The importance of play

Why is play important in a child’s life?

Play

• Play is essential for children to develop . It is the way children learn about themselves and their world around them, and can benefit them in later life

• Children learn through different experiences • Play can be spontaneous play or structured

play

Play Develops their

Physical development

Social & emotional development

Intellectual development

Language and communication skills

Questioning skills

Creative skills

Understand the world around them

A child needs to play

• To develop an enquiring mind• To understand attitudes towards the natural

world and tackle experiences • To acquire manipulative skills, spatial

awareness, fine and gross motor skills• To encourage them to express themselves,

socialise and cope with emotions• To form a sound foundation on which to build

What types of play are there?

Exploratory play

Exploratory play

• Young children will observe their surroundings and babies will put things in their mouths to explore the world around them

• Older children like to ask questions and think for themselves and experiment

Solitary play

Solitary Play

• Babies and young children will play alone

• There is no interaction with each other

• This is an important stage and all children go through it

Parallel play

Parallel play

• Children play side by side but play separately with little interaction from each other

• There is no talking to each other about what they are doing

• They might ask each other for a piece of equipment

Co-operative play

Co-operative play

• Children are able to play together. They adopt a role within the group and take account of others’ needs and actions

• Play becomes more complex and simple rules are understood

• Playing board games are important• Children are given more choices and

responsibilities

Imaginative play

Imaginative play

• Children use their fantasy idea to play out their ideas (challenge stereotypes)

• Role play (social play) is very important both indoors & outdoors

• Having a good area is important and changing it regularly (consider multicultural resources)

• Ensure children feel private but can be observed by an adult

Creative play

Creative play

• This also uses their imagination but can involve craft material

• 2D and 3D models making

• Music

Manipulative play

Manipulative play

• This focuses on small world play

• Small equipment is used to help children develop fine motor skills

Play

• Play can be broken down in many different ways.

• All these areas can be done outside and understanding their world around them is important

• If children are not allowed to play and explore then their development will be hindered

• The wrong sort of play is also detrimental to children

DVD

• Now watch the video of Bandura Bobo experiment

• It was done in 1965• It shows how children can learn by watching

adults• Children learn by imitating an adult rather

than being shown or taught