The Importance of Play in Early Childhood Education:

hello and welcome to today's session on the importance of play in early childhood education I'm sure we can all remember a memorable play experience we had as a child research has shown that play is key to the way children learn professor Jeffery tray wick Smith an expert in the field of early childhood education States play is one of the best predictors of social and intellectual development in young children we will examine the various aspects of play in this session namely benefits of play meaningful play stages of play there are numerous benefits of play play has educational social and therapeutic benefits for the developing child studies show that play can influence school success in three ways through direct indirect and adult mediated effects by using play as the medium of learning teachers can help children to build foundational skills in areas such as reading writing and math play also provides children with opportunities to socialize with peers learning to communicate and negotiate through learning experiences additionally Play allows children an opportunity to navigate through difficult concepts they may be experiencing by providing them with an outlet to express aspects of their daily lives this freedom allows for imitation and exploration of stress trauma and family conflicts that may be impacting the child according to Trawick Smith we all know that play is an enjoyable activity but perhaps what is not so evident is the fact that playing is essential to a child's learning and development there are five essential characteristics to meaningful play one  children should be able to make their own decisions through choosing how to play when children choose how to play for themselves they experience freedom in making those choices they also begin to see connections between choice and the consequences or results of that choice the type of toys or materials teachers offer can help their children make more meaningful decisions open-ended materials can be used in many ways so children can decide for themselves how to use them for example a child can imagine a block to be a fire truck or any

number of things a toy fire truck on the other hand is usually used as a fire truck another essential component of play is that children are intrinsically motivated this means that the impulse to play comes from a natural desire to understand the world this play impulsenis as strong as your child's desire for food or sleep it is this intrinsic motivation that allows a child to regulate his or her own feelings and

desires in order to keep playing a third essential part of play is that children become immersed in the moment in true play children are so fully engaged that they lose awareness of their surroundings time and space and this risk free atmosphere where reality is suspended children have the security and safety they need to experiment and try new things another aspect of play is it should be spontaneous not scripted often play is totally unplanned which allows a child to impulsively make changes as needed this sense of the unknown provides children with opportunities to develop flexibility in their thinking and decision-making which is a vital life skill finally play must be enjoyable place should always have an emotional response attached to it without this emotional connection the experience is simply an activity it's not play enjoyment is the direct result of engaging in play child play progresses through six developmental stages beginning in infancy the first stage is unoccupied play where infants play with seemingly no real reason the next stage is solitary play children at this stage play alone and don't appear to notice others around them the third stage is onlooker play during onlooker play children watch others play and may be curious and about the play they observed as children further develop they start to play near other children which is called parallel play they start to pay attention to one another and often mimic behaviors observed the fifth phase is referred to as associative play this is when children start to ask each other questions and advocate for personal choice the final phase is called social or cooperative play and is when children start sharing with one another and follow rules and guidelines and that brings us to the end of today's session