Outdoor Play and the Theoretical Dimensions of Play - Literature review Example

Outdoor Play and the Theoretical Dimensions of Play Location of the Davies, et al (2008, p. 12) define play as an activity that is done for the sake of its own. It is mainly focused with the means and not the end; the end can be achieved using any means of interest as long as it brings out the expected excitement. Children engage in plays where they put things in new combinations (roles are carried out differently) for a positive effect (children always laugh and smile from them) (Clark & Waller, 2007, p.50). Plays are commonly triggered by exploration since through exploration a child is able to discover something of interest that then leads to play. Children are always exited by plays unless when they are sick or when they have a serious psychological condition. Children look at what happens around them and try to put it in their world of play. They imitate people who are close to them and play the exact roles these people play in the real life (Davies, 2008. P16). For instance, children can have a play reflecting a family life history. In this play you will find one child who is particularly female acting as a mother and another of the opposite sex acting as a father. Others who most likely are a bit younger will be the children in this play (Dunn & Hughes, 2001, p. 491). The ‘mother’ will emulate the roles of a mother in real life for example cooking. The ‘father’ will carry out a father’s roles (giving orders) while ‘children’ are expected to behave like children- be obedient. From the above reflection of play, we can say that gender has a critical place in a child’s life (Davies & Howe, 2007, p. 224). Gender differs greatly from one cultural orientation to the other; the role played by a woman in the western culture differs with the role played by a woman in the African setting. This means that a child will grow and perform particular tasks depending on the cultural orientation (Dunn & Hughes, 2001, p. 505). Consequently a child growing up in Africa will have a different perception of gender from the one growing up in the western countries. Children use their sense of sight and only incorporate what they see into their world of play. Davies and Howe (2007, p. 237) concurs that plays are exhibited differently at different stages of development starting with simple plays at a younger age followed by complex plays at an older age. In children imagination is also a key aspect of play since a child will try to transform a narrative into play. They will have a particular set of things in their mind and try to incorporate them into their play (Clark & Waller, 2007, p. 150). As they become older their imagination ability determines the nature of the play they will engage in. You will observe a child using all means to come up with a certain set up of things which she/he has in his mind. Unfortunately if this fails, the child will feel frustrated or even cries. According to Pellegrini (2005, p. 113) children invest much of their time and energy in plays and indeed it is for a worth course as said by many theorists. Parents may view plays as an activity that makes their children dirty and furthermore wastes their time. Psychologists however consider play to be an opportunity for a child to learn and explore their potentials (Howe, 2006, p. 161). They have found out that people who never played when they were young tend to have some delinquencies in life. For example someone who did not have a chance to play and associate with other people when he/she was young, will generally have problems relating with people. Theorists have explained plays from the locomotive point of view. Here Whitebread and Coltman (2008, p. 256) explains that plays promote movement since they include things like running and climbing. Often children are seen chasing each other, others go to the extent of climbing walls or trees in order to avoid being caught. These types of activities are often believed to train body muscles physically and they enhance skill, endurance and strength (Davies & Howe, 2007, p. 74). Active playground games increases with age and are at the peak in lower primary school times. There is evidence that these types of active plays reflect the hypothesis of cognitive maturity which states, ‘exercise helps children to put aside demands that need more mature capacities’. Pellegrini (2005, p. 138) asserts that plays enhance socialization of a child by giving him/her an opportunity to interact with the environment. This is when children are seen playing with their caretakers and friends. At a younger age a child finds playing with a single party complex but with time she/he will start participating in plays with multiple parties. For instance at between the ages of 1-2years, they can only interact with their caretakers but at the age of around 5years they are able to play with friends. Through this children are able to acquire skills of social coordination and interpretation (Dunn & Cutting, 2000, p. 201). Others mostly boys can engage in a play fights which seems like real a fight but blows and kicks do not reach the body or if they do they are soft. Whitebread and Coltman (2008, p. 301) consider plays to be a major transmitter of societal values and norms. As children interact with their environment they, they come into contact with the rules that govern a particular society. In their plays you will often hear them say, “Don’t do that, it is wrong”. From that a children will get to know what society expects of them. Sociologists continue to say that children who are denied the aspect of play obviously have problems knowing what is expected of them (Dunn and Cutting, 2000, p. 219). Moreover they argue that it is easier for a child to learn from their fellows than to learn from an adult. In other plays children are seen manipulating objects in order to get whatever they desire. This is commonly shown by children between the ages of 2-3, where they assemble objects (materials) and start building houses or even making toy cars (Davies and Howe, 2007, p. 85). It also includes dressing, feeding and plaiting toys- mainly in girls. Theorists have said that through this, children are able to increase