Play

During early year’s education throughout the UK the importance of play has become extremely recognised states (Government, 2003) they also state that play is now an essential ingredient that is imbedded in the curriculum and should be fun and stimulating for all. Play gets children motivated, stimulated and supports children in developing their skills, concepts, communication, concentration, positive attitudes and demonstrates awareness. Children during play should have the option to repeat, practice and refine skills as many times needed, whether they are learning new information or adding to previous information. Play has different stages of development. Anyone working with children will need to be fully aware of these stages. It is very important for practitioners that are working with children to remember that children will go through these stages at different rates to other children, some maybe quicker, others may be slower. The different stages of play are: • Solitary • Spectator • Parallel • Partnership/associative • Co-operative/group After stages of play come different types of play within learning areas and activities. Most of the types of play need to be thought out and planned in order to create a place where space, time and resources are available and created for the children. I agree with (ATL, 2012) when they say that play come in many different forms and is usually creative, imaginative and open minded. The different types of play include: • Imaginary/pretend • Small world • Construction • Play with natural materials • Creative • Physical Play also includes: • Child-initiated/ led play • Adult led • Sustained shared thinking Children can proceed well within their learning with help from adults who ‘scaffold’ their learning. Evidence shows that with the help of adults through play children have become more active learners, made significant leaps in confidence, self-esteem has grown, children’s social skills have developed, strong evidence of language development had shown and children’s behaviour has improved. Play can be challenged and barriers can affect the way in which children learn through play. Barriers such as: • Lack of training in play • Poor adult:child ratio • Large Classes • Finding time Barriers to play can be dealt with effectively and prevent the child from losing out on valuable play experience and their learning. For instance finding time is probably the most popular reason but can be dealt with by keeping any interruptions at a minimum and allowing children the flexibility to get themselves deeply involved and interested in something. (ATL, 2012) gives in quote which I completely agree with as I do believe that play is extremely important within the Foundation Phase and their ability to learn. Therefore many transferable skills are developed that can be used across the curriculum and all of the 7 Areas of Learning. By doing this children become more involved actively in their learning and create a foundation through progression and continuity through experiential learning. The video I have attached below backs up my points on the facts and types of play. This video has been uploaded from www.youtube.com