WHAT IS PLAY?

This seemingly straightforward question is in fact acomplex and difficult area that has triggered muchwork and debate amongst theorists and researchers.

Difficulties in defining play

Since the late nineteenth century, play has beenrecognized as a meaningful rather than a trivialbehaviour. Over the years there have been numerousattempts to define what play is, but attempts havestruggled due to various degrees of duplication andcontradiction. This may be because play cannot benarrowed simply to a single set of behaviours,undertaken in specific conditions or situations (playneed not be confined to ‘play times’). It is true to saythat everyone reading this chapter will have their ownideas of what play includes and be able to recognizemany examples in action. However, vast amounts ofambiguity remain as to what may be considered playand what may not.

In an attempt to define play, we may in fact beadding unhelpful boundaries that serve to restrict theshaping and understanding of childhood activities.With that in mind, this section does not attempt todefine play, but instead will explore some of theseambiguities in order to identify key elements of whatplay is about.

CATEGORIZATION PLAY THEORIES

Categorizing play activities appears to be a usefulway to break down the topic area into clearlydelineated groups. One influential worker in this areawas Jean Piaget (1896–1980), a Swiss psychologistwho is best known for his stage theory of cognitive

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▼ OVERVIEW

The study of play is said to be crucial to theunderstanding of the developing child. This chapter willdiscuss and examine a range of themes that contributeto this important area of activity in human development.Influenced by Western European understanding, themeaning of play will first be explored and thendiscussed in terms of skills used and impact ofenvironmental influences on play, looking at how playoccurs and asking the question ‘Why play?’

In order to achieve this, some influential theorists willbe introduced that have specialized in this interestingarea. So that the fullest implications of play and itspotential within child development are recognized, thechapter considers relevant biological, psychological andsocial concepts. This holistic perspective is influenced bythe professional philosophy of the authors asoccupational therapists. A brief overview of theenduring nature of play beyond childhood will also beincluded.

Blunden (1991) states that there is no such thing as anormal child, but each is a different and uniqueindividual. This chapter will explore what play is, theskills needed and developed within play and theenvironmental influences that impact on the child.

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development in childhood. Piaget saw play as afunctional set of activities in which children couldassimilate skills. He worked to categorize andorganize play activities, naming each one. Somecritics see this theory as struggling to capture the realessence of play in an attempt to impose an academicframework onto a non-academic pursuit.

Playfulness theories

This group of theories is devised by outlining criteria of what may be considered as playful andnon-playful actions. This suggests that a level ofplayfulness can be derived simply by outlining thebehaviours used to engage in activities of all sorts. Itwould seem that examining some key characteristicsof playful behaviour, rather than the activities thatmay be seen as types of play, allows a betteropportunity to try and define the broadness of whatcan be called play. Criteria for playfulness can evenbe determined to decide if a particular activity couldbe considered play or not. This is useful in allowingfor the huge diversity of human activity that could beseen as play or playful in kind.

Developmental theories of play

A common view of play is that it forms a means tofurther development. Vygotsky regarded play as theleading source of development in the pre-schoolyears. He was able to link play with ideas of learningand motivation. Through play, children aremotivated to learn, so learning that occurs inmeaningful contexts becomes a spur to furthermotivation and, hence, to further learning. Within theeducational system this developmental view hasbeen embraced and utilized in the design of schoolcurricula. Play has been categorized into domains ofdevelopment.

Psychological theories of play: behaviourism

From a behaviourist viewpoint, human learning isregarded purely in terms of stimuli from theenvironment evoking learned behaviour. Play can beseen as a learned phenomenon that results frompositive interaction with the child’s surroundings. A positive sense of fun or excitement gained from

involvement in play can be seen as a form of operantconditioning. Enjoyment and excitement act aspositive reinforcers or rewards for engaging in playsituations, which means that the child will be likelyto respond to potential stimuli for enjoyable types ofplay with playful behaviours.

The play becomes the reward for itself, explainingwhy having the chance to be ‘just playing’ is in factenough to engage children into doing it, rather thanseeking opportunities for play in order to achieve afinite end result. On the other hand, low levels ofenjoyment discourage further pursuit as the positivereinforcer to continue is absent. In behavioural termsthe desire to continue with the behaviour or activitycan be said to have been extinguished: the child getsbored and the activity stops or changes to somethingmore rewarding. As well as being a self-reinforcingactivity, play can also be used as a reinforcer for otherbehaviours desired by adults, such as a reward forfinishing homework or tidying a bedroom. Play onlyworks as an effective reinforcer in this respectbecause it is something desired by the child.

Psychological theories of play:psychodynamic ideas

Psychodynamic theorists influenced by the ideas ofSigmund Freud (1856–1939) and his successors(notably his daughter Anna Freud [1895–1982]) haveproved influential in the study and explanation ofchildren’s behaviour in play. Influenced by ideas ofthe power of the unconscious and unresolvedinternal conflicts, theorists of this tradition examineand analyse how these themes are translated intoaction. For children the action is play. Psychodynamictheorists believe that children play out situations andthink through their meaning (Winnicott 1971). Play isan activity where the unconscious internal world ofthe child is put on show and the child can workthrough solutions to problems or difficulties thatdisturb the internal world. In therapy this approachis used as a tool to explore and resolve difficulties.

