Read Smith & Pelligrini (2013)
Smith & Pellifrini (2013)Watch Importance of Play (I suggest completing this handout while watching this video)
Watch Power of Play (I suggest completing this handout while watching the video)
Watch theese 2 Social Stages of Play videos (I suggest completing this chart while watching the videos):
Review Types of Play handout
After reading, watching the videos and reviewing the handout, answer the following questions:
- Why is play important in early childhood?
- What do children learn through play?
- How can teachers support play for :
- Infants toddlers?
- Preschool age children?
- Young school age children?
- What are the stages of play?
- What happens at each stage?
- What are the types of play?
- Explain what children do in each type of play.
- What would you say to a new staff member who was recently started working with you and expressed concern that all the children did was play all day and they were not learning.
1.Why is play important in early childhood?f
Play is central to a child’s learning. It helps them think creatively, problem solving strategies, it is also linked to language development, and positive social skills.
2.What do children learn through play?
Children learn language, symbols which help with literacy, they develop social emotional skills. They also learn how to problem solve, make friendships and get along with other, they test new ideas and skills and give them confident self esteem.
3. How can teachers support play for :
1.Infants toddlers?
play along with them, parallel talk, ask questions, encourage all play, demonstrate how some toys or activities work to promote imitation
2.Preschool age children?
Take roles in their play, facilitate more language by asking questions, have more peer interaction.
3. Young school age children?
Teachers can support their play by presenting new challenges in their physical skills, encouraging them in thew activities that require new skills, make suggestions for different types play.
4. What are the stages of play?
Unoccupied
Solitary
Onlooker
Parallel
Associative
Collaborative
5.What happens at each stage?
Unoccupied- makes a lot of body movements, arms, legs, feet, hands
Solitary- content playing alone
Onlooker- watches children play but does not play with them yet
Parallel- play along side or near others
Associative- starts to interact with others
Collaborative- plays with others
6. What are the types of play?
Unoccupied- random movements of an infant
Solitary- plays alone does not attempt to play with others
Onlooker- watches others but dos not join in the play
Parallel- play side by side, may use same materials but doesn’t play together
Associative- may play together but doesn’t show extended collaboration
Collaborative- complex play activities
7. Explain what children do in each type of play.
Unoccupied- child may move hands and feet around while on someones lap or bouncy chair
Solitary- child is happy playing with blocks, duplos, reading books or cars on their own
Onlooker- child may be close to the block area where other kids are but does not engage. Child can be close to to other children, maybe ask a question but still wont participate.
Parallel- children play side by side with blocks and share them but they are not building together, they each have their own structure.
Associative- kids playing magna-tiles together but not having rules to their building strategies.
Collaborative- Kids playing basketball in teams and understanding the rules of the game.
8.What would you say to a new staff member who was recently started working with you and expressed concern that all the children did was play all day and they were not learning.
I would say to my staff member that playing is learning. In order for them to later on be able to conduct more in depth task they children need to explore and learn by playing. Children learn just as much my playing than looking at a book. I would also communicate that play is the biggest more important learning experience in their life. I would continue by saying and explaining how every station and activity is directed to help them learn in different forms.
6.
-Local Motor play
-Social play
-Parallel play
-Objective play
-Language play
-Pretend Play
7.Local motor play- exercise play, large body activities, ex sports, , playground play, moving body in one way or another
Social play- Playing with one partner, the other the child the more people they will integrate to their play.This is a time for children to play with parents or caregivers
Parallel play-physical play, incorporate objects or language, pretend, rough and tumble play, chasing, play fighting but most of the time children are laughing.
Objective play- building blocks, jigsaw puzzles, cars, dolls, babies may just drop the toys. Finding solutions , trying new combinations, manipulate objects
Language Play- talking to themselves before going to sleep or upon waking up, repetition and laughter at times, babble
Pretend play- pretending an object or an action, dress up, use real worlds objects, negotiating roles in play, mirroring actions they have seen
your answer was so great.
1. Play is important in early childhood because Play allows children to use their creativity, which helps in developing their imagination, and physical, cognitive, and emotional strength. Play contributes to the cognitive, physical, social, and emotional well-being of children and youth. I believe its important for teachers to allow at least an hour to an hour and a half of play.
2.Through play children learn language skills, emotions ,they learn how to be creative and they also learn social skills. They also learn how to work with others.
3. Teachers can support play for infant toddler by allowing them to play with toys that help them and focuses on helping them communicate. For preschool age children teachers can Provide open-ended materials for play, such as Wooden blocks, Legos and other building toys, and playdough . This allows children to use their creativity and imagination. For young school age children teachers can Focus on the process rather then the goal, engaging with the children as they play .
4 . The stages of play are, Unoccupied play ,Solitary play, Onlooker play, Parallel play, Associative play, Cooperative play
5 -7 Unoccupied Play (Birth-3 Months)
At this stage the baby is just making a lot of movements with their arms, legs, hands, feet,
Solitary Play (Birth-2 Years)
This is the stage when a child plays alone. They are not interested in playing with others quite yet.
Onlooker play (2 Years)
During this stage a child begins to watch other children playing but does not play with them.
Parallel play When a child plays alongside or near others but does not play with them
Associate Play (3-4 Years)
When a child starts to interact with others during play, but there is not a large amount of interaction.child might be doing an activity related to the kids around him, but might not actually be interacting with another child
Cooperative Play (4+ years)
When a child plays together with others and has interest in both the activity and other children involved in playing.
