The Importance of Play for Child Development

 



Play is an enjoyable activity which takes place as its own reward and is not used as a training based tool.  In my opinion activities involving play are very significant into developing stages of children. Research by the children development institute (1999) explains that 75 % of development of learning has to be investigated by the child itself. 

 Learning through play is an important role in growth of cognitive development which refers to the mental process of the child. It aims to exercise the ability to think, remember and solve problems. It gives them a chance to explore and test in whatever they are trying to achieve. An example of this would be a child advancing in the art of puzzle solving and building blocks (Rubin 2011). This means that the cognitive mind becomes larger in their understanding of size, shape and texture. This results in the understanding of relationships between objects. Leong and Bodrova (2005) identify that it also strengthens language within the child because they are able to organise their thoughts into whatever activity they are participating in. By the use of Books, Videos and Educational toys that demonstrate picture and word this can increase the child’s vocabulary, thus extending its everyday use of language.

             Singer et al. (2006) argues that play can also enhance social skills within their development by interacting with other children. I believe this is vital as they are learning to share and take other ideas and creativity into account. I also think that creative thought can be identified as an aspect of problem solving, which is a big part of play. When young children use their imagination they are more creative and perform better in later stages. It also enables them to work as a team at a challenge or as an individual.  

Play: Preschool and Toddler Building with Blocks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3f3rOz0NzPc&noredirect=1

This video demonstrates that even though they are individually working on building their blocks, they both help each other when they fall over. I believe this clearly shows the social development through the two different ages.

 

               Emotional development also becomes increased through play. Children learn to cope with pleasant or unpleasant feelings by acting out pretend play. Parents explained how their a 4 year old son acted when his dog has been hit by a car. He created a pretend play looking after his dog in a pet hospital. Landreth and Homeyer (1998, as cited in Isenberg and Jalongo 2006) confirmed him saying “I’m sad because the car hurt my dog”. By doing this allowed him to manage his emotions instead of getting angry and learn the aspect of reality.

              Finally it increases physical development with fine and gross motor skills. With the use of repetition in body movement it will allow the body to develop control.  Natanson (1997) studied the actions of an infant at play, first he hit the toy then grasped it and next he picked it up. This shows a vast improvement from simple to complex gestures.

        In my opinion play is an important part of childhood development. It allows different elements of the Child to develop but overall to gain control and to explore the world using imagination will prepare and structure the child for further education.