Research on the topic: "The Importance of Play in Children's Development"

The Importance of Play in Children's Development

Everything starts in the childhood. During this period of life many habits are being formed. Childhood has an effect on the life of every person. It lays the foundation for development. Bad or miserable childhood can have a great impact on the formation of a kind of a person a child will be, as well as good childhood. Happy childhood is impossible without play as it is essential in the life of every child. Through play children discover the world and many things around. Play teaches children to communicate, to do different things, and even to live. It is play that prepares children for future life as actually life is always some kind of a play, and to be prepared for life it is important to understand the rules. Playing plays a major part in the development of a child, and because of the fact that nowadays many children loose skills for playing, it is important to create a good environment for their play, and adults should be involved and help their children a little bit, leading but not pushing them.

Play is something that children do most of the time. It is their major occupation, their main pastime. Thinking about small children, it is the first thing that comes to our mind. We always try to find interesting games to entertain a child if we know that we will communicate with a small person. "It seems impossible to think about childhood or young children without also thinking about play. Play and playing are vital parts of children's lives" ("Better Kid Care", par. 17 ). The fact that playing has such a big role in the life of children is quite understandable as through play children learn how to act with others, they discover different feelings and emotions. "They learn concepts, relationships, cause and effect, sizes, colors, textures, feelings, emotions, sensations, sounds, symbols, and language among other things" ("Better Kid Care", par. 18 ). Play actually opens children's eyes on the world, gives some understanding of different things and of what is going on around. At the same time play develops children's imagination as it helps to use creativity and different skills, stimulate physical, cognitive and even emotional growth. "Undirected play allows children to learn how to work in groups, to share, to negotiate, to resolve conflicts, and to learn self-advocacy skills" (Kenneth R. G., p. 183). It is essential to give a child opportunity to discover the world himself, to choose activities that are interesting for him, which will give him a chance to grow and develop faster and better.

Psychologists put much attention to play as many of them consider it as one of the important steps in child's development. One of the psychologists who viewed play as an essential part of a child's development was Piaget. "Piaget's theories about learning emphasized the need for children to explore and experiment for themselves" ("The Role of Play in Children's Learning," p. 6). He thought that children needed play to develop concepts before learning to think abstractly, and stressed cognitive development more. Another researcher, Vygotsky, in his turn, paid more attention to social aspects of a play. "He argued that during play children were able to think in more complex ways than in their everyday lives, and could make up rules, use symbols and create narratives" ("The Role Of Play In Children's Learning," p. 6). Of course, making rules and symbols is very interesting for children; they make their own worlds during the game. Play gives children the opportunity to communicate with each other, to socialize and to discover new and new things for themselves.

Play has a really great impact on a child's development, but children are loosing skills for play and the opportunity for the development of creativity now. High-tech toys and structured activities deprive children of opportunities for imagination and free choice. Sometimes structured play can be helpful for those children for whom it is difficult to start playing, but it should be quite limited and done just with this purpose. Children spend too much time in front of computers and televisions, and that has a negative influence on them. Games with rules in their turn encourage children's thinking processes. The outcome of the game, but not the process of the game itself motivates participation of children now, but it is not right. Children should be motivated by positive emotions the play can give them. Games are so structured that children should response to the same scenario, to the one, which is created by someone else, not themselves, and this fact harms children's creativity. Professor Kathy Hirsh-Pasek of Temple University, Philadelphia, expressed her opinion about 'smart toys': "They usually look for a single, correct answer to a problem because they are busy teaching skills" ("Toys Are Simply the Best," par. 2). However skills are not the most important part of play. In childhood children should interact with other people, to use imagination, and simple toys and games, such as just building blocks, dressing up, painting or playing with a ball, helps to do it much better than modern toys. So, nowadays parents should be involved, should encourage physical activity of their children, which improves learning process, and help them to choose toys that are more beneficial for development.

