A) Intellectual development
i. Cognitive growth is an increase in the child's basic store of knowledge.
Diverse play experiences are associated with cognitive growth, particularly related to categorization and organization.
ii. Play uses problem solving behavior, and encourages persistence and creativity.
B) Social and emotional development
i. Social play encourages perspective taking and discourages egocentrism. ii. Play offers a safe outlet for resolving fear and anxiety, and may also offer teachers a source of information about children's concerns.
C) Physical development
i. Play allows children to practice both gross and fine motor skills. ii. Children of all ages need to participate in active play.
10. Schools restrict play, offering more guidance and observation but also more limitations.
Teachers need to select play experiences that further their educational goals.
A) Types of play in the school setting
i. Instrumental play is encouraged by the teacher.
ii. Illicit play is discouraged or forbidden by the teacher, but may still serve children's developmental needs.
iii. Some forms of play, such as war, are controversial. Class discussions can
ensure that students will understand society's positive goals, as well as alternative strategies to violence.
iv. Superhero play can be mediated through class discussions.
B) Play is important in the primary grades, although it focuses more on exploration than on sociodramatic themes.
C) The school setting offers advantages for play that the home may not, including space and materials, large blocks of time and an attentive adult.
D) Teacher views on play are easily communicated to children.
E) Open-ended materials provide children with the most choice because they do not have built-in limitations, and encourage creativity and problem solving.
F) Play is an effective teaching-strategy. As suggested by Constructivist theory, play
allows children to explore their world and form concepts about objects, organization, scientific principles and social functions. Play also provides opportunities to assess what children understand about a topic or skill.
G) Teachers need to communicate the importance of play and the child's activities to parents and administrators.
i. An anecdotal record provides verbatim transcripts of the child's activities for brief periods of time each day. These transcripts, in conjunction with clearly identified interpretation and comments, can be used to see patterns in children's development.
ii. Records listing the toys each child played with during the day, or at specific times, provide information about children's preferences.
iii. Records about children's outcomes, or sample products, can be used to track children's developmental progress.
H) Play is associated with and predictive of children's academic achievement. Each academic skill (e.g., language arts, science, mathematics) can be linked to particular kinds of play. Teachers should plan diverse play activities so that all skills are developed.
11. Outdoor play offers the same opportunities for planning, learning, and assessment as indoor play, without the limitations on movement and noise.
12. Children with special needs
A) Children with developmental delays may play more like younger children than age peers, and may need help joining and participating in groups.
B) Early intervention and modeling may help develop social skills in children with special needs, but withdrawal of intervention is necessary for long-term effectiveness.
C) Contingency play, in which teachers respond to children's actions, is very effective at engaging abused children.
D) Gifted children may need assistance in relating to age peers.