Summary: The Importance Of Play In Middle Childhood

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enjoyment. Play can also be considered a rehearsal for acting-out real life events – such can be seen when children play house or school (Parsons, 2011).
Also, play is so important and essential that it is included in the United Nation Convention of the Rights of the Child as stated in Article 31 (Leisure, Play and Culture): Children have the right to relax and play and to join in a wide range of cultural, artistic and other recreational activities (www.unicef.org).
According to Bergen &Fromberg (2006), play is important to the optimum development of children. Unfortunately, though there is abundant research evidence showing that play supports young children’s social, emotional, physical and cognitive development, it has often ignored or addressed …show more content…

However, the differences between the two were the focused of the report. Bergen &Fromberg (2006) focused on importance of play and social interaction in middle childhood. American Academy of Pediatrics (2007) on the other hand, focused on importance of play in promoting healthy child development and maintaining strong parent-child bonds.
A research on the power of play was conducted by Dr. White (2012). The study focuses on how children can benefit from play and imagination in early childhood. She presented in the study the various overlapping styles of play and the impact of play on the whole child. The result showed that in the short and long term, play benefits cognitive, social, emotional and physicaldevelopment.
Another research on Young Children and Nature: Outdoor Play and Development, Experiences Fostering Environmental Consciousness, And the Implications on Playground Design was conducted by Parsons (2011). The study aimed to understand the effects of children’s experiences in outdoor play. The result showed that children learn through experience. They learn by seeing, smelling, tasting and touching. Thus, it is important to recognize the nature experience and outdoor play of …show more content…

It is a natural tool for children to develop resiliency as they learn to cooperate, overcome challenges, and negotiate with others. However, children who live in poverty often face socioeconomic obstacles that impede their rights to have playtime, thus affecting their healthy social-emotional development. A study prepared by Dr. Goldstein (2003) states that nearly everything the growing child needs to learn is developed and practiced in play. The value of play was also discussed. It was stated that early play experiences set the stage for all subsequent development. He also pointed out that children who were deprived to play or who do not have opportunity to play were at increased risk for abnormal development and deviant behavior. The study prepared by Dr. Goldstein (2003) and the clinical report of the American Academy of Pediatrics (2012) supports each other in such a way that in Goldstein’s study it stated that play deprivation may lead to abnormal development and deviant behavior while in the clinical report of the AAP it states that children who live in poverty were given not enough opportunity to play thus affecting their healthy social-emotional

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