activities. Both the parents and children can benefit from free play and enrichment activities. Like the author stated, play equals learning. Children are little explorers in their environment; through exploring and playing the process of learning occurs. Play gives children the advantage to process thinking and act on it.
I love your description of what happens at Campus Children's Center, as well as your wonderful understanding of how important play is in the lives of children. Parents are inundated with so much information about all of the abstract things children "should" be learning, and the parents, though well-intentioned, have rarely been taught that their child needs a solid grounding in concrete aspects of the world before they can easily move onto the abstract. And they get this through PLAY. Open-ended, free play. I hope that you're sharing what you know about this in your interactions with parents at you site, as it's invaluable!!!
ReplyDeleteJackie, I completely agree with what you have to say. Play is very important in the lives of children. I used to work at a daycare center where free play was PROHIBITED. We had to have the children in structured activities at the table or sitting quietly reading a book. If our director saw our children engaging in free play, she would pop in and tell us to have the children sit at the tables. It didn’t matter if the children were 2 or 12 years old. It really bothered me that the daycare did this because at the time, I was learning how important free play is. For this reason, I went against the director’s wishes and allowed free play; I would constantly look out the window on the door to see if she was nearby. If she was, I would act like I was getting the children ready to read a story to them. It’s sad that I had to resort to that, but I would rather enrich the children’s creativity and learning than listen to my boss. Something else I did with the children was creating scenarios of symbolic play. This was a bit difficult, since we were instructed to watch the children, not play with them. Although, we were not allowed to directly play with the children, I did it anyway because I knew how important social interaction was as well. Concerning the symbolic play, I would pretend I was hungry, so the children would “cook” for me and make me different types of foods. We also played teacher, doctor, etc. So many different learning opportunities were created. Like the authors of the book say, playing is learning, NOT a waste of time.
ReplyDelete~Maggie Villatoro
This blog, concerning child play, sparked a considerable amount of interest and self-thought. I agree that children need to have time on their own to let their imaginations run; I just never realized how crucial it is to their development. I think there are many other dimensions that could be factored in a child's play. It would be interesting to see how siblings play together, and function in a child's development. One day I noticed my niece playing, and it fascinated me to see her imagination and the things she said while playing. It hit me that most of a child's play focuses on what they see in their environment around them. So if a child sees their mom cleaning and baking all day, I wonder if they are more gravitated to play with kitchen toys. I think that even if play facilitates a child's development, the biggest aspect is the environment in which a child is raised in.
ReplyDeleteJackie, I too agree with what you said in your blog. Most of my childhood memories are of my brothers and I playing in the yard or at the park. Now that I am older, I can think back on the many skills I have learned all through play. I grew up with two older brothers and one younger brother. Talking with my older brothers everyday increased my language skills and understanding of my world. Through our play together I discovered my own creativity, which has helped me today when working with younger children. I have always encouraged free play at my job, my boss does not always agree, but I stand by it. It does seem like most schools now days are more strict on schedules. I am glad that you shared about what the Fresno State children center is doing. Our imagination is a great gift and should be encouraged. It allows us to explore farther then what appears to be possible. So I say, "LET THERE BE PLAY!"
ReplyDelete-Kodi Shiflett
I agree with you that play is very important in a child’s life. I think that I’m lucky to have had a dad that played with me and my sisters. He also let us play freely as long as we didn’t hurt ourselves. My mom on the other hand, had to work and barely had any time to play with us. When I think back to my childhood memories, I see my dad and sisters most of the time. Now I work with toddlers and infants and I let them play with what they would like. Letting them choose what they are interested in will engage them and get them more involved.
ReplyDeleteHnou Moua
I agree with the author of the book and Jackie in “free play” being an important element in children’s development. During childhood, children spend most of the time exploring, creating, and discovering their surroundings as they acquire required skills for their developmental growth. When children have free play, such as inventing games and dramatizing social events, they enhance the development of their minds and at the same time, they learn social skills and moral rules needed for their future relationships. Unfortunately, for many children technology tends to be the focus in today’s play. Many children, especially boys, spend hours and hours playing violent video games; in my opinion, this affects their social skills. Furthermore, many parents try to avoid children making a mess or getting dirty. My aunt is one of these types of parents. I have notice that she tries to avoid my cousin getting dirty or even making a mess at home. In my opinion, making a mess is my cousin’s form of exploring and playing. However, by being too cautious in my cousin’s form of play, my aunt is not letting him explore the environment. As Jackie mentioned, as parents and teachers we should allow our children to choose their way of play; however, we should limit technology and provide more enrichment activities
ReplyDeleteBelinda Gutierrez Ornelas