8. If a new staff starts working and is concerned that the Children play to often and doesn’t learn i will inform the new staff that the child is learning. There learning how to be creativity, how to use their imagination. I’ll explain the stages of play and what happens in each stage.
1. Why is play important in early childhood?
Play is important in early childhood, because it allows children to use their creativity while developing imagination. Play is also important in order to form healthy brain development. It helps with language and thinking.
2. What do children learn through play?
Children develop their language skill, emotions, creativity and social skills.
3. How can teachers support play for :
1. Infants toddlers? By allowing them to play with different kind of toys that will help in communicating.
2. Preschool age children? By giving them letters and numbers to help build their skills.
3. Young school age children? Give new activities that require the children to focus more.
4. What are the stages of play?
Unoccupied, Solitary, Onlooker, Parallel, Associative, and Collaborative.
5. What happens at each stage?
Unoccupied- (0-3months) Infant making a lot of movement.
Solitary-(0-2years) Child plays alone. They are not interested in playing with others as yet.
Onlooker (2years) Child watch other play but don’t joint in to play.
Parallel (2+years) Plays side by or near but doesn’t joint in to play.
Associative (3-4years) Play together.
Collaborative (4+years) Child plays together with other and has more interest in the activity and other children while playing.
6. What are the types of play?
Unoccupied Play (Birth-3months)
Solitary Play (Birth-2years)
Onlooker (2years)
Parallel Play (2+years)
Associate Play(3-4years)
Cooperative Play(4-years)
7. Explain what children do in each type of play.
Unoccupied-Movement of hands and feet.
Solitary- Plays alone with different toys.
Onlooker-Watch others but don’t play with them.
Parallel- Play side by side with others.
Associative- Plays near or together.
Collaborative-Playing together with a group.
8. What would you say to a new staff member who was recently started working with you and expressed concern that all the children did was play all day and they were not learning. I would explain to the new staff member how important play is, I would break down the different stages of play. I would also explain to her what takes places in each stage.
6.What are the types of play?
Functional play or exploratory play
Constructive play
Dramatic play
Sociodramatic play
7. Explain what children do in each type of play.
Functional play or exploratory play: This type of play is a sensorimotor approach in which a child leans the nature of his or her surrounding. Such examples dumping, filling, stacking, water paly, and outdoor play.
Constructive play- Describes children combining pieces or entities, such a with blocks.
Dramatic play- Entails pretending. The child pretends to be someone else, for example the teacher or a fireman. This type of play does not require any social interaction with other children.
Sociodramatic play is a form of dramatic play with more than one players socially interacting around a theme and a time trajectory over the play continues and evolves. Children enact real-life types of play activities.
why is playing important in early childhood?
playing is important in early childhood, because it allows u to grow a connect with the child and helps children brain develop a deeper thinking.
2. what do children learn through play?
children learn communication skills
3.how can teachers support play for?
allowing children to play with different objects
4.what are the stages of play?
solitary, onlooker, parallel, associative, collaborative and unoccupied
5.what happens at each stage
-unoccupied 0-3 months not aware or interested in playing
-solitary 0-2years children plays alone
-onlooker 2 years children watch eachother playing not really involving themselves
-parallel 2 years plus plays near other children but not joining
associative 3-4 years children playing together
-collaborative 4 years plus children play together and more interested
6.what are the types of plays
-unoccupied
-onlooker
-associated
-cooperative
-solitary
7.explain what children do in each
-unoccupied movement of feets and hands
-parallel play near others
-associative plays aside with others
-solitary plays alone
-onlooker watching children not joining
8.what would you say to a new staff member who was recently started with you and is concerned that the children only played allday and didn’t learn? I would say heres the different stages of the children so she could understand why its this way
After reading, watching the videos and reviewing the handout, answer the following questions:
1. Why is play important in early childhood?
2. What do children learn through play?
3. How can teachers support play for :
1. Infants toddlers?
2. Preschool age children?
3. Young school age children?
4. What are the stages of play?
5. What happens at each stage?
6. What are the types of play?
7. Explain what children do in each type of play.
8. What would you say to a new staff member who was recently started working with you and expressed concern that all the children did was play all day and they were not learning.
1. Why is play important in early childhood?
Answer: Play is an important part of a child’s early development. Playing helps young children’s brains to develop and for their language and communication skills to mature. They teach young children about communication, develop their motor skills and help with problem-solving.
2. What do children learn through play?
Answer: Children learn through play to nurture imagination and give a sense of adventure. They can also learn essential skills such as problem solving, working with others, sharing and much more.
3. How can teachers support play for :
1. Infants toddlers?
2. Preschool age children?
3. Young school age children?
Answer:
1. Infants toddlers- Babies and toddlers love music! Music nourishes children’s brains and can be used to teach them new words and concepts.
2. Preschool age children- Wooden blocks, Legos and other building toys, and playdough all provide children with open-ended stimuli that allow them to play as they choose.
3. Young school age children- By helping children when planning roles, encouraging children to talk to peers, posing open ended questions, and becoming involved in play, the teacher extends and enhances learning.
4. What are the stages of play?
Answer: Unoccupied, Solitary, Onlooker, Parallel, Associative, and Collaborative.