Psychological theories of play: humanism

The most influential thinker about play within thistradition of psychology was Virginia Axline(1947–1989) who viewed the child as an innate force

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for change engaged in perpetual self-development.Within a context of unconditional positive regard,Axline recognized that play is the natural mediumfor children to express themselves. She developedeight key principles of play therapy that are stillupheld as an influential practical guide for playtherapists. The use of these can be seen in thereadable account of play therapy with a young boy,‘Dibs’ (Axline 1964).

CHARACTERISTICS OF PLAY

Blunden (1991) noted that there is no right or wrongway to play. For the child the play process is moreimportant than the outcome achieved. Thisobservation also points to the importance of playfulbehaviour rather than the activity itself. It stands trueirrespective of whether a product emerges from theplay. Thus children could engage in a self–careactivity such as bathing in a playful way, holdingtheir breath under water or blowing bubbles andenjoying the experience. On the other hand theycould participate in a structured ‘play’ activity like aboard game without demonstrating any playfulnessbehaviours at all.

It is important to stress that playfulness has auseful purpose and play is a most meaningfulactivity for children (and many adults). For children,play can be seen as serious activity, not just adiversion from the rest of their life or something tofill idle time. The vital point to note from this is thatthe key purpose of play in childhood is to enhance achild’s development and this constitutes the seriousactivity. Part of the serious purpose of play occurs asthe child acquires the skills necessary to movesuccessfully in adulthood through the developmentgained from deriving fun, enjoyment and excitementfrom play activities.

Despite the serious purpose of play, Garvey (1977)delineates some key factors that are critical todefining what play is. Play is characterized by beingpositively valued by the player, giving pleasure and asense of enjoyment. Play is spontaneous, childrencannot be forced to play and in this sense it is anoptional not obligatory activity.

This sense of spontaneity and the ad hoc way inwhich people engage in and out of play can be at

odds to the declared ‘official’ purpose of a task. Thishas the potential to lead to confusion that cansometimes enhance the sense of fun for thoseengaged in the play, even if conflict is the result.Consider children winking and waving to membersof a wedding gathering during the peak of theceremony or flicking paper around a classroom whenthe teacher is writing on the blackboard. In thesekinds of situation a blurred understanding seems tooperate of what is acceptable and what is not. Theprotagonists consider the pleasure of engaging inplay to outweigh the risk of consequences. Adultswho participate in work-environment pranks alsoillustrate this point well. Often in these circumstancesplayers can appeal to a generalized understanding ofthe nature of play. The well used excuse ‘I was onlyplaying around’, infers that play should be condonedor forgiven even if a particular behaviour may beregarded as unacceptable in that situation. Theimplication is that the concept called ‘play’ formspart of an understandable and acceptable side ofhuman behaviour without harmful intent.

Acting to seek a sense of satisfaction fromparticipating in play activities can be viewed as anintrinsic motivator for playing. Even in the absence ofexternal extrinsic goals there still exists a stronginternal drive or need to play (Garvey 1977). The child,therefore, can be viewed as active in seekingengagement in further episodes of playfulness. This isdifferent, however, if children perpetually derive noenjoyment from activities than might be seen by somepeople as play, such as learning a musical instrumentor a sporting activity. What is important to note here, isthat any activity in itself needs to be consideredenjoyable by the individual for them to consider it asplay. The range and type of activities will vary fromindividual to individual. This is why parents or adultscan provide children with numerous toys only to findthem neglected and untouched. It is the adult who seesthe toy as affording potential fun not the child.Consider for example the caricature of a father buyinghis son a train set or electric car track only to play withit himself!

Excitement and stimulation also reinforce thedesire to engage in play activities even if the level ofexcitement experienced is mixed with other emotionssuch as fear. Children like to experiment and risk–take with fear-inducing play or leisure activities,

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especially when the risk is also acknowledged asbeing within some kind of safe limit. A child may,therefore, repeatedly use thrill-seeking fairgroundrides, combining experiences of excitement,enjoyment and fear. Scary movies are seen asenjoyable and games that make participants jump arejoined in with a sense of endless fun. Some childrenseem to be more likely to engage in such thrill-seeking play, especially those with more extrovertedcharacteristics. As children pass into adolescence,thrill-seeking play may also be linked with a wish todemonstrate braveness and spirit to other people.

The child’s level of playfulness is dependent uponthe balance of three elements:

1. The amount of control a child perceives to haveover what and with whom they play.

2. The intrinsic drive and motivation to participate.3. The freedom to suspend reality.

Bundy (1996) believes that a child’s level of playfulnessis dependent on all of these behaviours, seeing each ona continuum. Their position on this scale may alterplayfulness. Alterations may occur if the child perceivesthe play opportunity as being controlled by an adult orif the only reason to participate is to gain an externalaward, for example stars or sweets.

In conclusion, despite the ambiguities that exist,play has key characteristics. These are playfulness,fun, excitement, enjoyment and stimulation.Participation in play can be at odds sometimes withthe overt purpose of an activity. Engagement in playhas the important consequence of enhancing a child’sdevelopment.

SKILLS USED IN PLAY (WHY PLAY?)

