Reed and Brown (2000) proposed that it might be difficult to define play as it is ‘felt’ rather than ‘done’. Ramsay (1998, p. 23) defines play as a ‘vehicle for children to explore their differences and develop common themes that incorporate elements from many life experiences’. This definition provides a good insight into the concept of play however it does not encompass all types of play such as solitary play. Smidt (2011) articulates that through play children attempt to set and solve problems, explore and experience their interests and concerns and express and communicate their feelings within a context. This definition places the child at the centre of the activity and highlights the usefulness of play.
This is in contrast to the William Corsaro study, which is directed more towards looking at how children communicate with each other within their own social circle. He also studied children’s personal feelings towards friendships. In an interview with William Corsaro he said that his aim was to understand what the experience of childhood and friendship was like from a child’s point of view (Interview with William Corsaro 2010). From reading this it is clear that although the researchers were all interested in studying children’s friendships, they were looking at it from completely different angles. The Bigelow and La Gaipa (1975) study is a more general look at the subject in contrast to the Corsaro study which seems to be a more personal and individual based study.
Children can explore their emotions and it is only partly about producing an end product and is more about children enjoying the process and learning from it. Children who develop their own ideas and are not over- dependent on the ideas of others have a strong sense of self. Whilst children who are always being required to follow adult instructions and tasks cannot develop the control they need in order to be creative. Creativity is about doing things in new ways not like other people. Therefore, it is impossible to know in advance how a model or painting, dance or wooden block construction will look in the end.
The next part of the essay will look at how practitioners in schools and in the field of social work can improve their communicative relationships with the children they work with. When communicating with children there various ways in which to do so, such as, verbally, non-verbally - through body language, gestures, facial expressions and eye contact. It is important to remember that when adults are not directly addressing the child and are communicating with a different child or adult in the same setting, other children will be absorbing the information sent out and will be learning and developing there own understanding of how to communicate appropriately with others. (The Open University, 2008) To allow communication to take place with a child who has a disability the key worker needs to be fully aware of the child’s needs, in order to know how best to communicate with them. At my place of work we are often signed up to one to one work with children we have not worked closely with before.
Some theories about human development believe that humans develop from childhood in several critical stages from birth through adolescence. These different theories can be applied to children’s literature in a way that can help children understand moral lessons and social skills with age appropriate information. Depending on a child’s age, a book can convey information in a way they can understand and can help to spark interest for further development. Children’s books written with Piaget’s theory in mind give children understandable information on many different topics of life depending on which developmental stage the child is in. This gives the child an opportunity to address touchy subjects that may be difficult for adults to explain appropriately.
Smidt (2007) adds that if a child is told to do something, or play with a specific toy, there is no real play, as “the child has not chosen to do this” (p8); play is regarded as something that the children have decided for themselves. Play is a safe way to explore areas of excitement and concern, and issues which children face daily. The theory put forward by Piaget (1962) emphasises that children’s ability in logical concepts is largely dependent on their activity with possessions as well as social interactions – both associated with play. Practitioners can gain an insight into a child’s current level of knowledge, interests, and the issues that are important to them through observation of children at play. In order to effectively plan through play, children should be allowed space and time to naturally find individual skills and interests, which will subsequently allow practitioners to
Play is often regarded as difficult to define due to problems with differentiating between forms of play and non-play, whether or not it serves a function, and the lack of an explicit theory of play (Pellegrini, 2009). Despite the problems with defining play most agree that it contributors significantly to children's cognitive, physical, emotional and social development (Smith, 2010, Ginsburg, 2006). Social interactions are driven by an individual's willingness to engage with others in social interactions to seek their attention or approval (Shaffer & Kipp, 2007). One of the benefits of play is to allow children the opportunity to learn about social interaction and socialisation through childhood play scenarios. During childhood, research has indicated that children will engage in play in order to engage with their peers, create bounds and develop the social skills needed in later life through social play forms such as pretend and rough and tumble (R&T) play.
Thirdly, the detailed accounts often produced in case studies not only help to explore or describe the data in real-life environment, but also help to explain the complexities of real life situations which may not be captured through experimental or survey research. Major disadvantages include the accuracy in which children report their feelings, thoughts and experiences. Some children going through a case study try to please their interviewer by making up their
He suggested that the adult's role in helping the child learn was to provide appropriate materials for the child to interact and construct. He would use Socratic questioning to get the children to reflect on what they were doing. He would try to get them to see contradictions in their explanations. Theorist jean Piagets suggested that children think differently than adults and proposed a stage theory of cognitive development. He was the first to note that children play an active role in gaining knowledge of the world.
Selecting toys for young children can be challenging. Hopefully using these guidelines will make the process a little easier. References Good Toys for Young Children. National Association for the Education of Young Children. Retrieved from