05.04.08
Play Is Serious Business For Childrens’ Intelligence
Too many parents consider play as simply a means of diverting
and distracting their children. Playthings are often seen as a
means of keeping children happy, rewarding them, keeping them
out of mischief, and giving parents free time.
Not often enough do parents think of play and toys as
fundamental aspects of a child’s education, as a means through
which children learn to understand the world around them, and as
the primary method by which children acquire many basic skills.
Parents can help make their children’s play stimulating by doing
three things.
First, they can adopt an attitude of conscious, deliberate
planning in which play is regarded as one of the most important
aspects of their children’s environment.
Second, they can see to it that their children are provided with
the kinds of toys and playthings that will help develop the
widest possible varieties of skills and abilities.
Third, they can assume a direct, participating role in their
children’s play.
Planning a child’s play does not mean planning each activity for
every moment of the child’s playtime. On the contrary, children
should have maximum independence in choosing their own
activities. And, within the limits of the daily routine of the
home, a child should also choose the time for their activities,
as well as the duration of each. Good planning makes sure that
play is as varied and stimulating as possible.
A child should play at different times, with friends, with
parents, and by theirself. This play should include, within a
period of about a month, all or most of the following types of
activities, each geared to the age level of the child.
Here are 5 of them:
#1. Games Games are perhaps the most basic of all forms of play.
>From peek-a-boo to chess, from pat-a-cake to baseball, games
occupy a central role in the lives of most children from infancy
to adolescence. Games may be physical or mental. In general they
involve the development of skills, although some lead to the
acquisition of information.
#2. Arts and Crafts Arts and crafts give children many
opportunities to express their desire to make things. Crayons,
paints, clay, construction paper, scissors and paste, wood,
leather, felt, and cardboard are among the materials that help
children develop their creative imaginative, and aesthetic
abilities. Arts and crafts also develop skills in manipulation,
perception, and analysis.
#3. Construction Play Construction play involves assembling
objects from what are usually prefabricated parts. It is less
creative than arts and crafts, but is also useful in developing
many skills. Putting together a set of railroad tracks and
trains is a form of construction play, as is play with erector
sets, Tinker toys, blocks and the like.
#4. Projective Play Protective play is play in which a child
adds dramatic and emotional meaning to activities with
representative toysdolls, trucks, soldiers, homemaking sets,
and doctor kits. Its great value lies in the role playing done
by the child rather than in the development of specific skills.
#5. Hobbies Hobbies which cannot be otherwise classified will
generally fall under the heading of collecting activities.
Collecting stamps, coins, rocks and minerals, butterflies and
insects, sea shells, and leaves are all common and popular
hobbies. While some help in the development of certain skills,
their greatest value is in the considerable knowledge a child
can acquire in pursuing them.
Most play can be classified in one of these five groups, and,
ideally, play should include all of these types. Also, as skills
develop, the activities should move to a higher, more mature
level.
However, a child does not automatically vary his play or develop
in it. This is where the parent’s planning comes in -
continually making the child aware of the broad opportunities
available to him in play; initiating certain activities during
playtime; making suggestions when the child needs and wants
them; buying toys that will, in themselves, lead to new
pursuits; stimulating new interests and ideas in any of a
variety of ways. The parent should not manage the child’s play,
but should try to nudge it in the right directions.
