Child Study

April 29, 2007

Child Study- PLAY

What is play? According to “The Nature of Children’s Play” by David Fernie, play is a time when children expand their understanding of themselves and others, their knowledge of the physical world, and their ability to communicate with peers and adults. We as educators must realize that play is not only a time for children to “have fun” but that they also learn while engaging in it. According to Piaget he describes play as sensorimotor practice. He says that infants and toddlers experiment with bodily sensation and motor movements, and with objects as well as with people. According to Mary F. Longo; play is key to every child’s well being. They learn about the world and experience life through play she defines play as “the spontaneous activity of children”. She states that play has many functions; it increases peer relationships, releases tension, advances intellectual development, increases exploration and increases chances of children speaking and interacting with each other. So while we thought play was a “break” from learning. The child that I observed for this child study is an African American female. She just turned six years old and is a part of the after school program Brooklyn College. She attends it with her aunt who is four years old. She lives with her older sister and aunt. She gets picked up by her older sister. She and her aunt who she refers to as her cousin because she is older are very close. She calls her aunt by her house name instead of her real name. I observed her in an after school setting. It is stationed in a regular classroom. This is ironic because the setting is that of one that is set up for the action of play. There are centers such as dramatic play, sandbox, water table, table toys, carpet area, and artists’ area. I observed the child “Mickey” in the dramatic area while she engaged in pretend play with two other children. According to Fernie pretend play is children take on roles. He states that is a complex type of play where children carry out action plans, take on roles, and transform objects as they express their ideas and feelings about the social world. She played the role of the mommy and the other children were the daughter and male figure (wasn’t obvious as to what role he was actually playing. The roles were constant although she changed a role once during the whole scheme. She changed into a doctor to care for her sick daughter. She used a cheese shaker as a pill dispenser that she gave to her daughter. This showed her use of objects that were used to represent other objects. Her voice also fit into her character. She was a worried and concerned parent she was also pushy and bossy as a mother.
Mickey was able to do perform this role well because of her experience and influence from her own life. Mickey seems to be performing at her normal chronological age. Her speech seems to be pretty fluent although she pronounces some words with a slight lisp. She has good social interaction with her classmates although she sometimes gets whiny and relies on a teacher to tell a child something instead of using her own words. Mickey seems a little more mature for her age although sometimes she has breakdowns and she behaves like a baby. She will whine and cry and tell what the other students are doing to her. The teachers in the class instill in the children’s’ heads that they must use their words and tell their fellow classmates exactly how they feel about a certain action or comment. Language use is highly encouraged in this classroom. She can play well with others usually as long as she can be the boss/leader/initiator. Mickey can apply real life scenarios to pretend play situations such as family situations, neighborhood people situations etc. She does engage with adults as well as the students in her class.
So one asks is play important? Yes it is because when a child plays he or she is in fact learning. According to the National Network for Child Care, a child learns to play and then plays to learn. Yes it is fun and children may enjoy it but it is prominent for a child’s development. We must remember that play should be fun but that the child should be learning form it as well. According to Tracy Vail, we should insure that he learns in a manner that will allow him to generalize his communication skills to other people, places and things.

Works Cited

Pennsylvania State University Cooperative Extension, (1994). Better Kid Care: Play
Is The Business of Kids. Better Kid Care project. National Network for Child Care. Retrieved January 2, 2007.

Fernie, David, The Nature of Children’s Play. Retrieved January 2, 2007.
Website: http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content2/nature.of.childs.play.html

Vail Tracy, MS, CCC/SLP, Evaluating the Child’s Response to the Environment. The Mariposa School Retrieved April 27, 2007.
Website: http://www.MariposaSchool.org

Cited: Pennsylvania State University Cooperative Extension, (1994). Better Kid Care: Play Is The Business of Kids. Better Kid Care project. National Network for Child Care. Retrieved January 2, 2007. Fernie, David, The Nature of Children’s Play. Retrieved January 2, 2007. Website: http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content2/nature.of.childs.play.html Vail Tracy, MS, CCC/SLP, Evaluating the Child’s Response to the Environment. The Mariposa School Retrieved April 27, 2007. Website: http://www.MariposaSchool.org