Reflective Essay on Play and Early Childhood

Reflective Essay on Play and Early Childhood

The value of play is a highly recognised and researched subject, the majority of work and information found on this will point in the same direction; that play is a fundamental, intrinsically driven part of a child?s life from birth.

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It enhances a child?s development in addition to the enjoyment that children get out of participating in play. But what is play, and why is it so important? According to Oxford Dictionaries (2014), play is said to be an ?activity engaged in for enjoyment and recreation, especially by children?.

There are various types of play a child can get involved in, such as active play, imaginative/role play, games with rules, and explorative and manipulative play (Sheridan, Harding and Meldon-Smith, 2002).

Each type of play provides different experiences and learning outcomes; for example a child may become more physcially fit and able to take more risks during active play, but it is through playing a game with rules that they will learn to adhere to social norms and values, learning to take turns and conforming to an agreed set of rules.

Many Pioneers throughout the history of early childhood studies have published their theories and perspectives around the subject, and have attempted to explain why certain types of play are so significant; according to Giardiello (2013), for Susan Isaacs: ??play should be truly open-ended, unpredictable and controlled and directed by the players- that is, the children?(p.120).

The type of play Isaacs is supporting here is what Bruce (1991, cited in Forbes 2004 p.5) calls ?free flow play?. This is where the child is able to choose the activity or game he/she would like to take part in with no adult involvement or control and with no end product or goal. (Forbes, 2004).

This type of play has its benefits of which will be explored; however, to categorise just this one type of play and stating that it should be this way is restricting ? not only for the child but for the practitioner. …

Arrange flexible indoor and outdoor space and resources where children can explore, build, move and role play.? (Early Education, 2012 p. 6) A child could even lay back and listen to sounds, or observe their surroundings, having fun but also learning about their world . It was Rousseau (cited in Wellhousen, 2002) who first suggested that children would learn better from a natural environment rather than a classroom, although it was Pestalozzi and Froebel who w……………………………