Hello Everyone, we all know kids of all ages love to play either by themselves or with other children. What we may not know, though, is the importance of Play in early childhood.
● PLAY?
Play is an important element of a child development. Play is what instructs the child on how to analyse his/her problems, think and above all to have fun in order to relieve him/her of the emotional tensions
●IMPORTANCE OF PLAY
- Play in childhood is significant for children’s development.
- Play enables the child to have imagination and the ability to create.
- Play enables a child to learn through discovery, experimenting, dreaming, creation, trial and error and development.
- Children learn everything through play.
■ Play in early childhood essential for children to fully develop play up children learn rules and what to expect in different situations as children get older Play teaches them how to act appropriately in society let us break down types of Play.
● TYPES OF PLAY
▪︎OCCUPIED PLAY starts at a young age when children are just infants. Kids will move around a lot with no apparent purpose. This is the beginning stage of Play in early childhood.
▪︎SOLITARY PLAY begins when children are about three months old and goes until they are toddlers. During this time, children are very busy playing on their own and most likely will not notice other children around them. They are busy rattling and grabbing different objects.
▪︎ONLOOKER PLAY happens during this time; children are learning how to relate to other children and learning language because of this, they will spend much time watching other children play will not make any effort to join it.
▪︎PARALLEL PLAY happens from 18 months old to 2 years old. Children will begin to play next to each other but will not interact with each other during parallel Play. Children learn other property rights ideas.
▪︎ASSOCIATIVE PLAY starts at the age of three or four. Children become much more interested in other children than the toys; this Play helps them learn the do and don’ts of getting along with others. It also teaches them how to share and develop problem-solving skills.
▪︎SOCIAL PLAY can start around three years old. In this type of play, children begin to interact with other children. In the in-play setting, they start to share toys and ideas and begin to use moral reasoning in their Play.
▪︎PHYSICAL PLAY is when children run, jump, and play games like hiding & Seek. Physical Play is essential for exercise and muscle strength; this is where kids learn to take turns and accept winning or losing.
▪︎CONSTRUCTIVE PLAY begins as an infant and continuously grows as the child gets older. Constructive Play is all about creating things like drawing and playing with blocks. This type of play allows children to explore objects.
▪︎Expressive play assists a child to learn to express feelings. To enable such children to play with paints, crayons, markers, coloured pencils and clay, and water. The child is encouraged by the facilitator and the parents to express him/herself through Play.
▪︎ FANTASY PLAY allows children to create and think in different ways like stretch their imagination and use new words.
▪︎ COOPERATIVE PLAY begins in the late preschool age and is mainly comes into a group play; usually, there is one group leader, and they begin to play games with rules. Some of those games follow the leader and team sports; these games teach children that life has many rules that everyone must follow.
Play is everywhere treated as if it were a part of recess, time for the children to get out in the sun. But learning is no joking matter to kids.. Play is the work of childhood.”