Although difficulties can be encountered in definingwhat the characteristics of play actually are, a usefulway of advancing our understanding it is to examinekey component skills that are developed through thischildhood activity. This provides an insight into whychildren play from a developmental perspective. Playprovides opportunities for children to practise anddevelop a wide range of skills that will ultimatelyprepare them for adult life. This process means that

play is now commonly used as a core treatmentmodality for children with a wide range of problems.

This section considers groups of key componentskills and, although these have been consideredunder distinct headings, this has been done for thebenefit of the reader. Human learning anddevelopment is so very complex that no single area ofstudy can account for all the processes involved. Inreality, individual skill components do not developalone and a child instinctively utilizes an appropriatemixture of skills when engaging in any activity. It isfair to say that the stage of development will governa child’s level of competence at any particularactivity. It is, therefore, important when working withchildren to consider how the developmental level canaffect play or be improved by offering appropriateplay opportunities.

Component skills developed through play

Sensorimotor

There is a rapid acquisition of motor skills in the firstfew years of life after which development of newskills slows down and a period of refining appears togo on until adulthood. During the first years of theirlife the infant gains voluntary control of movementsby firstly integrating some of the primitive reflexespresent since before birth. For example, prior to theintegration of the asymmetric tonic reflex, during the first few months of life, when a baby turns thehead to the side the arm on the same side straightensor extends while the other arm bends or flexes. This makes it difficult for the infant to explore a toy fixed on the side of the cot with both hands, as arm movements are controlled by the position of the head.

The voluntary control of the movements of thelimbs is gained as the central nervous systemmatures. Control develops in a cephalocaudaldirection (meaning motor skills develop in a head totoe direction) and from proximal to distal (nearest tothe body to furthest away). This is reflected in theplay activities a child engages in. The baby that hasnot yet gained head control will need their head andtrunk supported if they are going to attempt to reachfor the mobile hanging above them. This pattern ofdevelopment means that head control and trunk

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control needs to be gained before the child can walkor use hands purposefully.

Control of the joints nearest the body (proximal),needs to be gained before control can be achieved ofthe joints furthest away (distal). At about 18 monthsthe child has sufficient shoulder stability to begin togain control of the elbow, wrist and joints of thehand. A child of this age will have sufficient controlto be able to hold a large crayon in a gross grasp, inthe palm of the hand, and can make large armmovements to form random/scribble marks onpaper. The child’s older sister of 4 years, however,has continued to gain increasing control of her upperlimb joints. She now has more control over themovements she makes with her pencil. She nowholds her pencil between her thumb, index andmiddle finger and carefully selects movements thatwill allow her to draw straight lines and stop andchange the direction of the pencil, so giving hersufficient control to draw shapes or form letters towrite her name. She enjoys the praise she receives forcolouring between the lines and she has begun toseek more complex tasks that utilize tools, forexample cutting with scissors.

The control and quality of a child’s movement isdependent on the interpretation and integration ofthe sensory information received from theenvironment. In early childhood the child makessense of their world directly from sensations. Thechild of 7 years and below can be described as asensory processing machine that does not have manythoughts and ideas about things, but is mainlyconcerned with sensing them and moving its body inresponse to the sensation. The child responds to asensory experience by performing a purposefulgoal–directed movement, known as an adaptiveresponse. The formation of an adaptive responseallows the brain to develop and organize itself. Thetoddler who first sits on a rocking horse is ofteninitially nervous about being rocked backwards andforwards on the toy. However, the game quicklybecomes enjoyable and repetition of the action issought again and again until they can initiate themovement themselves. The child has gainedsufficient adaptation to the sensory input receivedwhile on the toy and has mastered the necessarymotor skills not only to cope with the movement, butbegin to gain control of it.

Children have an innate desire to make sense oftheir world, and play ensures that sensorimotorprocessing opportunities are in abundance. Throughplay the foundations are laid so that more complextasks, which demand a higher level of sensoryprocessing, such as writing and driving a car, can beachieved in later life.

As children begin to move about in theirenvironment they begin to build up an idea of howtheir body is spatially related to objects in theenvironment. The development of motor skills isaccompanied by the development of the perceptionof space. The small child who crawls or cruisesaround the room begins to develop a sense of whereits body finishes and objects in the environment start.Toddlers quickly learn to negotiate doorways andgaps between furniture and pleasure is gained fromplay activities that involve positioning their body in,under or through objects in the room (Fig. 9.1).

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Figure 9.1 Exploring the environment

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The ability to make accurate spatial judgementsand relate ourselves to that space is dependent uponthe integration of sensory information. Tactile, visual,auditory, proprioceptive and vestibular informationneed to be integrated to give the child an accurateperception of position and orientation within theirenvironment. In the early years these skills arereflected in the play choices children make.Commercially purchased play tunnels and tents offeropportunities to develop and refine spatialjudgements; however, just as much fun can be hadwith a large cardboard box that can be climbed in andout of or a den made from a blanket draped over twochairs. During the later years of childhood the abilityto make more accurate spatial judgements is reflectedin neatly sized and spaced handwriting, play choicesthat include complex construction and modelbuilding and the ability to play sports with friends inconfined places, for example indoor football.

