Children’s play is an important aspect to any child’s growth as it encourages a holistic growth as the child turns into an adult. Facilitators should play their role effectively to show children are availed sufficient and appropriate requirements and care to facilitate this stage in their growth. This essay is going to exhaustively discuss about children’s play based on the topic including the role of facilitators in children’s play giving specific examples from the documented play samples. The essay will also give a detailed response on the ways in which classroom assignments enhanced my growth in understanding the KEEPS Claims and course objectives related to this course.
Children’s Play
I agree that play can be viewed as a state of mind considering whether the activity was chosen for the sole purpose of pleasure or work and it may involve individuals from any age group. Children’s play is influenced by several factors including the genders involved, cultural factors, and the context of the play. Genders involved in most cases influence the type of play and who gets to participate in the play as well. According to Hull, Goldhaber and Capone (2002), it is evident that most children take part in plays when the peers are of the same sex. Moreover, I think that girls’ plays are more inclined to domestic roles while boys are more likely to get involved in action-oriented plays.
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Cultural factors are also paramount in influencing a child’s play. I learned that cultural factors that influence children’s play include the way a child’s parents or guardians decide the type of toys to buy and avail to their children basing on what they see is right. Moreover, I agree that parents are more likely to encourage or discourage their children towards different play behaviors. I think that the ethnicity, culture, and socio-economic background of a child will most likely influence the way a child plays.
For the case of context, the environment surrounding a child is key in determining the kind of play involved ( Hull, Goldhaber & Capone, 2002). For instance, I would say that outdoor plays may be significantly different from indoor plays since the former mostly involves the interaction with actual objects while the latter involves the interaction with objects obtained from the external environment. In regard to context, I learnt that a proper classroom setting should be in place to encourage full and productive participation from all available children. It is advised that the learning environment should be in such a way that it connects both the outdoor and the indoor contexts for effective learning (Hilltop Children’s Center, (n.d)). This can be enabled through the use of playgrounds and fieldtrips where children can effectively interact with the outdoor environment. If possible, natural materials and objects should be collected outdoors and kept indoors for effective experimentation and learning.
Importance of Play to Children
I learnt that play is significant in the life of children and its impact can be seen in several ways. In the first place, I realized that physical play can be used to discharge surplus natural energy from the body or to renew the body’s energy especially in periods of boredom. I also realized that children can engage in intellectual and physical play to develop knowledge and skills essential for functioning as an adult. Additionally, children can take part in social and emotional play to reduce their levels of anxiety since it gives them the sense of expressing forbidden impulses and making them feel like they control the world. Lastly, I think that children’s play is a vital communication tool where they can communicate their emotion and ideas both in pretense and real-life levels.
Understanding Play
Understanding how children’s play develops and changes over time is vital and early childhood educators should familiarize with it for effective guidance and monitoring of a child’s competence while growing.
The Beginning of Play; Exploring the World
This is the first level of play and I realized that it is often guided by questions of what the object is where a child explores the physical attributes of the objects at hand. This is followed by a second question, what the object does, and the child tries to find ways in which the object can be used. Here, learnt that children do construct their knowledge concerning the physical world as they ask more questions.
Constructive Play
This can be termed as a preliminary stage in skill development which is key to creativity. Here, I realized that children can basically rethink the theories regarding the social and physical world. Children mostly engage their intellectual curiosity in particular as they monitor changes in the dimensions of a material, consistency, and color transformations ( Hull, Goldhaber & Capone, 2002). I think that transformations are, however, not confined to objects but to changes too as children get louder, happier, or sad hence developing a deeper knowledge of their social settings as well. A good example of a constructive play is when children interact with play dough where children can individually investigate its transformation as it turns from flour to dough, white to colored, and from dry to being sticky.
Symbolic Play
Symbolic play is a vital stage in a child’s play as they can now use ideas, objects, and actions to represent other actions, objects, and ideas as plays. Here, I learnt that children undergo changes in regard to; their ability to switch between different objects, shifting from self-concentration to referencing other objects, combining and sequencing events and behaviors, and decontextualizing their behaviors. A great example of a symbolic play is when children use materials like clay to form other objects that symbolizes what they choose, for instance, children can use clay to create an ice-cream like object.
