Why Is Play with Siblings and Peers Important for Children's Development?
Why is play with siblings and peers important for children’s development?
Research into the ways in which social experiences impact on childhood development has predominantly focused on the interactions between a child and their immediate caregivers. However, recent research has shown that relationships with siblings and peers also provide an important context for development and socialisation. As this assignment focuses specifically on play, as opposed to other types of interactions, it is important to clarify a working definition of play from the outset and also to specify which areas of children’s development will be considered when answering this question. Various types of relationships prevalent in a child’s experience will be outlined in terms of their different characteristics and how these are likely to influence development in particular ways. This discussion will highlight the specific roles played by siblings and peers and consider why these relationships are especially important for child development. Different types of play that siblings and peers are likely to engage in will then be identified and will also be shown to be important for children’s development in distinct ways. Finally, limitations of the current research will be considered.
Play is an important means by which children interact with and learn about the world around them but it is an extremely difficult concept to define as it has different meanings for different people and in different contexts. It has even been asserted that it is futile to try and agree on a universal definition of a concept as ambiguous as play (Sutton-Smith, 2006). Whilst psychologists have often proposed only deterministic and utilitarian definitions of play, anthropologist, Huizinga (1950) presents the idea that play exists for its own sake. In any case a universal definition of play would have to be as flexible and all encompassing as play itself, taking into account the full range of forms
Research into the ways in which social experiences impact on childhood development has predominantly focused on the interactions between a child and their immediate caregivers. However, recent research has shown that relationships with siblings and peers also provide an important context for development and socialisation. As this assignment focuses specifically on play, as opposed to other types of interactions, it is important to clarify a working definition of play from the outset and also to specify which areas of children’s development will be considered when answering this question. Various types of relationships prevalent in a child’s experience will be outlined in terms of their different characteristics and how these are likely to influence development in particular ways. This discussion will highlight the specific roles played by siblings and peers and consider why these relationships are especially important for child development. Different types of play that siblings and peers are likely to engage in will then be identified and will also be shown to be important for children’s development in distinct ways. Finally, limitations of the current research will be considered.
Play is an important means by which children interact with and learn about the world around them but it is an extremely difficult concept to define as it has different meanings for different people and in different contexts. It has even been asserted that it is futile to try and agree on a universal definition of a concept as ambiguous as play (Sutton-Smith, 2006). Whilst psychologists have often proposed only deterministic and utilitarian definitions of play, anthropologist, Huizinga (1950) presents the idea that play exists for its own sake. In any case a universal definition of play would have to be as flexible and all encompassing as play itself, taking into account the full range of forms
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