Cognitive

Piaget (1951) considered play to be the way childrenpractise cognitive skills. He attempted to discuss thedevelopment of play through the classification ofgames. He described three types of games linkingthem to key stages in cognitive development. Thefirst stage, ‘practice play’, occurs during the first 2 years of infancy but also throughout life when newskills are acquired and practised. It does not involvefollowing shared rules or demand any form of make-believe. Bouncing on a bed or playing in awater trough is engaged in purely for the sensorimotor experience and the child repeats thegame just for the pleasure of practising it. Fromapproximately 12 months onwards children haveidentified and remembered how objects are used.They will pick up everyday objects and imitate theiruse, for example pick up a spoon and take it to theirmouth. The play may also include someone else, forexample feeding mummy or the doll with the emptyspoon. By 24 months of age the child uses unrealisticor invisible objects in their play, for example dolly isnow fed with a stick that is meant to represent thespoon. This form of pretend play is described byPiaget as ‘symbolic play’. If you visit any nursery orinfant school you will observe complex pretend playscenarios, often involving a number of children.

Their play is not dependant on props and they will quickly utilize all manner of things to act out thepretend scene.

According to Piaget, between the age of 7 and 11 years both practice and symbolic play in the main are replaced by ‘games with rules’. These games have socially constructed rules and are played by more than one person; they are considered to be important in the development ofsocialization. These rules can be previouslydetermined such as those that are followed tocomplete board games or play team sports such asfootball or the rules can be devised by a group ofchildren involved in the development of their own game. Skills such as turn taking, sequencing and the ability to negotiate are certainly practisedduring this stage of play. Piaget felt that it was thismode of play that we continue to be involved inthroughout our lives. Certainly most adults’ leisuretime is spent involved in some form of gaming,whether it be in organized sports or playing the latest game on the computer.

Gardner (1983) agreed with Piaget that during latechildhood there was a desire to conform and complywith convention, but feels that symbolic play is justsubmerged and is not replaced by rule-based play.Gardner believes that this stage is essential for thedevelopment of creativity as children begin to take on and master the rules and techniques of an artform. This is typified by the child spending timetrying to replicate drawings or models rather thandesigning their own. Prior to this age, the youngerchild utilizes their newly gained knowledge of theirenvironment and communicates this through theimaginative unique use of play resources. Paintingsare colourful and singing and dancing areenthusiastically embraced. This creativity, althoughsubmerged during primary school years, is believedto reappear during adolescence and carry on intoadulthood. A number of other theorists believe thatthe continued involvement of the individual in some form of symbolic play, whether that is through an artistic medium or by fantasizing, helpsto ensure a flexible, creative and innovative approach to problem solving throughout the life-span.

What Piaget and his counterparts agreed upon,however, was that the learning process is dependent

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upon the active participation in playful activity.Children should be afforded the opportunity to learnthrough discovery.

Social development and communication

Play has long been highlighted as providing anexperiential springboard for social development.Through the medium of play children haveopportunities to develop and practise theirinteractive skills. These interactive skills will ensurethat the child can successfully participate with othersin their environment. Essentially play is social inorigin, is mediated by language and is learned withother people.

It has been suggested that play offers the childopportunity to rehearse and integrate a wide range ofskills necessary for communicating with others.Communicating is a complex task that requires the people involved to be able to delineate both theverbal and non-verbal components as well as theinterface between them. In order to master this task

children have to learn that communication is aboutusing and understanding words said to them, howthey are said and also about the non-verbal cues that may or may not accompany the spoken word(see also Chapter 8).

In play younger children may struggle tounderstand the language complexities presented byolder children or adults, especially if they have usedsubtleties such as irony, sarcasm or specific bodylanguage. The child who fails to understand the jokeor to follow the complex verbal and non-verbalinstructions of a game may demonstrate theirfrustration by becoming indifferent, aggressive orwithdrawn. As with any other developing skill, thechild requires a safe environment to practise withinand they will tend to select opportunities when theirown communication levels are matched oraccommodated. Observation of nursery-agedchildren playing in the home corner will show that awide range of communication is taking place. Theconversation often mimics the language they haveheard spoken at home and is accompanied by

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A B

Figure 9.2 Taking turns

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gestures that are used by the significant adults intheir life, for example finger wagging to accompanywords of warning. Also more subtle skills such asturn taking and listening that are also essential forsuccessful communication, are practised betweenchildren or even on toys such as dolls and teddybears (Fig. 9.2).

The children playing in the home corner will alsomake decisions about what is and is not acceptablebehaviour in this setting. This experience allowsthem to develop and test out ideas and begin tointernalize rules or codes of interactive behaviour.They are forced to acknowledge their playmate’spoint of view and to consider their own perspective.This broadens their concepts of the real world as wellas enriching their social skills. Play experience canthus be seen to be important in the development ofcooperative behaviour, performance in teamproblem-solving tasks and leads to more sensitiverole taking in social groups. Children who havedifficulties accommodating their play within thesocial demands of other children, perhaps becausethey find it difficult to understand these subtle socialrules or norms (often seen in Asperger’s syndrome)are more likely to become isolated from their peers orto withdraw from opportunities where social skillscan be practised, and may continue to experiencesocial interaction difficulties into later life.