their creativity and innovativeness. Their problem solving skills develop as they try to match combinations so as to come up with a better form of something (Howe, 2006. P181). The main advantage of children playing with objects is to allow a child to be more independent and creative. A child who utilize this opportunity appropriately, seem to have very high sense of reason. We also have language plays where children can be heard mimicking their elders or talking to themselves. Some come up with humorous statements reflecting particular situations (Smith, 2005. P173). For example you will hear a child saying, “I am a cow. I eat grass” or repeating words that other people say. Analyzing the impacts of language plays, researchers have found out that they improve language skills: vocabulary, give meaning of words, grammar and pragmatics (putting words in their particular social context). Moreover such monologues enable children to develop phonological skills (Howe & Davies, 2010, p. 50). They are mainly common in children of 3-4 years old. Another dimension of play is pretence where a child takes something and presents it as something else. It is common as from the age of 3 years and here a child can be seen taking something like a banana to be a telephone- he/she pretends to be using the ‘phone’ to talk to someone (Smith, 2005, p. 209). Also activities like a child pretending to be asleep or singing a lullaby to a dolly to put it to sleep are always common here. Play therapists have seen this type of play to enhance the mind development theory (Roskos & Christie, 2007, p. 241). It happens when a child understands something and tries to represent it in another form. It also helps a child to realize that different objects have different functions. A socio-dramatic dimension of looking at plays says that children try to represent social situations dramatically (Brook, 2009, p. 85). They start playing with friends and assume particular roles. Children can act out a school environment; some take the role of teachers while others assume the role of pupils. You can see children negotiating roles, “You are a student, right?” and also give ideas on what they feel an appropriate behavior is, “You don’t teach like that!” Representing a social situation dramatically helps children to develop pre-literacy skills like plot development. Roskos and Christie (2007, p. 250) agree that these plays also have been found to enhance emotions in that some real life situations that cause pain to a child can be acted and a child can derive pleasure from that. Social dramatic plays promote cooperation, understanding and communication among children (Howe and Davies, 2010, p. 92). As they negotiate and present different ideas to their friends, they learn to listen to others hence enhancing communication. In order to come up with a constructive play, they need to cooperate and understand one another. Such cooperation and understanding is termed by theorists of play as ‘play frames’. These frames are the ones responsible for designating a child’s actions in a play session as play and not as talking about the play (Brook, 2009, p. 291) Negotiation and assigning of roles in a play are called meta-communication; it helps children to stand aside from the play and talk about it. It brings about shared understanding among the children as they try to understand what to be done. In summary, play is very important in children. Children should be encouraged to play since plays have very many positive impacts in their development. Biologically children are said to possess a lot of energy that enables them to be active always. This is why you find children always in a jovial and playful mood as compared to older people. They should be given an opportunity to discover what happens around them and in the process utilize their surplus energy. It has been found out that children who play constantly develop faster as they acquire new skills and knowledge. They derive a lot of pleasure; joy and excitement from plays hence lead a life of satisfaction. On the other hand parents should be made to understand the importance of play in child development in order to give their children easy time to play. References Brook, A 2009, Perspectives on Play: learning for Life, UK: Longman Publishers. Pp 10-291. Clark, M & Waller, T 2007, Early Childhood Education and Care: Policy and Practice, UK: SAGE Publications. pp 50-150. Davies, D & Howe, A 2007, Exploration, investigation and enquiry, Moyles, J (ed.), Beginning Teaching - Beginning Learning, (3rd Ed.), Maidenhead: Open University Press. Pp 74-85. Davies, D & Howe, A 2007, What does it mean to be creative? Moyles, J (ed.), Early Years Foundations: Meeting the Challenge, Maidenhead: Open University Press. Pp 224-237. Davies, D et al, 2008, Modelling dialogic teaching in primary science teacher education, Science Teacher Education; 53(9), pp 12-16. Dunn, J & Cutting, A 2000, Understanding others, and individual differences in friendship interactions in young children, Social Development; 8(2):201-219. Dunn, J & Hughes, C 2001, “I got some swords and you’re dead!”: Violent fantasy, antisocial behavior, friendship, and moral sensibility in young children, Child Development; 72(2). Pp 491-505. Howe, A & Davies, D 2010, Science and play, Moyles, J (ed.), The Excellence of Play, (3rd Ed.). Maidenhead: Open University Press, pp 50-92. Howe, A 2006, Creative teaching and learning in the Foundation Stage, Oliver, A (ed.), Creative Teaching: Science in the Early Years and Primary Classroom, London: David Fulton, pp. 161-181. Pellegrini, A 2005, Gustafson K. Boys’ and girls’ uses of objects for exploration, play, and tools in early childhood, Smith P, (eds.), The Nature of Play: Great Apes and Human, New York, NY: Guilford Press. pp 113-138. Roskos, K & Christie, J 2007, (eds.), Play and Literacy: Research from Multiple Perspectives, 2nd (ed.), Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. pp 241-250. Smith, P 2005, Social and pretend play in children, Smith P, (eds.), The Nature of Play: Great Apes and Humans. New York, NY: Guilford Publications. pp 173-209. Whitebread, D & Coltman, P 2008, Teaching and Learning in the Early years, Britain: Routledge, pp 256-301. Read More