5. What happens at each stage?
Answer:
Unoccupied- (0-3months) Making a lot of movement. Using legs and hands.
Solitary-(0-2years) They are not interested in playing with others. Play on their own.
Onlooker (2years) Child watch other play but don’t joint in to play.
Parallel (2+years) Plays side by or near other children but does not engage.
Associative (3-4years) Play together.
Collaborative (4+years) Child plays together with other and has more interest in the activity and other children while playing.
6. What are the types of play?
Answer:
Unoccupied- random movements using hands and feet.
Solitary- Plays alone does not attempt to play with the other children, more to themselves.
Onlooker- Watches other children play but does not join the activities.
Parallel- Play side by side with other children may use same toys but doesn’t play with the other children.
Associative- May play together but doesn’t show extended collaboration.
Collaborative- Child plays with the other children and enjoy the time together with others.
7. Explain what children do in each type of play.
Answer:
Unoccupied-Movement of hands and feet
Solitary- Plays alone with different toys by themselves.
Onlooker- Watch other children plat among each other but don’t play with them.
Parallel- Play side by side with others but. Not really too engage.
Associative- Plays near or together with other children little bit engage.
Collaborative-Playing together with a group of children, super engaged.
1. Why is play important in early childhood?
Play is important for children’s development. Learning has been linked to children playing.
2. What do children learn through play?
-learn to think creatively
-learn problem solving strategies
-language development
-positive social skills
-reading and writing
3. How can teachers support play for :
1. Infants toddlers?
Igniting the curiosity by showing infants different toys. Teaching toddlers how to play with a certain toy so that they can learn through imitation.
2. Preschool age children?
Pretend play will teach and show children symbols of things so that they can later learn to identify what they represent
3. Young school age children?
Pretend play will also build social emotional skills, it helps children relate to others, and gives them a new perspective on how others might think, feel or experience the world. This will help children build a relationship with others.
4. What are the types of play?
The types of play are unoccupied play, solitary play, onlooker play, parallel play, associative play and cooperative play.
5. Explain what children do in each type of play.
unoccupied play- (birth-3 months) random movements of an infant, such as movement of arms or legs
solitary play- (0-2 years) children play alone and do not engage with others
onlooker play- (2 years) children watch others but don’t join in
parallel play- (2+ years) children play side by side, may use the same materials but do not play together
associative play- (3-4 years) children may play together but don’t show much collaboration
cooperative play- (4+ years) children collaborate and develop complex play activity
6. What would you say to a new staff member who was recently started working with you and expressed concern that all the children did was play all day and they were not learning.
I would explain to the co-worker that the children are learning while they play, they are learning things such as language development, positive social skills and reading and writing.
Why is play important in early childhood?
Play is important in early childhood because it can support practice and experience a variety of life skills and aspects of the development , such as problem solving, learning language skills, positive social skills and creativity.
What do children learn through play?
Children learn through play their creativity, language skills, emotions and positive social skills when they play. It can also develop fine and gross motor skills, nurturing their creativity and imagination, and discovering their independence, better math and reading skills and positive self-esteem.
How can teachers support play for :
Infants toddlers?
Teachers can support infants and toddlers feel security and stability for their environment. Teachers can support wooden blocks, legos and other building toys, and playdough all provide children with open ended stimuli and allow them to play as they choose.
Preschool age children?
Teachers can support focus on the process goal and interests of play, reflect the emotions children express in their play and actions, define the problem when they play, provide materials to encourage play.
Young school age children?
Teachers can support children develop and learn as they participate in activities in every area of the classroom. Play affords young school age children the ability to improve their language, social, and thinking skills, the development and enhancement of these skills promotes their self-esteem.
What are the stages of play?
Unoccupied Play (birth 3 months), Solitary Play ( Birth 2 years), Onlooker behavior ( 2 years), parallel play (2+years), Associate play (3-4 years) and cooperative play (4+years).
What happens at each stage?
Unoccupied play (birth 3 months)- makes a lot of movements with their arms, legs, hands and feet etc.
Solitary play (birth 2 years)- content to play alone
Onlooker play (2 years)- watches other children playing but does not play with them yet
Parallel play (2+years)- play alongside or near others
Associative play (3-4years)- starts to interact with others during play
Cooperative play (4+years) – plays with others
What are the types of play?
Unoccupied play (birth 3 months)- to practice manipulating materials, mastering their self-control and learning about how the world works.
Solitary play (birth 2 years) This type of play builds the foundation for the other five stages of play. when children entertain themselves without any other social involvement. Children engage in solitary play, they are able to explore freely, master new personal skills like new moto or cognitive skills, and prepare themselves to play with others.
Onlookers play (2 years) children who sit back and engagely watch other children playing, but do not join in are onlookers. Children learn a lot by watching others. They learn the social rules of play, relationships and the general world.
Parallel play (2+years) when children play next to each other, but are not really interacting together. Children are not really engaging in a social exchange in this stage. This stage is like a warm up exercise for the children on the same activity, practicing skills and learning new methods to engage others.
Associative play (3-4years) this type of play signifies a shift in the child. Instead of being more focused on the activity or object involved in play, children begin to be more interested in the other players at this stage. Social skills to engage with other children or adults at this stage.
Cooperative play (4+years) This is play categorized by cooperative efforts between players. Children might adopt group goals, establish rules for play. It’s important to remember cooperation is an advanced skill and can be very difficult for young children.
