Finding Purpose Through Play Summary

The Transformative Potential of the Hours After School: Finding Purpose Through Play by Betsy MacIver Neiva focuses on the importance of play in children’s lives especially after school. Play allows children to gain interpersonal communication skills and to explore potential possible interests. In particular, Neiva comments on how children are spending their time after school. On the one hand, some children have the ability to stay at home after school with parents that foster play and creativity; an opportunity like so provides children with the ability to explore their personal interests. On the other hand, there are children who come from working class homes where the parents are unable to provide this type of setting for their child; this
Through personal experience, I can see how play allows children to be better able to communicate, create, and to explore. I feel that the current academic curriculum does not provide child with the ability to any of these things, which is why it is important for the child to experience such actions after school and on the weekends. Over the years, we have lost sense of communication; we have substituted our face-to-face conversations with face-time sessions where one cannot properly experience human emotion and expression. Face-to-face communication is extremely important and through after-school programs, children who would not necessarily be in a situation where communication and creativity are fostered are able to experience such tools in order to develop his or her character. One quote that really stuck out to me that revealed the importance of play is “ the purpose of these experiences is not only to equip students with skills they may later find useful, but also increase the probability that they will stumble upon something they truly love and may later wish to pursue as a vocation or avocation” (Neiva). Parents and teachers may see patterns with what the children find interesting through playtime. Through these observations, the parents and teachers may be able to provide the child with more experiences in the
This article ties to my site placement because we have seen over time that play in the academic setting has decreased. Playhouse has continued for over fifty years, to allow play to be the main component of the school curriculum. Each day, I set up the stations for the days activities there is a drawing or painting station, a building station (Legos, blocks), and a hands on activity (baking, making play dough). Having different options allows the children to choose and make their own decisions. Additionally, the options allow the children to explore their interests. Other than inside free play, the children are outside for around an hour each day for play. Outside there are different toys, trucks, and games for the children to choose from. Sometimes a group of children will make up their own imaginary game and the teachers guide them and play along with the children’s imaginations. Free play, both indoors and outdoors, allows for the children to have constant communication with their classmates. For young children, it is important to communicate in order to pick up social cues and to understand language. A big part of the Playhouse curriculum is letting the children find solutions to their own problems rather than helping them, this is mostly learned through the difficulties that occur over playing. Although this article is more toward elementary to high school aged