At a young age the primary mode ofcommunication between parents and their children isplay. The mother, who bounces her baby on her kneewhile singing a nursery rhyme, will note that she hasengaged the baby in two-way communication. Thebaby will provide the mother with eye contact andlisten to the song being sung, intermittentlyvocalizing in response. The mother monitors thebaby’s reaction and continues to respond to thechild’s interactions in a meaningful way by smilingand continuing the song. The need to accommodateand respond appropriately to children’scommunications becomes increasingly harder as theybecome older and a unique opportunity for adults tounderstand how the child views and interprets theworld around them can be lost. The older child whoconstantly asks ‘why?’ and receives anunderstandable answer will continue to be interestedand inquisitive and make continued efforts tocommunicate. The child who is consistently told to be

quiet will eventually cease in their efforts to makeconversation.

Social development theory considers the child’sincreasing ability to interact within a variety ofdemanding social environments. Throughout theirchildhood, children form and develop a number ofdifferent friendships. The nature of these friendshipshas been noted to change as the child develops.Young children have transient playmates anywherethey find themselves at play, while older childrenform lasting bonds based on trust and recognition ofneed. During play children can observe, assimilateand try out their emerging social skills and link withothers, thus play affords a medium for forming andsharing relationships.

Children sometimes include imaginary characterssuch as an animal or person in their play. This is oftena transient occurrence, although some may become amore established phenomenon in the form of animaginary friend. It is well known that some youngchildren develop the persona of their imaginaryfriend, including and consulting the opinion of the‘friend’ in many activities involving family membersor peers. This is thought to provide companionshipfor some children, especially those with no similarlyaged siblings. Friendship plays a vital role indeveloping a child’s social skills and sense of self.Another interpretation of such imaginarycompanions is that they allow the child a creativeoutlet. A ‘friend’ can even provide an opportunity forthe child to disassociate from aspects of the self asnaughty or disapproved of behaviour may be blamedon the imaginary friend. The ‘friend’ offers a safecontext to play with socialization issues or lay blame.Children do tend to loose their imaginary friends asthey develop and form a wider range of meaningfulrelationship with peers, for example. when they startattending school. For most children pretend play isparticularly important for development up to andaround 6 years of age.

It is important to note that children can be highlyadaptable in the roles they chose to use anddemonstrate in play. They may for instance chose touse only the skill levels of a younger child withinplay activities. This might be seen when an olderchild plays alongside a younger sibling, adopting thebehavioural and even the speech patterns of theyounger child. This ability to choose to regress to that

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expected behaviour of someone younger is widelyrecognized in play therapy.

Self-development

Children need to develop a positive view ofthemselves to enable them to make successful socialrelationships and manage the social environmentaround them. Play allows a child to develop anawareness of self-identity. Through the praisederived from being engaged in play given by otherchildren and significant adults, children begin tobuild a picture of how others perceive them. Theirsuccess and failure to access and gain pleasure fromthe play activity itself will also impact upon theirconfidence and feelings of self-worth.

Developments during the first decade of life,particularly in the areas of cognition and language,allow children to begin to understand, evaluate andexpress how they feel about themselves. Throughplay children can develop and practise the skillsneeded to shape an emerging sense of the self. Itallows them to interact with a range of objects,experience an array of locations and come in contactwith a variety of people. A young child at play maytell you that his teacher has said he is good atcolouring and he may also claim to be good at anarray of other tasks, often not associated with the initial activity, for example running or football.He has taken on board the positive feedback given by his teacher and has generalized it to otheractivities as he is still too young to makedifferentiated judgements of ability. This globaljudgment of the self is reflected in the approach mostchildren take to trying out new play equipment ortaking part in play activities, for example ‘I can runand kick a ball so I can play football with the olderboys on the play ground’. Positive feedback helps thechildren build up a picture of how others view them;however, negative feedback will also have an impactand this may result in the child not trying newactivities.

A significant developmental transition occurringapproximately between the ages of 7 and 11 years,labelled by Piaget as the concrete operational period,coincides with the child’s increased ability to makedifferentiated judgements about their own

competence in an everyday activity. The emergenceof logical thinking, that enables the child to classifyand logically organize the concrete experiences intheir life, potentially allows the child to begin todefine what their attributes are, for example. ‘I have a lot of friends who want to play with me in theplayground because I am good at football’.

It is also at this stage that the child becomesconscious of being judged by others: ‘self-consciousness’. As a consequence of this processa new skill emerges, the ability for self-evaluation. As children become more able and accurate atcomparing selves with peers, they begin to recognizethat they are good at some skills, but not others, andplay choices reflect these evaluations of abilities anddifficulties. Play activities chosen will often utilizeskills that a child feels capable of carrying outsuccessfully. Children who do not considerthemselves to be artistic and/or musical will avoidsuch play activities. They are less likely to enjoy those activities perceived as offering potential forfailure. In this way play allows children to come to a realization of who they are by giving themopportunities to experience emotion and considertheir position in the world.

By the onset of adolescence the individual is able tothink abstractly about his or her attributes,behaviours, emotions and motives. Being prepared topursue activities that require practice, they can bemore persistent in attempts to master skills as initialfailure is recognized as transient and part of thelearning process.