Explain what children do in each type of play.
Unoccupied play (birth 3 months)- children practice manipulating materials, mastering their self-control and learning about how the world works.
Solitary play (birth 2 years) children playing alone, but actually solitary play is very normal. When children engage in solitary play, they are able to explore freely,
Onlookers play (2 years) children might be lonely or scared to engage with other children, when in fact it is a very normal part of play development.
Parallel play (2+years) children are not really engaging in a social exchange. Think of this stage like a warm up exercise – children work side by side on the same activity, practicing skills and learning new methods to engage together.
Associative play (3-4years) , children begin to be more interested in the other players. Associative play allows children to begin practicing what they have observed.
Cooperative play (4+years) children engage in cooperative play by staying close and helping them learn healthy expression of emotions and teach them problem solving skills.
What would you say to a new staff member who was recently started working with you and expressed concern that all the children did was play all day and they were not learning.
I would say to a new staff member playing is learning. I should explain to every new staff, playing can improve language skills, emotions skills, positive social skills, fine and gross motor skills, nurturing their creativity and imagination, and discovering their independence, better math and reading skills and positive self-esteem.
Hi Yan,
I really liked how you listed all the skills that play takes a part on. It is so important for people who want to work with young children understand this and help create fun learning activities through play. In my eyes the more the younger children play and explore/experiment the more they are learning.
Maria Kaye, I learned from YouTube. it is very helpful for me.
1. Why is play important in early childhood?
Play is important in early childhood because children learn best through play. Research suggests that play has developmental benefits.
2. What do children learn through play?
They learn how to think creatively, problem-solving strategies, language, and social skills when they play. The most important thing that is learned through play is reading and writing.
3.How can teachers support play for :
-Infants toddlers?
Facilitate more language by asking questions and peer interactions. Imitation
-Preschool-age children?
During play, ask questions, suggest some new enactments to help the play become more complex. Symbolic play
-Young school-age children?
Enrich play and then let the children play on their own.
4. What are the stages of play?
*Unoccupied (0-3 months)
*Solidarity (0-2 yrs)
*On-looker (2 yrs)
* Parallel play (2+ yrs)
* Associated play (3-4 yrs)
* Cooperative play (4+ years)
5. What happens at each stage?
– Unoccupied: Represented by the random movements of an infant. Lots of movement with their arms, legs, hands, feet, etc.
– Solitary: Children are content to play alone. Children play alone and do not attempt to play with others
– Onlooker: watches others but does not play with them yet
-Parallel: Plays alongside or near others, Children will sit together, they may play with similar materials but they won’t play together
-Associative: Starts to interact with others during play
– Cooperative: Play with others
6. What are the types of play?
– Functional or exploratory
– Constructive
– Dramatic
– Sociodramatic
– Games with rules
7. Explain what children do in each type of play.
– Functional or exploratory: Children learn the nature of their surroundings. Such as dumping, filling, stacking, water play, and outdoor play
– Constructive: describes children combining pieces or entities, such as with blocks. The purpose of this type of play is to make something and/or work out a problem.
– Dramatic: Pretend play where the child pretends to be someone else. This type of play does not require any social interaction with other children.
– Sociodramatic: is a form of dramatic play with more than one player socially interacting around a theme and a time trajectory over which the play continues and evolves. Children enact real-life types of play activities.
– Games with rules: Like cooperative play but with rules set by the children and often with winners and losers. Children begin the games with rules stage at about age 6.
8. What would you say to a new staff member who was recently started working with you and expressed concern that all the children did was play all day and they were not learning.
I would explain that the children are learning through play. During the day I would describe each type of play and how it helps them learn.
1.Why is play important in early childhood?
-Play is important in early childhood because it benefits develempemt in various area.
2.What do children learn through play?
-Children learn from play how to think creatively and they learn all kinds of differnt problem sovling skills, it also helps devlop lauguage development and positive social skills.Lastly, its helps them learn reading and writing skills.
3.How can teachers support play for :
1.Infants toddlers?-showing babies objects,talk to the baby,let the baby reach out for items,let the baby explore the toys by shaking it etc,let them push toys and stack them.
2.Preschool age children?-play pretend/imaction which help with social skills and them knowing symbols and numbers, let them work out problems with your help.
3.Young school age children?-show them new skills/new challenges both physical and social.
4 and 5 and 6.What are the stages of play?/.What happens at each stage?/What are the types of play?
-unoccupied-random movements infants do
-solitary-playing alone
-onlooker-watches other as they play but does not interact
-parallel-meaning playing with others arounds but not together
-associative-builds relationships/bonds with others
-collaborative-make up play activities
7.Explain what children do in each type of play.
In each type of play the children are exploring ,being creative, and having fun
8.What would you say to a new staff member who was recently started working with you and expressed concern that all the children did was play all day and they were not learning.
I would explain to them that the children our learing in there own ways the more they play the brain is developing and learning new skills.
Why is play important in early childhood?
Play is important in early childhood because it plays an important role in the child’s learning. Play allows children to learn a plethora of problem solving strategies, it helps in language development, leads to positive social skills, and helps with reading and writing.
What do children learn through play?
Children learn language skills, emotions, creativity and social skills. They learn how to be creative and be imaginative.
How can teachers support play for :
Infants toddlers?
Ignite curiosity by showing toys, building blocks, pretend play using symbolic objects
Preschool age children?
