WHEN CHILDREN ARE ‘JUST PLAYING’

Do you know that a great deal happens when children are ‘just playing’?  They are actually developing their skills, habits and attitudes that will stay with them throughout their lives.  When they are ‘just playing’, they

• learn to cope with frustration
• continue trying to improve
• share with others
• give vocal expression to their thoughts and fantasies

Playing is especially meaningful and important for young children.  Actually, in playing, the children have put in a tremendous amount of energy and effort to it.  The three important factors in ‘just playing’ are

• skill development
• social development
• imagination and creativity

Learning, for children, occurs in all areas of development.  Learning for them is ‘the learning for keeps’.  They learn:

1.         Skill Development

reaching to get something

 

learn to coordinate movements of their hands with what their eyes see

hold, listen, feel and manipulate

create the desired effect with a toy

solving problems faced when trying to get the desired effect

practice to acquire and improve the skills necessary to achieve their goals

  

2.         Social Development

adjusting from having adults as playmate to children of similar ages

get to know other children

learn to get along

learn that hitting may get them a desired toy but loose an equally desired friend

other children have wants just as they do

sharing and kindness bring more rewards than snatching and pushing

3.         Imagination and Creativity

role playing

demonstrate some knowledge of the roles

 

Shared from:

Play time is learning time (Joy of learning) - Mattle

StarSpecial, Thursday 28 March 2013