A couple of years ago, I wrote an article about the extinction of play in terms of what everyone considers play and how play has changed over the years. As early childhood professionals we know and understand that play is a child’s vehicle to learning and exploring. We must get others to better understand how the role of play contributes to a child’s development.
Child-initiated play is becoming less valued and even extinct. It is being replaced by social media, technology, over enrollment in activities and even teacher directed learning. There are different types of play that we should be advocating for as early childhood professionals.
There are many types of play we observe. Children can play alone (solitary), with another child, in a group, there can be structure or pleasure play, unoccupied play, and even onlooker play. As stated by Bredekamp (2017), “play contributes to language development, self-regulation, attention, creatively, problem solving, and social and emotional skills (p. 133). No matter the type of play a child is engaging in, they are learning to use their imagination, creativity, modeling, creation skills, social and language skills, time management and sticking with a job, and math and problem solving and other things we can’t or might not see.
As early childhood professionals we must ensure that our students have time to play and that we schedule this time. We need to explain to families and administrators why play is vital in a child’s learning and development. Document and highlight when play is covering skills that are required of your teaching by the national, state and local educational bodies.
Why do children like to play?:
As you set your classroom up this new year, set it up so children are successful and play is visible. Children are learning more through play then we can teach them. You can actually document a child’s play and development with digital portfolios. Having structured teacher-directed time is an important part of your day, but play must also be documented on your daily schedule. Think back to your philosophy and how you know and understand that children grow and develop.
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