So, Let’s Play

The sound of the word play means different things to various people. In some cultures, playing is frowned upon because it is considered aimless. In other cultures, playing seems to be an integral part of childhood and growing up. Therefore, it is very important as an educator to fully understand and explain, what play in the early childhood is setting and how it is through research-based studies crucial and beneficial for children. There are cultures which presume that playing does not promote learning and that it may impede cognitive development. On the contrary, play is vital in the development of social and emotional factors for young children and studies have shown that through play children grow and learn substantially. The argument of play is how much time and in what fashion should play be emphasized? Educators have for a considerable time thought that play should be used as a reward as opposed to a learning mechanism. Today, research shows that in the dramatic play area children develop language skills which are paramount to cognitive development. Children through play also learn from each other as opposed to the old method of preaching as teaching. Teachers must have ample workshop opportunities to gain appropriate skills to deal with children in the early childhood setting to create projects, thematical units and room design that will promote playful learning experiences. The question on how long preschoolers should spend playing is also a disagreeing factor and thus it is appropriate to give children a maximum amount of time during the day to play. When play is mentioned, it means that circle time may be done through playing and hands-on experiences, fine-motor development can be done via play and fun and so can mathematics and logical activities that can be based on group work again through play in the classroom. The more time children spend playing, the more they will explore, learn and comp rend throughout the course of the day. So, Let’s Play!