ARE YOU BELIEVE POWER OF PLAY?

 ARE YOU BELIEVE POWER OF PLAY?

Children are the most vital group in society. The child is the most effective and crucial sequence of the future world. So every person in society will be responsible for children. Children's development covers the full range of physical, psychological, linguistic, and intellectual changes that occur from birth to adulthood. When children play, they get to exercise their imagination, explore, and make decisions. Play is the highest expression of human development in childhood, for it the freedom to play is the important figure of a child’s soul. Play is associated with the whole stages of child development.

                           Play is an activity that is enjoyable, spontaneous, and open-ended. “Play is like love; everybody knows what it is but nobody can define it” (Chance, 1979). As a result, one can define it as something children and young people do when they pursue their ideas and interests, in their way, and for their reason, without having adults dictate their actions to them. According to Albert Einstein “Play is the highest form of research”. Merriam Webster dictionary describes play is “activities that are done especially by children for fun or enjoyment”. The famous psychologist Jean Piaget notes, “Play is the work of childhood”. So we can finalize the play is the work of children. It includes activities engaging in behaviors, social attitudes, and motor movements and resulting in behavioral, emotional, and psychological rewards. It is child-directed, and the rewards are internal to the child and play is their window to the world. The National Association for the Young Children evaluate there are five components of play,

• Children make their own decisions

• Children are intrinsically motivated

• Children become immersed in the movement

• Play is spontaneous, not scripted

• Play is enjoyable 

                                        

Children continue to engage in play throughout their childhood, but the way they engage in it and its purposes change as they grow. Having game plays a vital role in educating and influencing children, and psychologists offer diverse explanations as to why they play and its benefits. Play, according to Freud's psychoanalysis of play theory (1924), is responsible for the development of self-esteem. As a source of gratification, Erik Erikson (1950) suggests that play provides the child with the control he needs over his environment. Consequently, different psychological theories express the psychoanalytic, behavioral, and cognitive theories of play.

 

There are various types of play we can find with kids. Finally, we can finalize that; play is a child’s natural way of learning, and their test and practices new physical, mental, and social skills through play. It is directly affected the whole development stages which children are passing by.

WHY IS PLAY IMPORTANT FOR A CHILD?

Play is an important part of childhood development. It is mainly connected with all areas of child development. So as a child play is vital for her or his life. Play provides children with the opportunity to learn shapes, colors, cause, and effect, and they can also discover who they are. Play helps to nurture imagination and give a child a sense of adventure. During play, children learn about the world in which they live… they can problem solve, explore, create, imagine and figure things out. Play is also an ideal way for parents to bond with their children.

There are main reasons that why is play important as a child,

 

                I. Play builds imagination and creativity 

Play allows kids to stretch their imaginations. Making up games or getting lost in fantasy worlds is part of their fun. Children make their own rules and follow them as needed.

              II. play fosters cognitive growth

Play is crucial to healthy brain development. When kids play unstructured, they choose what to do and how to do it. They are not ruled by adults' schedules or activities. It helps child brain development positively. It strengthens and increases neural connections in the brain. These are the paths in the brain that we use for thinking.

            III.           Play delivers emotional and social development

 Play can develop positive social and emotional skills and values. Develop self-confidence by experiencing success and challenges. Develop empathy and fairness as they learn to play alongside and with other children. On the other hand, it affects cognitive development also like, problem-solving, the power of imagination and creativity concepts, and also, counting and letter recognition strengths such as concentration, persistence, and resilience they can develop while playing.

            IV.           Play can help physical development

                The need for Physical Play is very strong in children, which is any play that gets them moving. They learn how to use their muscles and the brain is strengthened as a result. Automatically they are doing exercise while playing, it helps to a healthy and fitness. Climbing, running, jumping, and hopping are some of the ways children use play as a way to enhance and develop their large muscles (Gross Motor Skills). The most important feature is that increases the motor skill ability and develops a greater balance of the body also. Talking with children about everyday activities, reading, telling stories, and singing together helps children learn new things about the world in which they live and to use this knowledge in conversation. Children need lots of time to explore, experiment problem solve, and play in a variety of ways, indoors and out. As parents or teachers and caregivers have a major responsibility for children to give opportunities to engaging play as they needed. 

 

 

NEW WAYS OF PLAYING AS FAMILY CAN DO TOGETHER WHILE CORONA PANDAMIC

  Healthy child development needs both outdoor and indoor games. The corona pandemic unexpectedly affects the toddler's play. This pandemic directly affects the whole development of child development stages. As an example, their daily routine changes with the pandemic situation. They can’t go outside, no more opportunity to play with friends, and the most noticeable fact is that child’s play area is now limited than before the pandemic. The best way for a family to bond is through a fun game. Parents can find some good things about Corona restrictions that a child can enjoy. When the pandemic is in quarantine, parents can stay with their children and take a break from their busy lives. As an example now the family has more time to do things together for the whole day, it is a priceless gift that every child got from this situation. Furthermore family plays an important role in every child’s life. So we can find good things do together with the family, and also it declines the stress of the child.  Play together with family makes powerful memories and life skills. I would like to suggest some games that we can play while the pandemic situation in a positive way.

01. Play with water

Water play is fun and educational. Every child loves to play with water. We can make various activities with kids. In the home, we can wash toys in the home garden with family members. We can fill some buckets full of water and we can give them chances to wash her or his toys let them do watering.

·        it affects the child’s gross and fine motor skills. (through actions like lifting, poring, carrying, running and many more)

·        It allows children to explore or find some discoveries. (problem-solving)

·        Develop language skills. (they learn lots of words while fun)

02. Organize some competitions in the family.

  As a family, we can organize some contests like art and craft exhibitions, cooking contests, and debates. Then children have morals to archive the target. On the other hand, it helps them to familiarize those events in the future.

·        Big opportunity to preparing them for wins and losses later in their future life.

·         Develop communication skills.

·         Increase creative thinking and problem-solving.

·         Cooking activities affect children’s cognitive development.

·         Develop motor skills.

03. Hide something sweet and we can create a treasure map for children to follow.

It would be really fun. Kids have a natural desire to investigate and discover. We can use this interest as a useful way. As it leads,

·        It is a good opportunity to learn and experience new things.

·         Gain a feeling of self-confidence and self-esteem.

·         Increase skills in observation and communication.

·         It introduces some special vocabulary like directions; symbol and it helps for the future perceptions.

               instead of that there are various types of fun family can do together. such as,

Fun Activities.

 • Freeze - Play some music and dance until the music stops. Ask everyone to freeze in the position they were in. Pose in specific postures they were in. Pose in specific postures to make the game challenging.

 • Land, Sea, Air - For this, you will need space to play, marked by various things. Divide your house into land and sea. When you call land, your child has to jump on land. When you call the sea, he has to jump on the floor. If you call air, he’ll have to jump as high as possible.

• Play Dough- Ask your child to create anything that he likes with play dough. You can also give him names of specific objects to the mound, which will improve his cognitive skills.

instead of those games, we can do ball pass, acting, singing, play badminton, play carom, watching movies as a family together and it helps to reduce the stress of this pandemic. Through cooperative, sharing, and conflict resolution activities, children learn cooperation, freedom, fun, self-expression, creativity, and self-confidence through play. As described in the psychological analysis of the play, all these qualities result in forming a person's personality. It will make lots of remarkable memories for a lifetime. This unexpected situation we can use as unforgettable experiences and memories as a miracle we had to do together. So let the child be the scriptwriter, the director, and the actor in his or her play.

A.W Buddhika Srimathi