Pretend play with them, playing house, pirates, tea time etc. Playing at the sensory table with them and talking to them. Have them engage with other children
Young school age children?
Communicate with them, challenge them with competitive games, have them play games with rules that involve other children.
What are the stages of play?
What happens at each stage?
Unoccupied play (0-3 months) – Makes a lot of movement with their arms, legs, hands, feet etc
Solitary (0-2 yrs) – Content to play alone
Onlooker (2 yrs) – Watches other children playing but does not play with them yet
Parallel (2+ yrs) – Plays alongside or near others
Associative (3-4 yrs) – Starts to interact with others during play
Collaborative (4+ yrs) – Plays with others
What are the types of play?
Explain what children do in each type of play.
Functional Play or Exploratory Play – Children learn the nature of their surroundings through dumping, filling, stacking, water play and outdoor play.
Constructive Play – Children learn how to make things and or work out problems. They combine pieces or entities such as blocks.
Dramatic Play – Children begin to pretend, using their imagination. They pretend to be someone else such as a teacher or a fireman.
Sociodramatic Play – involves social interaction where two or more children interacts themes and use their imagination and creativity. They tend to enact real life types of play activity
Games with Rules – Involves cooperative play and are child friendly, often competitive. Games involve rules and often have winners and losers.
What would you say to a new staff member who was recently started working with you and expressed concern that all the children did was play all day and they were not learning.
I would tell the new staff that I appreciate her concerns but if she looks deep into play she will see that the children are gaining the fundamentals of learning through play. Play is not only “fun time” but learning time. Through play the children learn how to engage and interact in the world around them and learn how to play and communicate with others. It builds their creativity, imagination and language skills. It is an important role in their cognitive development.
Why is play important in early childhood?
What do children learn through play?
Play is important because it helps children think creatively, learn problem solving skills and strategies, develop language skills, develops social skills. It can be linked to reading and learning how to write, especially in pretend play it becomes symbolic. Play is a way to help children learn things.
How can teachers support play for :
Infants toddlers?
Teachers or parents can do more parallel play or associative play, something where the children can play on their own to develop their skills but will know that you are there to support them. Teachers and parents can also focus on object and locomotor play to develop gross and fine motor skills in their children.
Preschool age children?
Social play is important at this age so children can develop their social and communication skills. It’s essential for students to interact more so teachers and parents can choose to focus on either parallel play and language play.
Young school age children?
Teachers and parents can encourage children at this age to pretend play to develop their creativity and problem solving skills. All the types of play is important for children at this age.
What are the stages of play?
What happens at each stage?
Unoccupied- seemingly random movements of an infant
Solitary play- children play alone and do not try to engage with others
Onlooker- children watch other children play but do not try to join in on the play.
Parallel play- children play along side each other and may use the same objects and tools but do not play together.
Associative play- Children may play with each other occasionally but do not show extended collaboration
Collaborative play- children play with each other and collaboratively develop complex play activities.
What are the types of play?
Explain what children do in each type of play.
Locomotor play- exercise play, involves large body activity. It supports physical training of muscles for strength and skill. When done in breaks it can help children concentrate better.
Social play- playful interactions between children and parents or caregivers.
Parallel play- children play next to each other without a lot of interaction. It can be physical, include objects or language, be pretend or all of them.
Object play- is the playful use of objects like building blocks, puzzles, cars, dolls, or balls.
Language play- on toddlers this can be them talking to themselves playfully, with a lot of repetition and laughter. In older children this can be them saying small phrases and it develops their language skills.
Pretend play- involves pretending an object or an action is something other than what it really is. It can start in toddlers as pretending to sleep or putting the baby doll to bed. In older children it can be role play like the grocery store or playing doctor.
What would you say to a new staff member who was recently started working with you and expressed concern that all the children did was play all day and they were not learning.
I would explain to them what play is and why it is important. There are many opportunities for learning when children play. Locomotor plat involves large body activity and is generally used to support physical development. Social play is the playful interactions between children. Object play can help with fine motor skills and/or problem solving skills. Language play helps with developing language skills, phonology, vocabulary and meaning, grammar, and pragmatics. Play can also help enhance emotional security, so it is very necessary.
Sydnie, I agree with your toddler response by allowing them to get more locomotor play, especially these days when children spend so much time sitting down and play gadgets, the need to get more running , jumping , climbing or just simply running up and down. I am not saying they do not learn from some of those devices, however, the need to get more active moving of the body. I recently bought a skipping rope and I will be outside soon skipping away until I am comfortable going back to the gym.
1)Why is play important in early childhood?
Play is important in early childhood because it is not forced learning. Children engage with their surroundings, environment, and their peers where we can help reinforce and direct positive behavior, and developing their physical and mental abilities.
2)What do children learn through play?
Play is important for many parts of a child’s development such as cognitive developing thought processes of problem-solving skills, creativity, social-emotional developing friendships with one’s peers, and physical development. Through play, children develop communication and language skills and improve on the children’s ability to learn judgment and reasoning and the ability to focus.
3)How can teachers support play for :
Infants toddlers?
Giving infants manipulative tools to interact with independently or together with such as balls, water mats, mirrors, building blocks, shakers. You can encourage movement, sing songs, or allow the infants to imitate or use their own curiosity to play with their toys.
Preschool age children?
