An overview of play
Play, when viewed from a point of study, puts forth many insights about the way in which children think, learn, process and foster connections with the world around them. Play has been linked to children’s cognitive development.
Berk says that play offers children the opportunity to learn about one’s self, about others, and the environment around. Children engaged in play develop many social and emotional concepts which may not be otherwise achieved in other setups. Playing with others helps the children to learn about things like co-operating, respecting others, helping others. Or in the case of make-believe play, which most toddlers engage in, it develops the child’s imagination and allows them to make sense of the real
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As little as ten minutes of exercise (including physical play), can improve cognitive abilities. (Beets, M. W.; Pitetti, K. H. (2005)
These researchers did a study and have developed an "exergame" which is a game that incorporates some physical movement but is by no means formal exercise. These games increase one’s heart rate to the level of aerobics exercise and have proven to result in recognizable improvements in mental facultie In this study they use play in a way that incorporates physical activity that creates physical excursions. The results of the study had statistical significance. There were improvements in math by 3.4% and general improvements in recall memory by 4% among the participants of the study.
Mental Play
On the other hand, other research has focused on the cognitive effects of mentally stimulating play. Playing video games is one of the most common mediums of play for children and adults today. There has been mixed reviews on the effects of video games. Despite this, according to a research conducted by Hollis (2014), "[playing video games] was positively associated with skills strongly related to academic success, such as time management, attention, executive control, memory, and spatial abilities – when playing video game occurs in
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Much of the research focuses on the influence play has on child social development. There are different forms of play that have been noted to influence child social development. One study conducted by (Sullivan, 2003) explores the influence of playing styles with mothers versus playing styles with fathers and how it influences child social development. This article explains that "integral to positive development is the child’s social competence or, more precisely, the ability to regulate their own emotions and behaviours in the social contexts of early childhood to support the effective accomplishment of relevant developmental
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Show MoreThe key features of an effective play based learning environment are that children able to play uninterrupted for long periods of time and are able to choose from a range of resources and areas, letting them choose activities on their own accord. Children are able to develop a wide variety of skills by having lots of various resources to choose from. 2.5 Explain why both adult initiated and child initiated play and learning activities are important for children from birth to five years In an Early Years setting we allow children to participate in child initiated play. By allowing children to choose which resources they would like to play with let’s them explore their favourite type of activity, and have a sense of independence.
Even if you’re not involved in their play it offers a sense of reassurance to children. You can also support a play based approach to learning by encouraging children to play with things they may not have played with before e.g playing with the resource yourself alongside the child. If a child sees what you can do with the resource then they are more likely to eventually participate along side you, copying what you are doing. 4.3 Evaluate different materials and equipment to support play based learning opportunities for children in their early years
It has been shown that play is very important to a childâ€TMs learning. Learning through play helps a child make positive contribution.
For this extended assignment I am going to focus on play and the importance of play is for children and young people. I am going to focus on children up to age of 6. “Play is a spontaneous and active process in which thinking, feeling and doing can flourish.” (http://www.playwales.org.uk/ ). Play is Important for children and young people’s as it can help children to build their confidence.
Play accompanies and encourages development while keeping the child interested and engaged (Thompson, Stanford,
These activities are effective and crucial to a child’s development ability to learn. (Gwen Dewar, Parenting Science). Play is what gives us an idea of the world. It helps children get an understanding of what the world is. “Play is a creative process that fosters emotional health, imagination, original thinking, and self-regulation.
PSYCHOTHERAPY ASSIGNMENT: 1. Effectiveness of play therapy on various psychiatric disorders. “You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.” - Plato Introduction: The Association for Play Therapy defined play therapy as “the systematic use of a theoretical model to establish an interpersonal process wherein trained play therapists use the therapeutic powers of play to help clients prevent or resolve psychosocial difficulties and achieve optimal growth and development”
Despite it being easy to list down various play activities, it is difficult to come up with a set definition for it although it is widely accepted that play should very much be free, unstructured and mostly child-initiated. The purpose of play and the supposed benefits the different types of play aids in the development of a child will be further discussed. Given that play is such an integral part of a child’s life, based on evolutionary perspectives, there has to be a reason why children engage in play and thus classical play theories attempt to explain the purpose of play.
In addition, the structure of today 's video games requires certain types of learning that are very helpful to students, specifically computer skills. This proves, that kids are gaining new knowledge from these games. They also improve hand-eye coordination, and raises players’ self-esteem. The article (Wiley 2016) Science Daily states, “Gaming use was associated with better function in brain circuits critical for learning based on the acquisition of new skills through practice.”
Firstly, video games improves our interaction skills which is the ability to catch, kick, and throw. ISABEL GRANIC is a Professor and chairman in the developmental psychopathology department, in the behavioural science institute at RadBoud University. She did a research where she studied the difference between the attitude of a group of people who didn’t play video games and another group of people who played interaction video games. She saw that the people who have played video games seems to have much faster
In conclusion, there are many ways video games can have positive effects on your academic qualities, school grades, stress, and other important skill sets. This is why gamers shouldn't just be considered a student lacking in school with no friends. Actually if one plays just the right amount of video games they should be able to find themselves with great grades, lots of different skill, and a great method of relaxation. Video games are no longer just a recreational activity, but it could actually help you through the different fields in your
They often say, “Stop looking at the television and stop playing video games”, but they do not realize that these games help teens and children. “While a great many studies have been done, science has a long way to go before we fully understand the impact video games can have” (“Preface to” 1). Playing video games can “improve-spatial capacity, visual acuity, task switching, decision making and object tracking” (“Preface to” 1). Playing video games “has shown to enhance low-level vision, visual attention, processing speed and statistical inference... future studies are likely to uncover both detrimental effects of video games and significant benefits of their employment as learning and rehabilitation tools” (“Preface to” 1, 2).
In general, playing is the mutual popular activity among children because playing is fun and flexible, it can be personal, with the presence of others or with the social presence of others (De Kort & Ijsselsteijn, 2008). The researchers and experts believe that the power of play has an important psychological role in children’s development, as reinforced by Sutton-Smith (1993, p. 279) using “play as progress” and “play ethos” by Peter Smith (1988, p. 166) both cited in Pellegrini (1995). Goldstein (2012) stated that pretend play is one of the common types of interactive social play among 2- to 6-years-old children. He also mentioned that as children grow, the nature and function of pretend play will also change from simple imitation to more
Children are able to develop and practise motor skills and bodily movements through physical plays. During some cognitive games, such as board games and educational toys, children can improve their mental fitness and brain function. Play also provides opportunities for children to make friends, to negotiate with others, and to develop their communication skills. It helps extend language and improve children’s social ability. I believed that play is essential to children’s education that cannot be minimized and separated from learning.
Some experts agree that dramatic play is an integral part of a well rounded preschool program as it is healthy for early childhood development. Benefits of children play is children teaches self regulation. This is a great stepping stone for learning to self regulate their emotions. Some interesting things happen when children assign and accept roles in dramatic play they are motivated to stick to them, thinking of them as rules to follow. Their own rules.