The Importance of Free Play to Children s Development

8/21/2019 The Importance of Free Play to Children s Development

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The Importance of Free Play to Children's Development

Pei-San Brown, John A. Sutterby, James A. Therrell, Candra D. Thornton

Introduction

All children have a riht to !lay. Play is a !rocess by which children learn. "ood #uality !lay o!!ortunities have a sini$icant im!act on child develo!ment. %&oore, "oltsman, 'Iaco$ano, ())*, !. i+Play involves the whole child. Thinin, creative e+!ression o$ thouhts and $eelins, and !hysical demands all interact in the dynamic !rocess o$ !lay. Children learn aboutrelationshi!s with !eers, sini$icant adults, and the world around them. They e+!eriencethe $ull rane o$ their senses and $eelins, how their bodies move throuh s!ace, and howtheir imainations can create alternate worlds o$ e+istence. hen children build with blocs or sand, rom! throuh the modules o$ a !layround su!erstructure, learn limitsand bond throuh rouh and tumble !lay, or e+!ress themselves and re!resent the worldthrouh hundreds o$ di$$erent materials, they rea! the bene$its o$ !lay in thousands o$

di$$erent ways. They are constantly learnin and develo!in, becomin healthy, well- balanced individuals throuh !lay./Play is $un0/ This how children usually res!ond when ased about !lay. But !lay is morethan 1ust $un. Play is enain, voluntary and s!ontaneous. 2ree !lay is a way $orchildren to learn more about who they are and what they can do. Play is a way $orchildren to test limits, enae in $antasy, and learn about others. 3esearchers andscientists disaree as to why !lay is so im!ortant $or children, but they all aree that !layoccurs the world over, and that children bene$it in many ways $rom $ree !lay.Play in the 4nited States over the last century has one $rom bein almost e+clusively anoutdoor activity to one that is o$ten situated indoors in $ront o$ televisions and com!uters.Schools, so o$ten concerned with academic develo!ment, have sacri$iced outdoor !lay,

and administrators may not be aware o$ the dire conse#uences $or children. 5utdoor !layis very di$$erent than indoor !lay, and the s!eci$ic sills develo!ed durin outdoor !laycannot be develo!ed com!letely throuh indoor !lay alone.The bene$its o$ outdoor !lay accrue in many ways. 5bvious e+am!les are im!rovedcardiovascular and ross motor bene$its. 6ess obvious is the role o$ outdoor !lay inchildren7s conitive, emotional, and social develo!ment. Physical activity !romotesincreased blood $low to the brain, leadin to conitive develo!ment %She!ard, ())8. Inaddition to this, children are able to enae in ris tain behaviors outdoors that would be im!ossible indoors, challenin themselves in ways which lead to im!roved sel$-esteem and sel$-con$idence %9llis, ()8:. Children can enae in rouh !lay and chaseames, which are im!ortant not only $or their !hysical develo!ment, but also $or theirsocial develo!ment. Throuh social !lay, they learn the sinals needed $or success$ul !lay with others, as well as the rules $or startin and sto!!in !lay %Bateson, ()8*;Pellerini, ())


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Children understand !er$ectly what $ree !lay is and what it isn7t--it is adults who needhel! com!rehendin the !henomenon. In order to !rovide a means o$ orani=in all theways in which $ree !lay is enaed, cateories o$ !lay have been established.The $irst cateory is /conitive !lay,/ or ty!es o$ !lay which !rimarily build thinin andreasonin sills. This includes re!etitive muscle movements to e+!lore the environment