Housekeeping and Dramatic Plays
I learnt that housekeeping and dramatic plays involves two or more players who interact with each other during the play. It contains several instances such as role playing, pretense with objects, pretense with situations and actions, verbal communications, and persistence. For role playing, children often tend to adopt particular roles like bus drivers or mothers. For instance, children might use tools like plates to imitate the activities of a bus driver during their play. In pretense with objects, children often use actions or objects and substitute them for other objects, for instance, children might use boxes as boats during their play.
For pretense with actions and situations, children use gestures and words in place of situations or actions. For instance, children might imagine that they are lost and are try to find a way back home. On the other hand, verbal communications involve children talking about their play or supporting it in one way or another. An example is when children say, “I’ll be the doctor; you be the nurse”. Last but not least, persistence involves children sticking to their episodes of play for a long time depending on their experience and the type of relationships among the involved players. An example is when children stick to a particular episode of play for periods more than 5-6 minutes, which are the recommended for pre-school children.
The role of facilitators in Children’s Play
As a facilitator in children’s play, I’m required to effectively lead children through their plays by availing a conducive environment that would enhance the play activities. To effectively do this, I’m encouraged to engage children in visual arts, literacy, and symbolic representations. In the first place, enabling children understand the importance of print and the benefits of reading and writing is one of my basic requirements. This is a valuable aspect in children’s play and as a facilitator, I’m expected to enhance this ability by encouraging children to take part in daily activities like note writing, list making, drawing maps, and posting a sign. Part of my job is to show children the usefulness and pleasure of the symbolic world by sharing their dreams, reading a favorite image book or by playing cheerful music to them. According to Hilltop Children’s Center (n.d), literacy in children can be developed by naming and labeling objects for easier understanding. Moreover, ensuring that the labeled objects are arranged in a formal order according to the appropriate context is also among my roles.
In addition to that, I’m expected to invite children to create, express, and reflect on their feelings and thoughts relating to literacy and knowledge in symbolic representations during their play ( Hull, Goldhaber & Capone, 2002). As a facilitator, I’m expected to present tools and materials that are attractive alongside props and images necessary to explore symbolic representations through image making and plays. This gives them a chance to present familiar ideas using the new medium availed.
As a facilitator, availing a well-designed system for displaying and storing materials related to symbolic and literacy representation should be my priority ( Hilltop Children’s Center, n.d). The materials should be stored and availed in an attractive manner that will most likely motivate the children to engage in the practice again ( Hull, Goldhaber & Capone, 2002). For instance, I can avail a simple wading pool outdoors filled with books and pillows while children to enjoy while basking in sunshine and enjoying fresh air can help them easily relate with the symbolic presentations.
Lastly, I’m expected to avail opportunities for reading, decoding, and translating to children. This can be done by ensuring that books are kept in shelves and baskets at different places in the room especially next to play props or related materials ( Hilltop Children’s Center, n.d). Showing children how to access and use the telephone to make important calls and teaching them how to read schedules, maps, and books is also required from the instructors (Hilltop Children’s Center, (n.d)). Moreover, I’m encouraged to avail both multicultural and bilingual reading materials to children for them to acknowledge other cultures and languages that are available. For instance, as a facilitator, I can enable children understand music as a symbolic language by using appropriate programs to expose children to music instruments, notes, and recordings.
Importance of class assignments in understanding KEEPS Claims and course objectives of this course
Understanding the objectives of this course and KEEPS Claims related to it has been quite easy thanks to the class assignments that I have been doing. The effectiveness of class assignments issued has provided a key support to my understanding of the course objectives. (Hilltop Children’s Center, (n.d)). This is because each class assignment required me to refer back to the specific topic hence keeping me as per with the course objectives. In regard to KEEPS Claims, class assignments have enabled me to constantly remember what is expected of me as a student pertaining the course.
Conclusion
Children’s play is vital in ensuring a holistic growth and transformation into adulthood. Children are expected to grow in a manner that they can effectively recognize other cultures and possibly communicate in several languages. Facilitators are expected to do their best in ensuring a holistic growth of children by availing the necessary tools and materials needed by the children.
References
Hilltop Children’s Center, (n.d). Engage Children in Symbolic Representations, Literacy, and the Visual Arts. Seattle, Washington.
Hull, Goldhaber & Capone, (2002). Opening Doors. Play, Pretense, and Practice.
