Heuristic Play

As an early years practitioner you will recognise that children’s play is closely linked to their learning and development. Children learn in so many different ways but you will notice that they learn mainly through play. When children are able to do many different activity’s that allows them to lean but have fun at the same time thy will find what they are doing fun and will engage the children. It is important that when in you your setting you set up a variety of educational activity’s this way the children will be able to choose freely what they want to do.

In the nursery, I examined toys aimed at the sensorimotor stage of cognitive development. This stage includes actions based on reflexes and the transition to actions based on intentions. Actions that are satisfying are repeated by the child through a process called primary circular reactions. Soon after this first stage, the child moves on to the secondary circular reactions or actions that have an effect on the environment. After experiencing both of these kind of reactions, the child then advances into more intentional actions. The child begins to have goal-directed behavior and curiosity which leads to experimenting. Lastly, the child will begin to understand symbolic problem solving and object permanence.

Symbolic play “(using objects and language to represent ideas)’’ children when they are outside they can pretend to be scientists, and observe their environment. For example, children can observe the caterpillars

This is an important issue due to the parents’ motivation in raising children as well as the enormous care. Parents feel the sense of responsibility towards their children’s better health and development therefore want the best possible care for them. One method of child’s development is unstructured play which allows them to freely play how he or she wants. Play differs in its meaning across time and culture so it does not have a sense of partiality (Cohen, 2006). The allowance of children to play for their improvement is that genuine that it is regarded an ideal for each children in the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights (Ginsburg, 2007). The relationship between unstructured play and the development and wellbeing of a child

Through play our learning and development extends. We discover new ways to achieve a goal such as, fitting differently shaped cubes into their correct holes. By twisting and turning the cubes children begin to understand that the shapes correspond to the holes on the ball.

The terms “play”, “learn” and “teach” are commonly used in the early childhood sector. This essay attempts to define and interconnect these terms to produce a holistic understanding of how play can be used as a medium to help children learn.

Smilansky developed three stages of play. She was initially working together with Jean Piaget, but they went separate ways, so she expanded on it and developed these theories to: functional play, constructive play, dramatic play. The best description of Smilansky's functional play is when, babies are throwing their toys out of the cot time after another, or are banging their spoon on the table for hours’ non-stop, and this is actually a way of them showing that they’re playing. Adults and Teenagers also use functional play when confronted with a new object or activity to explore. Once they have mastered the objects or activity then they start to really play.

Play is such a vital process through which children learn and develop.Play gives children the opportunity to learn, develop and experiment outside the constraints of real life. Through play children gain skills, knowledge and experiences and they get prepared to stand up as a human being and a member of society. But only by playing children do not reach up to that level. At some point of time the adult intervention is required to get the right direction of play.

Play represents very important part of childhood that offers children developmental benefits because it contributes to the cognitive, physical, social, and emotional well-being of children and youth. It also offers an ideal opportunity for parents to engage fully with their children that increase the strength of the relationship between the child and his parents. Experiential learning is learning through exploring, experiencing, creating, and discovering what 's around us. The science playground was full with games and activities, such as, there was a wooden box having holes from one side and glass from the other side, one person should put his hand in one of the holes and try to guess what is inside the hole and the other person can give hints to him. Also, there was another thing called “A Motion in a Dish”,

Play is satisfying to the child, creative for the child and freely chosen by the child.

Children play an important and active role in their own learning. Most infants display an intense curiosity about the world. This leads them to make the most of opportunities to learn through play.

While some children were playing “house” others were taking part in constructive play. In this stage, toddlers have a deep understanding of what various objects can do and will now try to build things with the toys and everyday objects they find around them. One child had a box of blocks and was building a train track. Once he finished he assembled a line of trains to ride along the track he had just built. He repeatedly made noises that trains usually make such as “choo-choo.” Other children were interlocking Lego blocks and creating various structures while some were playing with play-dough and sculpting

As previously stated, when I was a child I went to Head Start. In finding, Albert Einstein stated, “Playing is the highest form of research”. Part of being a hands on learner, is being mindful of the opportunities that open my eyes through the significant of play. One of the skills that I have acquired through play is the learning of discernment. Even though some incidents in life are not clear, the beauty of it is having faith to thinking it out. Another aspect in which my eyes have been open is learning how to strategize. Jarrett et al., 2001, According to observations during elementary school recess children organize their own games, deciding on the rules and

“For young children, there is no distinction between play and learning; they are one and the same. Playing is a priority in early childhood, yet not all play is the same” (Butler, 2008, p. 1). Since the beginning of mankind children have imitated adults and learned to survive through play. Evidence of this includes toys and board games from 6,000 years ago that have been found in Egypt and Asia (Dollinger, 2000). In the last two centuries, child’s play has been observed and studied by theorists and recognized as an important tool for adult life. Three theorists that studied children and spent their lives researching how children develop were Erik Erikson, Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky. These theorists agreed that from the time a child is

Alice Sterling Honig, author of an article “Play: Ten Power Boosts for Children’s Early Learning”, states that “children gain powerful knowledge and useful social skills through play” (p.126). Honig, who believes that play is essential for young children’s development, points out ten ways in which children can learn through play activity.