Role development

Play can be viewed as a medium in which childrenand young people imitate and experiment withpotential roles for adult life. Some of this can be seenas a selection process in which a range of roles can betried out within the safety of the play environmentand some of these will inevitably become a rehearsalfor adulthood.

This area of development is important to discuss asa discrete entity. It has been placed at the end of thissection, however, because it also demonstrates howthe component skills explored above can beintegrated effectively to facilitate the emergence ofmore complex skill areas.

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life-cycle. Play may reflect behaviours seen in theworld around the young person, and can includeexperimentation with activities perceived as morerisky as boundaries are explored and theconsequences evaluated by the individual. The innate need to develop autonomy and an adultidentity may lead to idolization of older peers orcelebrities and their behaviour (a phenomenon wellrecognized by the advertising industry). Activities that can be seen to demonstrate achievement may be valued, with competitiveoccupations becoming important as a process tomaintain levels of self esteem. This may be throughleisure activities approved of by adults such ascompetitive sports activities or engaging in established award-based organizations like Scouts or Guides. Conversely such activities may evoke adultconcern including sexual behaviours, experimentingwith substances, gang involvement, graffiti art andother activities that might be considered risky,antisocial or delinquent.

Despite the drive to develop an adult self identity,activity can often lapse from role playing ‘adult’-typebehaviours to playfulness. Sometimes this can beconsidered excessive, for example washing the carbecomes a lengthy water fight. The range of playactivities and behaviours are particularly influenced during adolescence by the strength offriendship bonds to peers. Young people value highly the company and bonds with their friends;however, it can lead to conflict or anxiety within their families who may find their own plans or values being considered less desirable than those of the peer group! This can be seen with adolescents who want to stay at home with theirfriends rather than travel on the annual familyholiday.

In conclusion, most play activities incorporate awealth of different skills, hence the use of play as an assessment medium by health and educationprofessionals. Children do not discriminate between these domains, integrating their actions to the demands of the situation. Many children will, however, adapt their environment to ensure that the play activity will be a positive experience for them, for example a child who struggles to concentrate in a busy home by retreating behindthe sofa to read a book.

Children often mirror what they see in the worldaround them within their play. For young childrenthis may be explicitly encouraged, such as the homecorner of most nursery or school reception classes.Here children are encouraged to play adoptingvarious adult and children’s roles within a familiardomestic setting. Observation of young children canshow both imitative play, reflecting say a familymealtime or ‘adults’ dealing with a ‘naughty child’.Sometimes the boundaries of normality may bealtered or push into fantasy. A child with youngersiblings may become the baby in playing at families;young children may take cross-gender roles orexperiment with exaggerated patterns of behavioursuch as being the naughtiest child, a child with magicpowers, a parent who is secretly magic or Superman!This tendency to imitate and reflect the world athome may be used in play therapy to show and workthrough difficult experiences with the child.

The lasting impact of such imitative play on achild’s psychological development has been widelydebated. Imitation, particularly of violent behaviourseen on television and other visual media like consulgames have been cited as a cause for concern. Somelinks have been made between crime and deviance inthe young and exposure to violent role models fromtelevision and film. Evidence such as Bandura’sclassic experiments (1986), where children were seen to imitate adult violence towards a large doll,have been used to support this argument. There isnot a simple relationship, however, between levels of exposure to violent role models, the amount ofimitative play seen in childhood and engaging inviolence in adult life. It is true to say that manychildren will be exposed to violent televisionprogrammes and imitate or reflect some of this intheir play, but not go onto adult violence or crime; for others, however, this may be different.

For older children and adolescents, role imitationand rehearsal can reflect the stage of developmentmarked by the need to establish an autonomous more adult self. This need was highlighted byErikson (1968), who described adolescents as feeling a need to attain autonomy versus experiences of guilt. This idea of conflictingpsychological experiences can be reflected in thewide range of play or experimental leisure activitiesthat young people engage in during this stage of the

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ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES ON PLAY(HOW AND WHERE PLAY CAN OCCUR)

The ability to gain pleasure from play opportunitiesis dependant upon the interplay of the individual’sgrowth and development and the physical and socialenvironment that they find themselves in. Throughplay the child is able to act upon and learn to controlaspects of their environment. It is also possible,however, for the environment to impact upon thechild’s play experiences.

Physical environment

Children do not need an elaborate playroom full ofcommercially produced toys to become engaged inplayful activity. Most children offered time, spaceand objects to explore will turn any everyday activityinto an opportunity to be playful, for example bathtime becomes fun if the child is offered a range ofempty containers and time to play. The innate desireto explore their surrounding environment ensuresthat the most unusual objects become toys. The childwho sits happily in the garden making pretend cakesand pies out of mud is gaining a wealth of sensoryexperiences that will contribute to the refinement ofskills and future learning, but is also having fun. A lack of sensory stimulation affording playopportunities and access to objects that could be usedas toys is believed to be responsible for much of theretardation found in institutionalized and deprivedchildren like those found in Eastern Europeanorphanages after the removal of the Iron Curtain.

