Theories of Play

Theories of Play ‘Play’ is playing an important role in our daily life. It is not only meant to be just for children, but also related to all the humans, especially adults. There are a lot of benefits of play, we have fun when we are playing. Play is a state of mind and emotion, but it is also a state of body and spirit. This week we discussed theories of play in class, I have a better understand the purpose of play. From my point of view, the most important purpose of play is to make yourself happy and let you forget all the unhappy things. I agree with Freud and Erikson, They pointed that play is to gain pleasure or to come to terms with unpleasant experience, so play is important for a child’s emotional development. Play creates laugh, joy, and a feeling of inner peace, you will forget angry emotion when you are playing? If a little girl is crying, we all know that the best way is to give her a Barbie or a Teddy bear, she will stop crying and smile immediately. Play is used to differentiate self from others. Such as child transforms into other roles (policeman, nurse, teacher), Play prepares us for adult life by teaching team work, role playing and following the rules. When I observed in a kindergarten, I found that kids are interested in play with kitchen toys, they enjoy playing different roles, such as cook, waiter and casher. That is because kids are always curious with adults’ world, After school, they look at their mother working in the kitchen, they go to supermarket and observe cashers, so kids imitate adults with toys. Play is instinctive prepare for adults life. Play is known to reduce stress and add a feeling of relaxation to our daily living. It is based on the relaxation theory-- play is for relaxation and relief from the stresses of life and restores energy. Play is like sleeping, we will have a better behavior after play. According to a 2009 study in the journal Pediatrics, kids behave better in the classroom when they have the