At the same time adults, of course, should be engaged, but not to push as "when play is controlled by adults, children acquiesce to adult rules and concerns and lose some of the benefits play offers them, particularly in developing creativity, leadership, and group skills" (Kenneth R. G., p. 183). So, caregivers and other adults should now and then be involved in the play of their children. This creates a great connection and gives benefits for both a child and a caregiver, as an adult has a chance to understand his child and his world better, to learn about his perspectives more. "Less verbal children may be able to express their views, experiences, and even frustrations through play, allowing their parents an opportunity to gain a fuller understanding of their perspective" (Kenneth R. G., p. 183). Play becomes a tool for communicating of people of very different ages and experiences (a child and an adult), connects them, and helps them to understand each other better and to learn from each other, as in fact adults are also learning all the time. At the same time, when a caregiver is involved in a play a child feels that someone cares about him and put attention to him and his interests. It creates a better atmosphere and more trusted relationships.

Play really influence greatly on child's development, but to make play beneficial and enjoyable several aspects should be stressed. Firstly, it is important to understand that children need enough time for their play, for involving in it and enjoying it fully. Adults also should find time for playing with their kids, and the timing should be flexible. At the same time "Adult-initiated, special activities have to be open-ended in terms of the play experience itself and adult expectations for learning" ("Go With the Flow," par. 9). Adults should be patient and not to expect very fast learning from their children because learning is a continuous process.

Another aspect to which should be paid attention is space which should be provided for children's play. "They need lots of open space to spread out and move at speed: happily practicing their skills of movement and balance" ("Go With the Flow," par. 15). Children need plenty of space to develop their physical skills, and to feel freedom. In their lives shouldn't be much order at this period, so they should have access to open space to run, jump and do whatever they want to develop successfully. "In Scotland, requirements for nurseries based in schools state that every child should have access to at least 9.3 square meters of outdoor space" ("Play Space Vital For Tots," par. 3). However in many European countries there are no any laws or restrictions about the space that children's services should have for an access of each child. It's a pity because many children spend much time in such places and don't have admittance to open space they need.

In addition, children need someone to play with. Though sometimes children want to play alone and enjoy spending time on their own, most of the time "enjoyable play includes the possibility of play companions - adults and other children - joining in without taking over" ("Go With the Flow," par. 17). Sometimes these partners in play should follow a child's directions, follow his rules, but at the same time it is possible to introduce something new, to make a game more interesting and developing. At the same time caregivers shouldn't forget that "play is a powerful, natural behavior contributing to children's learning and development and no program of adult instruction can substitute for children's own observations, activities, and direct knowledge" (Isenberg, par. 18). An adult can direct a child a little bit, but on no account lead or push harshly.

Finally, a child should always have an opportunity to choose. Children should decide themselves what they are interested in, what they want to play with and how. The thing adults can do is to make sure that a child has a range of activities from which he can choose. These activities should arose a child's interest and be inviting. "Positive emotions, such as curiosity, generally improve motivation and facilitate learning and performance by focusing a learner's attention on the task" (Isenberg, par. 20). Activities which provoke curiosity will stimulate a child's interest, and a child will want to engage in more and more activities. That will actually have a positive impact on his development.

Childhood is one of the best and happiest times of life. It is a time of discoveries and dreams, foundation of the future. Children learn much in their childhood, and carry many things they've learn during childhood through all life. One of the main means of children's learning is playing. It teaches them different shapes, colors and textures in the beginning. Then they learn how to communicate with others, negotiate, find different solutions to situations, and of course develop their imagination. Children create their own worlds, vivid and interesting, and live many different lives their, understanding the world and its main principles. That's is why it is very important to encourage children play simple toys, that helps them to dream, but not high-tech modern toys that makes them think in one way. If adults will be engaged in the play of their children, interact with them on their level, it will be enjoyable and developing for both parties and will help caregivers to dive deeper into inner worlds of these small developing persons.