Dramatic play is a great way to keep preschool children engaged. You can allow them to dress up and manipulate the room freely ask questions along while playing to develop language and response skills. You can educate them with answers to any of their questions during play while having fun and building creative skills.
Young school age children?
Outdoor play is a great way to play with school-aged children playing things like hop scotch to encourage their physical development and gross motor skills while developing fine motor skills as they use chalk to create boxes on the ground. You can teach them the sequence of numbers as they develop writing skills creating the hopscotch and develop their grasping skills and throwings they throw a bean bag onto the hopscotch numbers. This also teaches children to take turns and to be patient while playing a game.
4)What are the stages of play?
The stages of play are unoccupied, solitary, onlooker, parallel, associative, and social play.
5)What happens at each stage? & 6)What are the types of play?
Unoccupied play the infants are alone with no clear purpose of play
Solitary Play is playing on your own
Onlooker play is a child who watches others play with no effort to join
Parallel play is side by side play without interacting with the other person
Associative play is a joint play where they ask questions playing the same game no set rules
Social play is a group playing together sharing ideas and toys making rules
7)Explain what children do in each type of play.
Unoccupied play is not playing just observing. The solitary play they focus on their own activity not engaging with anyone else. Onlooker play children watch others play and do not join in. Parallel play children mimic others playing. Associative play children are engaged in play but nothing is organized no set rules. Cooperative play everyone playing in the group understand the activity that is being played following the rules set in place.
8)What would you say to a new staff member who was recently started working with you and expressed concern that all the children did was play all day and they were not learning.
Children learn best through play, in fact all they did all day was learn from each other building bonds, mastering their social-emotional development, working on their communication skills, and their physical development. As their teachers, we reinforced positive behavior and interactions through play so they learned without force and enjoyed themselves.
Module 7 assignment 1
After reading, watching the videos and reviewing the handout, answer the following questions:
1) Why is play important in early childhood?
Play is the work of children. It is their daily activities where they consume their energy and explore the world around them. Play is important in child’s life. It is not only the source of rejoice and having a great moment but also it is the source of learning, being creative, it helps to expand their imagination and exercise their muscles and increases their endurance. It is generally, enhance their development on its different fields.
2) What do children learn through play?
Play permit to children to learn many things. it aids them to learn language, talk, write, read. Also play is helpful in building relationships, interaction skills. It aids to learn problem solving, invent new strategies as well as it is a source of managing stress and anxiety.
3) How can teachers support play for: infant and toddler?, preschool age?, young children?
All age categories of children require an appropriate environment for playing. So, teachers need to provide that environment in strategic ways in order to support them. Children need different materiel, good place, toys and affection. All age categories need a teacher to be communicative, helpful to perform better, listen and talk to them ask questions, encourage them to explore their abilities, expand their imagination and creativity. Encourage their social interaction.
4) What are the stages of play?
5) What happens at each stage?
There are six stages of play where a child demonstrates different reactions and aptitudes:
1. Unoccupied play: 0-3 month the baby makes movement with his or her hands, legs, arms, fingers, moth…
2. Solitary play: 0-2years where the child is engaged in an alone play.
3. Onlooker play: 2 years children in this age they watching others playing but they do not play with them.
4. Parallel play: 2 years and + children could ply side by side and they could share their toys with others, but they will not play together.
5. Associative play: 3-4 years children they will play together but they do not engage in collaboration.
6. Cooperative play: children play together in collaboration and they engage more in complex activities.
6) What are the types of play?
7) Explain what children do in each type of play.
1. Locomotor play: in this play children do exercises such as climbing, running, jumping in generally, do physical exercises.
2. Social play: child wok in this play social interaction whether with parents or caregiver or their peer
3. Parallel play: children could play side to side to others without interaction they could play for example fighting and chasing in safe way.
4. Objective play: children use object during their play such as blocks, cars, dolls,…
5. Pretend play: in this play children they pretend that the object is something else for example they pretend a bottle as a phone. Also, it is related to a role play when a child pretends to play dad, mom or doctor role.
8) What would you say to a new staff member who was recently started working with you and expressed concern that all the children did was play all day and they were not learning.
In my opinion, I need first to know on what things my colleague based to give this perspective because it is always good to know. For example, if it is just based on the first observation for the first to three day of work. Then I will tell him that you can not determine whether the child had learned or not if you do not know already what those children had mastered, and what the new thing that they did especially that day. I think this will come by the time while you are observing the child and following his or her development in every detail, language, interaction, behavior, they show certain creativity or no because while they are playing they are not just having fun but they are exploring their environment, they exerting their abilities , they expanding their imagination and creativity, they improving their social skills and interaction and more. Also, I will tell him or her that learning come by practicing children need time and practice to learn.
Yasmina, I support your response for number 3- Talking to children really gets them to talk and as you said not only talk but ask questions and listen. I also them that considering their age, we could also challenge their thinking by stretching their abilities by giving them more challenging activities that would need more initiative.
Module 7 Assignment #1: Introduction to Play
1. Why is play important in early childhood?
Play helps children to learn.
2. What do children learn through play?
Play helps children to think creatively, they learn strategies to solve problems, it helps language development, gives positive social skills, and play helps students read and learn to write.
How can teachers support play for:
1. Infants toddlers?
Help children to develop and use language. Teachers use language appropriately around them as well as when talking to them. Allow children to play with each other
2. Preschool age children?
Allow students to do pretend play. They can do play fighting and chasing, rough-and-tumble play, non-connect kicks and blows, while children and laughing and having fun.