%e.., re!eatedly hittin the round with a shovel, or re!etitively oin u! and down theste!s, e+!loratory !lay, !retend !lay, construction !lay %e.., buildin sand castles, andames with rules.The second cateory is /social !lay./ This cateory enca!sulates the various wayschildren interact with !eers durin $ree !lay o!!ortunities. These includesolitary>inde!endent !lay, !arallel !lay %children !lay beside each other but not with eachother, buddy !lay %* children !lay toether, and rou! !lay.The third cateory deals with children7s !hysical develo!ment. This includes !hysicalrowth o$ the body and vital orans, health-related $itness, and ross and $ine motoractivities.A $ourth cateory deals with children7s emotional develo!ment, which includes a$$ective

reactions durin !lay. This cateory includes behaviors such as aression %intent tohurt and verbal sinals %lauhin, cryin, etc..These $our cateories, conitive, social, !hysical, and emotional, cover the s!ectrum o$ behaviors children enae in durin $ree !lay, and they ive adults words to use toconvey the sini$icance and essential $unctions o$ children7s !lay.Conitive Develo!ment durin 2ree PlayDes!ite the manner in which estern culture tends to minimi=e %/1ust !layin/, dislie%/et serious0/, and triviali=e %/burnin e+cess enery/ the value o$ $ree !lay, researchoverwhelminly !rovides evidence o$ the bene$its it o$$ers children. 9nain in $ree !lay behaviors !rovides children with a means to e+!lore, interact with, and learn abouttheir environments. /Play contains all develo!mental tendencies...and is itsel$ a ma1orsource o$ develo!ment/ %?yotsy, ()8@, !. (*. 2riedrich 2roebel, inventor o$ theinderarten, observed that /Play...is hihly serious and o$ dee! sini$icance/ %2roebel,(@@8, !.


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children are !layin, they are buildin com!le+ abilities o$ investiation, #uestionin,e+!lorin, reasonin, testin, hy!othesi=in, rationali=in, creatin, and imainin.&aria &ontessori brilliantly ca!tures the role o$ !lay in children7s conitivedevelo!ment /Eis intellience no loner develo!s by e+istin it needs a world o$ thinswhich !rovide him with motives $or his activity. It has been called 7the blessed ae o$

!lay7/ %()8, !. (@.9naement in $ree !lay also a$$ects a second !art o$ children7s conitive develo!ment--their brains. Fot only does !lay in$luence thinin and reasonin, but it also in$luencesyoun human brain develo!ment. 3ecent neuroloical research stronly su!!orts the lin between !lay and conitive develo!ment %2rost, ())@ and that children who have had noe+!erience in !lay su$$er conitive underdevelo!ment %Bodrova ' 6eon, ()). Sutton-Smith %())@, when commentin on the dro! in the number o$ syna!tic connections $romthe ae ( months to ae ( years, $rom (, trillion to


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rins true. As Peter and Iona 5!ie %()


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Accordin to 2rost et al., !erce!tual-motor sills includeBody awareness--understandin about the di$$erent !arts o$ the body, how they move,what they can do, and how to mae movements more e$$icient.S!atial awareness--understandin about how the body and ob1ects occu!y s!ace and how

to move them within that s!ace.Directional awareness--understandin about the location and direction o$ the body andob1ects in s!ace.Tem!oral awareness--understandin about the relationshi! between movement and time%i.e. rhythm, se#uencin.Perce!tual-motor develo!ment hel!s children become aware o$ their own bodies and therelationshi! o$ their bodies to others and the world around them.Children7s !hysical develo!ment also includes health-related bene$its, such as aerobic andmuscular endurance, strenth, $le+ibility, im!rovement in the $unction o$ vital orans%Inico, ())M. 5utdoor $ree !lay !rovides essential stimulation $or children7s bodies byincreasin blood $low and there$ore o+yen to all vital orans, im!rovin aerobic and

muscular $unctionin. 9+!erience in all ty!es o$ movement, includin both ross and $inemotor activities, increases muscular res!onses by strenthenin syna!tic connections%"abbard, ())@. 3e!etition o$ a variety o$ movements builds muscle strenth and$le+ibility. Throuh $ree !lay outdoors, children re!eat, ada!t, and re$ine all ty!es o$movement in various combinations, thereby cultivatin their !hysical sills,develo!ment, and health.

