Unit 3P1 Explain play types for children at different ages and stages of development. P2 Explain how play and learning activities support the physical, cognitive, language, social and emotional, development of young children. Physical play: Explain? – Area of development it supports? Physical play is a type of play that engages children in physical activities such as running, jumping and playing tag and hide-and-seek. It is exercise that enhances the physical well-being of children, and can also provide an outlet for their never ending energy.
The area of development it supports is physical development, because the children can learn to use their Fine and Gross motor skills in physical play, e.g. picking toys up or riding a bike. The reason that this helps is because physical play allows children to learn and explore the world they live in, as well as being able to socialise with other children that are of a similar physical development to themselves. They are also working on fitness skills such as agility, speed, power, balance and coordination, coordination is important because without it children can’t use their fine motor skills.
Physical play also decreases the risk of developing health conditions like heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and other health conditions. Play and learning activities support the physical development of young children, the support that these activities provide can help the children develop their skills. One key activity which helps develop a child’s skills is: outdoor play. This allows the child’s imagination to run wild, and also their bodies too. This helps physical development because that child is learning how to explore the world as well as exploring the small world, like small creatures and the opposite which is being able to run around. Play and learning activities support cognitive development of young children, the activities do this by testing the children and pushing them to allow them to learn new things, as well as making sure the knowledge they already know stays inside. One example of this is when children are outside and the practitioners get out the dominoes, dominoes are then placed by the same number in another way round, and the activity for the children is for them to match the dominoes. This allows the children to test their knowledge, and develop it at the same time. The way play and learning activities develop the language of a young child is by allowing the child to listen and being in a language rich environment, E.G. a class room, or a book area which allows the children to read the language which has been presented in-front of the children. The emotional effects that Play and learning activities have on young children Play supports emotional development by providing a way to express and cope with feelings. Pretend play helps children express feelings by simplifying events by creating an imaginary character, plot, or setting to match their emotional state. Play and learning activities have an effect on a child’s social skills by helping that child gather friends and learn how to communicate with other children, they can do this through play and activities. What is the definition of Physical play? Play is an essential component for the normal development of children. It can occur spontaneously or as a planned activity, which can be either physical or mental. Its primary aim is the sheer enjoyment of the participant or participants. Other categories of play are expressive play, manipulative play, symbolic play, dramatic play and surrogate play. Example: An example of physical play is when the children are outside and they are running round, this is developing their skills because they are becoming aware of their own space and not bumping into one another. This can also help the children learn the consequences of bumping into another child. Sensory play: Explain? – Area of development it supports? There isn’t a specific area of development that sensory play develops, but it does follow 3 areas of development. Physical. What is the definition of Sensory play? Relating to the senses or sensation. Noting a structure or conveying an impulse that results or tends to result in sensation, as a nerve.- Dictionary meaning The way that Sensory play helps children develop is by. Sensory play can take on many forms and involve many different experiences. Sensory Experiencesaim to take a child on a journey through either a story or theme using all of their senses (touch, smell, taste, sight and sound) Messy Artis exactly what it is, this type of play is sensory because of touch, using either dry or wet messy materials this is good to help the child explore making their mark, and will often also include the 5 main senses. TheCreative Playaspect of this type of play is slightly different and focuses a little more on engaging the child by using their 5 senses which in turn will encourage other children to explore the environment they find themselves in and develop child led play, independence and creative thinking skills. Being Imaginative Children use what they have learnt about media and materials in original ways, thinking about uses and purposes. They represent their own ideas, thoughts and feelings through design and technology, art, music, dance, role play and stories. Example: One example of Sensory play is also known as Heuristic play, this is when children have objects in a treasure basket and they use them as something else entirely, this helps their development because they are then prepared for when they need to use their imagination for other toys, Sensory play also gives the children some way that they connect with their friends because they can all connect as they might all like the objects in the treasure basket, this is when the children learn how to share. Imaginative play: What is the definition of Imaginative play? Imaginative play is essentially when children are role playing and are acting out various experiences they may have had or something that is of some interest to them. They are experimenting with decision making on how to behave and are also practising their social skills. Children learn from experience: from what happens around them, from what they see, hear, smell, taste and touch. To absorb those experiences and make sense of the world, they need to be engaged in imaginary play. Explain? – Area of development it supports? Pretending, or imaginative play, is one of the cornerstones of a young child’s world. Kids begin demonstrating this behaviour around the age of 2. Almost anything can spur your child’s imagination, including everyday objects. This is because they use them as symbols, they’re learning that one thing can stand for other things. Using this new ability to pretend, they can transform a block of wood into a boat, a few pots and pans into a drum set. How does it help their motor skills? Imaginative play helps children’s motor skills by When a child engages in imaginative play, by pretending to be different characters in their own way and observing the result, they are essentially experimenting with the social and emotional roles of life. It’s about learning who they are as individuals and how they fit into the world around them, how the world works. They develop empathy and learn how to co-operate, to become responsible and how to share responsibility. How does imaginative play develop children’s skills? Pretend play also benefits children in developing their self-esteem and self-awareness. There is a sense of freedom which flows from therealisationthat you can be anything by just pretending. It’s a safe and secure way to experiment and test boundaries, and build confidence. How does it allow children to use their skills? Through imaginative play and role play, children learn to choose their words carefully so that others can understand what they are trying to communicate. In turn, children learn to listen properly to what others have to say, as they have to do this in order to understand what is going on around them and how they fit in – as essential skill for learning anything at school, as listening is important at school. Example: pretend play provides children with a variety of different problems to solve and scenarios to think about. Participating in pretend play in such a way requires a child to develop their cognitive thinking skills that they will find themselves using in each aspect of everyday life, and this will stay with them all the way through to adulthood. Creative play: — Cutting and sticking Explain? – Area of development it supports? Creating anything from a rocket to a house in their drawings, can be making circles in sand, using foam to write their name. Any of the above is mark making, anything that leaves a mark by the child. Mark making allows the children to use their fine motor skills to create a mark. Whilst mark making the children communicate to the practitioners what they are drawing or making, making marks allows children to develop their fine motor skills as they are learning how to hold different objects e.g. a pen, from holding it in the palmar grasp and then to further develop their mark making skills the children would use the tripod grip. How does Creative play develop children’s skills? There are other ways of creative play than just mark making. One of these is singing and dancing, these develop children’s skills What is the definition of Creative play? Children’s play (as modelling or painting) that tends to satisfy the need for self-expression as well as to develop manual skills. Anything that leaves a mark by the child. Singing nursery rhymes, and dancing to music allows the children to learn the English language and learn movement. These are all definitions of Creative play.