3. Young school age children?
Allow them to build things. Give them building blocks, jigsaw puzzles, car, and dolls. Using these resources will help them to know new ways of doing things, build problem-solving skills, allow them to be creative and follow instruction.
3. What are the stages of play?
Unoccupied
Solitary
Onlooker
Parallel
Associate
Cooperative
4. What happens at each stage?
Unoccupied – children male a lot of movement of play. They move their arms, legs, hands, feet, while learning and discovering how their bodies move.
Solitary – Children play alone and they do not play with others.
onlooker – Children watch others play but they do not play with them.
parallel – Children play alongside each other but they do not play together.
Associate-Children plat together but they do not large amount of interaction
Cooperative-Children play with other and they have interest in playing and activities.
5. What are the types of play?
Locomotor play
Social Play
Parallel play
Object play-
Language play
Pretend play-
6. Explain what children do in each type of play.
Locomotor – This is exercise play, children run, jump, climb etc. These involve large body activities that support the physical mussels and give them strength, endurance and skill.
Social Play – Children have playful interaction with their parents, caregivers and peers.
Parallel – Children play next to each other but they do not play together
Object play- Children play using building blocks, jigsaw, puzzles, cars, dolls. Children learn to find out new ways of doing things, they use their initiative and the develop problem solving skills problems.
Language play- children develop their language skills.
Pretend play-children play using real objects and action in a pretend scenario
What would you say to a new staff member who was recently started working with you and expressed concern that all the children did was play all day and they were not learning.
Explain that play has positive effects on children because it helps them to learn, read, write, socialize, solve problems etc. So, overall play is a good thing for children.
I reviewed this module
1. Why is play important in early childhood?
ANSWER: its an important part to a child’s development. it helps develop social skills, language and being able to communicate with others.
2. What do children learn through play?
ANSWER: Children learn how to get along with others, they learn new skills, how to be passionate about play and become more creative.
3. How can teachers support play for :
1. Infants toddlers?
ANSWER: encourage more language to be spoken. imitate
2. Preschool age children?
ANSWER: ask questions, make suggestions, play along.
3. Young school age children?
ANSWER: give children some suggestions but don’t dwell on them to long or invade their space.
4. What are the stages of play?
ANSWER: UNOCCUPIED: 0-3 MONTHS, SOLITARY: 0-2YEARS, ONLOOKER: 2 YEARS, PARALLEL: 2+ YEARS, ASSOCIATIVE: 3-4 YEARS, COLLABORATIVE: 4+ YEARS.
5. What happens at each stage?
6. What are the types of play?
ANSWER: UNOCCUPIED:plenty of movement of infant. moved legs and arms. SOLITARY: Children are more likely to play alone. ONLOOKER: Children will watch other children play but will not join in on playing with them. PARALLEL: Children will play side by side with other children, may even share the same toys or material but the will not play together. ASSOCIATIVE: the children may share materials and play with one another but they will not collaborate. COLLABORATIVE: children will play with one another and develop a more complex play.
7. Explain what children do in each type of play.
ANSWER: each child should always have fun and be creative.
8. What would you say to a new staff member who was recently started working with you and expressed concern that all the children did was play all day and they were not learning.
ANSWER: I would explain that children are learning in their own way, they are developing sense of movements and using their imaginations to create something that isn’t there
i re-reviewed this module
Why is play important in early childhood?
Play is highly important in early childhood because play allows children to use their creativity that is full of endless possibilities, while at the same time developing their imagination, dexterity, and physical, cognitive, and emotional strength. Play is necessary for a healthy brain development. It is through play that children at a very early age engage and interact in the world around them.
What do children learn through play?
Through play children develop their language skills, emotions, creativity and social skills. Play helps to nurture imagination and give a child a sense of adventure and exploration. Through this, they can learn essential skills such as problem solving, working with others, sharing and the list goes on. Furthermore, learning through play is a term used in education that details how a child can learn to make sense of the world around them, including the people they interact with (family, friends, their environment, and professionals). Through play children can develop social and cognitive skills, mature emotionally, and gain the self-confidence required to engage in new experiences and environments.
How can teachers support play for?
Infants toddlers?
Farm animals, Dramatic play
Steps on how to use
Alternative options can be use farm animal plastic toys for play time, create dramatic Voice, teach & practice the vocab, play put the animal on the flashcard, play flashcard touch and the missing flashcard game, sing “Old MacDonald”, as well read classroom reader “Old MacDonald’s Farm Animals, and Do Match up the Animals 2 along with worksheet. The skills and processes acquired in this activity is it teaches her how to pronounce other words, it creates building blocks for sentences, it primes her for categorizing skills, it prepares him for social skills needed for school, and it teaches her early life lessons. Of course, this activity strengthens fine motor skills. Another activity is the use of the sensory bin, in this activity infant toddlers will explore letters in the sensory bin. Another option would be pushing construction vehicles through kinetic sand. As well putting together a flower sensory bin that includes letters. Another great option is scooping and pour colored pasta, and make some 2-ingredient (toddler safe) cloud dough. These activities help with practicing pincer grip
Preschool age children?