9motional Develo!ment durin 2ree Play

Eealthy !lay and healthy emotional develo!ment o hand-in-hand. 2or children, $ree !layis a time $or unbounded e+!ression o$ their $eelins, and in many ways children are their$eelins. The more access children have to $ree !lay, the reater o!!ortunity they have $or e+!ressin themselves durin role !lay, construction !lay, rouh 7n7 tumble, and other$orms o$ !lay. Children o$ten use su!erstructures and other !lay elements to enaeactively in chase or other role !lay where e+!ression o$ $eelins are su!!orted in a sa$eenvironment %2rost, Lim, Therrell, Thornton, *. Also, the more enclosed elements o$su!erstructures are used by children to rest, reain emotional com!osure, sociali=e, andmae !lans $or their ne+t role !lay %2rost, Brown, Sutterby, Therrell, *.Durin !retend !lay children e+!eriment with di$$erent roles that a$$ord o!!ortunities toe+!lore a wide rane o$ emotions %Smilansy, ()). In a sa$e and su!!ortiveenvironment, these emotions are /!layed out./ 5ver time, children are able to maeun$amiliar emotions more $amiliar and less scary %Siner ' Siner, ()88, and they areable to e+ercise reater control over their li$e than durin other, more adult-structuredtimes %6andreth ' Eoymeyer, ())@. 2or e+am!le, when children !lay doctor, !arent, baby, or other roles, they develo! a wider sense o$ !ers!ective, increase theirunderstandin or a!!reciation o$ other roles, and ada!t to di$$icult, challenin situations.Such ada!tations are o$ten thera!eutic $or children %6andreth, ())(, hel!in them to healtheir immediate emotional wounds and to deal with the !ower$ul, omni!resent !ictures o$ virtual media and real violence in our society %ebb, ())(. 9+!ressin $eelins throuh


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!lay !ermits children to mae their own !ath toward healthy emotional develo!ment,alon with the su!!ort o$ !arents and other sini$icant adults.

Conclusion

9ach one o$ these $our cateories, conitive, social, !hysical, and emotional, !lays anim!ortant !art in the develo!ment o$ the whole child. e need to insure that childrenHs$ree !lay activities include o!!ortunities $or all these elements that are essential to theirrowth and success. Providin am!le, healthy !lay o!!ortunities $osters the uni#ue !otential o$ each child to learn and develo! sills, conce!ts, and character in a way thatonly !lay can !rovide.

3e$erences

Bateson, ". %()8*. Ste!s to an ecoloy o$ mind. Few Nor Ballantine.

Beley, S. %())8, S!rin>Summer. Eow to build a baby7s brain. Fewswee S!ecial9dition, *@-:(.

Bodrova, 9. ' 6eon, D. J. %()). Tools o$ the mind The vyotsian a!!roach to earlychildhood education. Few Jersey Prentice-Eill.

Corsaro, . %()@


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2rost, J., ortham, S. ' 3ei$el, S. %*(. Play in child develo!ment. Columbus, 5EPrentice Eall-&errill.

"abbard, C. %())@. indows o$ o!!ortunity $or early brain and motordevelo!ment. Journal o$ Physical 9ducation, 3ecreation, and Dance, )%@,


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Siner, D., ' Siner, J. %()88. Partners in !lay A ste!-by-ste! uide to imainative !layin children. Few Nor Teachers Collee Press.

Smilansy, S. %()). Sociodramatic !lay Its relevance to behavior and achievement inschool. In 9. Lluman ' S. Smilansy %9ds., Children7s !lay and learnin Pers!ectives

and !olicy %!!.(@-M*. Few Nor Teachers Collee Press.Smilansy, S. ' She$atya, 6. %()). 2acilitatin !lay A medium $or !romotinconitive, socio-emotional, and academic develo!ment in youn children. "aithersbur,&D Psycholoical and 9ducational Publications.

Sutton-Smith, B. %())@. The ambiuity o$ !lay. Cambride, &A Earvard 4niversityPress.

Sylva, L. %()88. Play and learnin. In B. Ti=ard ' D. Earvey %9ds., Bioloy o$ !lay %!!.

The Importance of Free Play to Children s Development

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