To classify what makes an object a toy is difficult. Itappears that any object that can be explored andoffers the child a sense of excitement and pleasurecan be considered a toy. Commercially purchasedtoys on the whole come with guidelines, for examplea board game comes with rules. However, even witha set of guidelines for use the playful child willchange the rules and design their own game. This ismost obvious when everyday objects become toys.No regard is paid to the original use of the object andsaucepans are explored for their musical properties,cardboard boxes quickly become cars, dens,spaceships or boats. Children appear to be able toseparate thoughts of sole purpose from an object, so a

box can become a car. They develop actions fromideas rather than from things, so can accurately roleplay being a policeman without the necessaryuniform or equipment and without ever having hadcontact with one.

The novelty or newness of an object can be the lurefor the younger child to play with it. Almost all newobjects that lend themselves to investigation willoffer a challenge to the child. This in turn maintainstheir motivation to utilize it in a playful way. If theobject offers the right challenge for the child’sdevelopmental level it will be utilized, but if the toyfails to offer the child sufficient challenge or isbeyond their developmental level, it will beabandoned for something more suitable. A Jack-in-the-box offers an appropriate level ofnovelty and complexity to keep a toddler occupiedfor some time; however, this toy is quickly discardedby an older child once they have completed thenecessary procedure once. This is because it nolonger offers the right level of challenge.

The opportunity to play is not just dependent uponthe provision of suitable objects, but also upon thechild’s ability to access and master the physicalenvironment. We have already discussed how theneed to explore the wider environment is necessaryfor the development of skills. This is illustrated bynegative effect on play development that may beimposed by simple environmental restrictions such asnot allowing a young child to play on the floor. It isoften the case that in an attempt to ensure that theirchild is safe, a parent will place them in a play-pen, disregarding that this confinement mayrestrict the exploration that is needed for learningthrough play. The balance between ensuring safetyand allowing the exploration opportunities eachchild needs is, at times, difficult for all parents tomaintain and is not restricted to just early childhood.

When children become ambulant the stairs becomean area of concern for carers and also have the effectof luring the child towards them. Left unattended thechild could be in danger, but the supervisedexploration of this unusual ‘toy’ offers opportunitiesto introduce and refine skills needed for independentliving. The older child who wishes to play outside ontheir bicycle with friends does so often at risk frompassing traffic or rough terrain that challenges bothcognitive and motor skills. Parents can place

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boundaries to try and increase their child’s safetywithout restricting an opportunity for play thusallowing their child the scope for interaction andcompetition with their peers and mastery of theirnew environment, for example. the child stays withina certain radius of their home, comes home at anagreed time and wears safety gear.

Social and cultural environment

Play often reflects the social encounters that childrenexperience. The younger child will model the adultbehaviours they observe daily during their play. A group of 5–year–olds playing school will repeat theinstructions they hear from their class teacher daily.This social modelling also allows them to develop aperception of what is and isn’t acceptable behaviour.The anthropologist Margaret Mead believed that thesocial rules and norms that regulate the conduct ofsociety are learnt through play.

By middle childhood the variety of settings inwhich the child plays has increased and so have thesocial encounters. Children are involved with moreadults other than their family members. These adultsare often in a position of authority, for exampleteachers, and they will make more complex demandsof the child. Play at this stage reflects the increasingexpectation to conform and is often dominated bygames with rules and play activities, such as craftand construction play, which have clear sequences ofinstructions to follow. By 7 years of age, childrenbegin to compare themselves with their peers. Theimpact of success and failure to measure up to theexpectations of others or to their peers is nowimportant for the developing self-concept.

The child’s perception of social support is animportant part of self-evaluation. A consistentapproach by adults to things such as discipline,active listening, and encouragement to be involved indecision making, is important for the development ofhigh self worth.

Young children initially move from playing inisolation, to playing alongside other children andeventually working cooperatively with their peers.By 6 years of age children are considered to spendover 40% of their waking time with their peers; it ishardly surprising, then, that most play occurs within

groups. There is a desire to be with other childrenand look like one another, with the role of the leaderfluctuating during play. As the child moves towardsadolescence the groups become more selective and aclear peer culture begins to emerge. Play activitiesalso may become more selective and mastery ofhobbies and interests is now starting to beexperienced. Play occurs mainly outside thesupervision of adults, this autonomy taking placealongside the adolescent’s ever increasing awarenessof self compared with others, and can mean thatsome children are excluded from peer groups and arevulnerable to bullying.

What a child might choose to play at or what theyask Santa for at Christmas is not just the result of anindependent individual judgement of desire at thattime. It is a complicated decision that is influencedand shaped by the values of those surrounding thechild. These influences may come from peers, familymembers, media advertising and culture. A boy at 2–or 3–years–old, for example, may ask for apink–clad doll of a teenage girl, which may or maynot be approved of by their carers. The child will onlybe given the doll if the carers view it to be a harmlesspart of the child’s development. By the age of 7–8 years the demand by boys for these dolls willhave greatly decreased. Their choices will now havebeen shaped by cultural expectations. Action figuresthat emphasize traditional masculine qualities suchas fitness, strength and skilful fighting will be chosen.