Building Blocks, Pretend Play
choose a low traffic area (to prevent accidental block knockdowns) to sit down with your child. Place the blocks in front of you and begin stacking them on top of each other. You can encourage your child to knock the blocks down so you can start over. encourage your child to knock the blocks down so you can start over. Incorporate other toys (like cars or trucks) together with your building blocks. As well take the blocks outside and play with them in the sandpit or in the garden. The skills and processes acquired in this engaging activity is playing with blocks help children develop their vocabularies, improves math skills, and even teaches them about gravity, balance, and geometry. They learn how to describe colors, shapes, sizes and positions as they build various structures, blocks can help develop child’s vocabulary and increase his/her understanding about labeling, sentence structure, spatial visualization, balance, symmetry, and even weight, height and gravity.
Young school age children?
Dramatic play through creative painting ideas
Let children experiment with a range of different brushes or tools. Make your own shape stamps, make ‘snail prints’ using a Pringles or tennis ball tin, or a baby formula can, fabric painting is a great activity for young children, and Make ‘string prints’.
The skills and processes acquired in this activity is that painting can help your children communicate their emotions or feelings. Using different colors, they can express themselves without the use of words, painting aids your child develop mobility skills. Finally, their hand muscles are being used, which allows them a scope to develop both mentally and physically.
What would you say to a new staff member who was recently started working with you and expressed concern that all the children did was play all day and they were not learning?
I would approach to my colleague to address his view/opinion in the most collegially and in a confidential manner I would tell my colleague that play though learning plays an important role that allows children to use their creativity while developing their imagination, dexterity, and physical, cognitive, and emotional strength, also, that play is important to healthy brain development. This is how through play children at a very early age engage and interact in the world around them.
Why is play important in early childhood?
All types of play are absolutely beneficial for children. it develops their social skills, benefits for brain development, and enhances social interactions, and initiative. Playing helps develop all types of learning skills.
What do children learn through play?
Children learn to understand the world, using imagination, new acquired communication skills, solving problems, taking initiative, taking roles. Play also builds confidence and self-esteem.
How can teachers support play for :
Infants toddlers?
Introducing different types of objects to play with, Teachers can also promote learning by combining simple cognitive and entertaining tasks to mostly encourage language learning and semantics.
Preschool age children?
Introducing social dramatic games and pretending with objects, colors and geometries.
Young school age children?
Teachers can direct them to strategy games, arithmetics and games with rules.
What are the stages of play?
1stage – Unoccupied play.
2stage – Solitary play.
3stage – Onlooker play.
4stage – Parallel play.
5stage – Associate play.
6stage – Cooperative/Collective play.
What happens at each stage?
What are the types of play?
The unoccupied stage represents seemingly random movement of toddlers.
The solitaire stage is when a child plays alone and does not attempt engaging with others.
The onlooker stage is when a child watches others, but do not try to join them.
The bord stage same as a parallel play is when children play side by side, and may use the same materials, but do not play together.
The associate play is when children may play together, but do not show standing collaborations. While, collective play, implies children to play together, taking roles and tasks that they sometimes interchange or do together for the same objective.
Explain what children do in each type of play.
What would you say to a new staff member who has recently started working with you and expressed concern that all the children did was play all day and they were not learning.
I would definitely encourage him/her to learn what each type of play means and how each type of play benefits children with different stages in all age groups. He/she has to realize game types growing by children’s ages, and act as a monitor of the entire process.
Why is play important in early childhood?
Play is important because its central to children’s learning. Play helps children think creatively learn problem solving skills, teaches positive social skills and play connects to literacy.
What do children learn through play?
Children learn to test their ideas and learn to problem solve.
How can teachers support play for :
Infants toddlers?
Teachers can help support infants and toddlers by showing baby interesting objects to explore, for toddlers teachers can give them blocks to explore and build with.
Preschool age children?
For preschool age teachers can encourage roll playing and pretend play.
Young school age children?
For young school age children teachers can continue to encourage role play and to play more complex games that require more thinking and working with other children.
What are the stages of play?
The stages of play are
Unoccupied
Solitary
Onlooker
Parallel
Associative
Collaborative
What happens at each stage?
Unoccupied stage: this stage happens from birth to 3 months at this time infants do random movements, kick legs flail arms around.
Solitary: this happens from 0-2 years. Children play alone but don’t attempt to play with other children.
Onlooker: Happens at 2 years old: The child watches others but doesn’t try to join in.
Parallel: This happens at 2 years and up. The child plays side by side may use the same toy as the child next to them but do not play together.
Associative: happens at 3-4 years old. Children may play together but do not show extended collaborative play
Collaborative: happens at 4 years and up. collaboratively develop complex play activities.
What are the types of play?
The types of play are
Locomotive play
Social Play
Parallel play
Object play
Language play
Pretend Play
Explain what children do in each type of play.
Locomotor play: includes exercise play. Involves large body activity and supports muscles and strength.
Social play: play interactions between children and parent caregivers and eventually with other children as they get older.
Parallel Play: common in 2-3 years old children play next to each other without much interaction.
Object play: playful use of objects playing with a toy. Like puzzles cars or dolls.
Language play: around 2 years old toddlers often talk to themselves playfully with repetition and sometimes laughter.
Pretend play: Involves pretending on an object is something other than it really is a banana a phone.
What would you say to a new staff member who was recently started working with you and expressed concern that all the children did was play all day and they were not learning. I would explain that children learn through play and its an important ongoing stage in their lives where they are developing new skills as they explore toys and play.