Play

Play

Background on Value of Play

Play can be initially defined as what the child likes to do personally, without any prompting from anyone else. The best way to understand play is to compare it with work. According to a psychologist, play is something which is internally motivated, value, controlled, self initiated, self ended and open ended while on the other hand, work is externally motivated, evaluated, controlled, starts and stops according to schedules, and is done to achieve a target. (Bonura, Kimberlee, 2009, Pp. 2-6)

Thus it can be seen that play is something which is an internally motivating for the children, and it is no hidden fact that learning or skills acquired by one's own willingness are stored better then ones that are forced.

Playing aside from acting as a stress relief and way to pass the time for the children is also beneficial for the development of the child's mind and coordination skills. (Dufer, Miriam D., 2009, Pp. 522-27)

Physical Benefits

Playing with objects teaches the children to manipulate objects. It teaches them hand-eye coordination and body movements. At a very young age, in Montessori material, children are given a handful of shapes and small board with the cutouts of those shapes in it. The children learn and understand the shapes restrictions, how the square cannot fit in a triangle or circle, etc. etc. They might not know the names of the shapes but are able to figure out the physical nature of them and their movements and restrictions in the world.

Cognitive Benefits

Piaget's Cognitive Development theory suggests that children learn differently from adults. They construct and de-construct information in their minds again and again. According to Piaget, play is playing at the already acquired sense of order and meaning. When the children alter the pre-established meanings and notions of objects over and over again, that is when Piaget says children are learning. According to him this is different from memorizing a set of facts and figures and is diverse according to the cultures and is built more upon personal explorations and egocentric processes, which become social processes later on. The other kids or peers act as significant agents of change there.

Social-emotional

Children develop their social emotional skills most when they play. Fantasy games, in which they invent their own characters, talk and act for them, teaches them how to think for a completely set of different circumstances. While playing games with other children, ...