Media and topical elements of the times affecttrends in play. Different generations will beinfluenced by the play fashions of the day, reinforcedby advertising especially now on the numeroustelevision channels aimed at children. Many parentswill queue for the fashionable toy at Christmas toensure their child has the latest trend only to findthat the trend is short–lived and the toy abandonedwithin weeks. In contrast, more traditional playactivities seem to pass from generation to generation, for example tag and skipping ropegames. A number of traditional toys have earnedthemselves a seemingly perpetual place in the toysshop, with children enjoying play with toys theirparents and grandparents valued, for example balls,teddy bears, construction kits and dolls’ houses.

Cultural pressures on activity choices can varyaccording to locality, the social grouping of the family

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and religious practices. Most children choose toengage in those activities that meet the approval ofthose around them. This accords positivereinforcement and helps encourage social networksbased on shared values and beliefs. This strongpattern of influence on the events in play may bechallenged from time to time, although the cost ofthis for the child can be to meet with conflict. Themovie ‘Billy Elliot’ for example told the story of ayoung boy in Northern England who joined balletclasses while his family thought he was attendingboxing lessons. In the film his father was clear in hisdisapproval of this choice of activity, despite his son’stalent for dance. This may have been different had‘Billy’ been brought up in a home that valuedachievement in the arts and/or disapproved offighting as a sport. Most conflicts of this type areavoided, especially by younger children so that theymaintain adult and peer approval.

Desire for adult approval may be subsumed duringadolescence when the positive opinion of peers ishighly valued and young people participate in leisureactivities within groups. Adolescents are more likelyto choose leisure activities that their peers wouldvalue or even make choices that will challenge thoseof their family or culture. These choices can changeagain and become more conformist when youngpeople enter adulthood. Over the years many youngpeople’s preferences have been described by adultsas ‘a passing phase’. This was demonstrated duringthe 1970s and 1980s by the large number of teenagerswho chose to become ‘punk rockers’, adopting a strictdress code and listening to a single genre of music.There are, however, far fewer middle–aged punkrockers in British society!

ADULTS AND PLAY

Although the focus of this book is children, it seemsunfair not to include a brief section on adults and

play. Play is an important lifelong occupation, theability to play does not cease with the end ofchildhood! The skills used by adults to engage inplayful behaviour and have fun, begin in childhood.Although adults do not need the full range ofdevelopmental potential from play, like children,their involvement in fun activities still serves manyimportant functions for the self in the context of asocial environment and creativity. Play not onlyincludes activities with extrinsic motivators likeplaying squash with the boss, but also includesintrinsically driven activities like spontaneouspractical jokes.

Play gives adults an opportunity to form andmaintain friendships away from the agendas of other activities such as work. This enhances self-esteem and happiness and consolidates an adult’s place within a social group. Engagement in playful or fun activities marks a level of acceptance by others that can be moremeaningful than that gained in paid activity. Thebeneficial effects of play on staff morale, productivity, creativity, and team problem solving are acknowledged increasingly by employers. It is now common to find that employees are offered perks like social or health club membership, or even outdoor pursuit courses to allow people to form social bonds awayfrom the normal workplace. Some enjoy flexibleworking patterns to make the best of leisureopportunities.

As well as being an important balance to work,play allows adults to relax, facilitating the balance of activity that is essential for wellbeing. The positive use of leisure time in adulthoodis increasingly recognized as important for healthwith an ageing population. Pre-retirement coursesfocus on positive use of leisure time, as those who are able to learn balanced patterns of activitythroughout their adult lives are more likely to enjoy a long and active retirement.

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Further reading

Axline V 1947 Play Therapy. Ballantyne, New YorkFrost JL 2001 Play and Child Development. Prentice Hall,

Upper Saddle RiverGarvey C 1990 Play. Harvard University Press,

Cambridge, MassJeffrey LIJ 2002 Therapeutic play. In: Creek J (ed.)

Occupational Therapy and Mental Health, 3rd edn.Churchill Livingstone, London

Lougher L (ed.) 2001 Occupational Therapy for Childand Adolescent Mental Health. Churchill Livingstone,Edinburgh

Mellou E 1994 Play theories: a contemporary review.Early Child Development and Care 102: 91–100

Parham LD 1997 Play in Occupational Therapy forChildren. Mosby, St Louis

Pelligini AD 1991 Applied Child Study: a DevelopmentalApproach. Erlbaum Associates, New Jersey

Reilly M (ed.) 1974 Play as Exploratory Learning. Sage,Beverley Hills

Sheridan MD 1999 Play in Early Childhood: from Birth toSix Years. Routledge, London

Wood E, Attfield J 1996 Play, Learning and the EarlyChildhood Curriculum. Paul Chapman, London

References

Axline V 1964 Dibs; in search of self. Penguin, LondonBandura A 1986 Social Foundations of Thought and

Action: a Social Cognitive Theory. Prentice-Hall, New Jersey

Blunden P 2001 The therapeutic use of play. In: Lougher L(ed.) Occupational Therapy for Child and AdolescentMental Health. Churchill Livingstone, Edinburgh

Erikson E 1968 Identity: Youth and Crisis. Norton, New York

Gardner H 1983 Frames of Mind. Basic Books, NewYork

Garvey C 1977 Play. Fontana, LondonPiaget J 1951 Play, Dreams and Imitation in Childhood.

Routledge and Kegan Paul, LondonWinnicott DW 1971 Playing and Reality. Pelican,

Harmondsworth, Middlesex

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