This is a PowerPoint Presentation that discusses how play is the most important process through which young children learn. Although toys are fun, they are also tools that can help children learn about themselves and the world around them.

1. Importance of Play
Regine Joy Acabado
ED201-01
September 22, 2011
Fall 2011

2. Objectives:
• What is Play?
• Children learn through PLAY!
– Physical /Motor Development
– Cognitive Development
– Language Skills
– Social/Emotional Skills
• Piaget’s Theory: The Preoperational Stage
– Make-believe Play
• Advantages and Disadvantages of Play
• Parent Involvement in Play
• Playtime is Learning Time: 10 Play Time Classic Toys
• Learning through Play in a Classroom
– Self-efficacy - Literacy skills - Social Skills
– Play as an avenue for learning
• Summary
• *Felt Board Activity*

3. What is Play?
• Play is critical to the healthy growth and development
of children.
• One of the ways children learn about themselves, the
people around them, their environment, and their
community.
• By playing, a child will then learn how to process and
make sense of what sensations he/she receives
whether it’s by sight, sound, taste, smell, or touch.
• Play relieves stress and boredom, connects people in a
positive way, stimulates, creative thinking and
exploration, regulates emotions, and boosts
confidence.

4. Children Learn Through Play
• Develop physical skills:
– Gross motor skills are developed as a child learns to reach,
grasp, crawl, run, climb, and balance.
– Fine motor skills are developed as children handle some toys.
(Control of the hands and fingers improve)
• Cognitive Development
– Learn to solve problems through play.
– Learn colors, numbers, size and shapes.
– Have the ability to enhance their memory skills as well as their
attention span.
– Able to move on to higher levels of thought as they play in a
more stimulating environment.

5. Children Learn Through Play
• Develop Language Skills:
– Language develops as a child plays and interacts with
others.
– Begins with: Parents playing cooing games with their
children and advances to practical levels such as
telling make-believe stories and jokes.
• Develop Social Skills:
– Natural way for children to interact.
– Opportunities for cooperating, taking turns, sharing,
listening, and negotiating exist within the play
context/rules.

6. Advantages & Disadvantages of
Structured Play
Advantages Disadvantages
• New Ideas: • Stress:
– Providing play opportunities – Overscheduled structured play
causes stress and anxiety to a child.
allows you to introduce your child
– Busy structured play schedules may
to new ideas and types of play. fall behind at school, complain of
• Social Interaction: headaches or stomachaches and
frequent exhaustion.
– Opportunities to learn self-
discipline, sportsmanship, conflict • Less Unstructured Play:
resolution, sharing, etc. – Providing too much structured play
eliminates time for free, child-
– For younger children, play centered play.
provides opportunities for parents – Decrease in time assigned for free
and classmates to model play interferes in the developmental
appropriate behaviors through benefits of unstructured play such as
simple games such as “Duck Duck creativity, imagination, decision-
making and developmental of
Goose” or “Red Light Green Light” overall emotional, cognitive and
– *Sociodramatic play* physical strength.

7. Piaget’s Theory: The
Preoperational Stage
• Cognitive development theory • Make- believe play
• One of the most influential on – Through pretending, young
early childhood education children practice and strengthen
– Describes how children’s newly acquired schemes. (Berk
thinking is unique in 2003)
each of four stages – Strengthens mental abilities:
– Focuses on how • attention, memory, logical
children’s intelligence reasoning, language and
and thinking abilities literacy, imagination, creativi
emerge through distinct ty, ability to reflect on owns
stages thinking, control one’s own
– Piaget’s Periods of Cognitive behavior, etc.
Development • Sociodramatic play
• Stage 1: Sensorimotor period (0 – Interactions last longer, show more
to 2 years) involvement, draw larger numbers
• Stage 2: Preoperational period of children into the activity, and are
(2 to 7 years) more cooperative.
• Stage 3: Concrete operations
period (7 to 11 years)
• Stage 4: Formal operations
period (11 to 15 years)

8. Make-Believe
/Sociodramatic Play

9. Parental Involvement
• Parents are their children’s first and best
playmates.
• Children tend to be more creative.
– Observe: Watch your child closely to learn what he or
she can do and has problems doing. Be aware of your
child’s favorite activities.
– Follow: Join in and play with your child so that he or
she knows you are interested in what he or she is
doing.
– Be creative: Use toys in different ways. Being creative
will make playing more fun for you and your child.

10. Playtime is Learning Time:
Play Time Classic Toys
• Playtime has a unique way of helping
children learn new developmental and
social skills.
• Toys are tools that can help children
learn about themselves and the world
around them.

11. Playtime is Learning Time: Play Time
Classic Toys
Dolls or Stuffed Animals: Blocks:
• Offers young children to • Young children can learn to
practice their people skills manipulate blocks and
and model behaviors that make basic towers through
they see in other people. building , designing,
patterning, and creating.
– Concept of cause & effect.

12. Playtime is Learning Time: Play Time
Classic Toys
• Music Sets • Ride-on Toy
– Allows babies and – Child’s imagination
toddlers to create their increases
own music, builds – Strengthens their safety
confidence and an ear skills by teaching dolls to
for what sounds good to buckle up and develop
them. their sense of
– Cause and effect independence by
pretending to go on
adventures on their
own.

14. Learning Through Play in the
Classroom
• Play as an avenue for learning
– Classroom environments can be altered to decrease
children’s stress levels.
– Play should be in a relaxed environment.
– Teachers can create environments that are more
playful and less stressful by allowing children to make
choices about their activities.
– Allowing students to make decisions about what and
how they learn helps them find learning enjoyable.
– Freedom = Confidence in their growing abilities

15. Learning Through Play in the
Classroom
Self-efficacy Literacy skills
• is the belief that people can • Critical for literacy learning in
influence what happens in life language development.
through actions they take. • With play, children develop
• They develop the sense that their understanding of
language and how it allows
they can have control over them to interact with people.
themselves and their
• Materials:
environment.
– magnetic letters to spell words
• “Can-do” attitude – signs to read
– Making choices – word games
– Cause and effect of their – flannel boards & characters
actions (problem solving) – tape players for storytelling

16. Summary
• Play provides many opportunities for children to
practice skills, stretch thinking abilities, work through
emotions, socialize, and be creative
• Children learn through PLAY!
– Physical /Motor Development, Cognitive
Development, Language Skills, and
Social/Emotional Skills
• Advantages and Disadvantages of Structured Play
• Piaget’s Preoperational Stages
• Parental Involvement
• Classic Toys
• Learning through play in the classroom

18. References
• Bandura, A. "Acknowledging Learning Through Play in the Primary
Grades." Childhood Education. 2010.
• Berk, Laura E. "Chapter 7 pg. 173-174." Exploring Lifespan Development,
Pearson. 2008. Pearson. Unites States : Pearson,Education, Inc, 2008.
• H., Corley. "10 Play Time Classic Toys for Fun and Learning." Marianas
Variety. 2011. Magazine.
• St. Jude Chidren's Research Hospital. "Childhood, Adolescent and Young
Adult Cancer Program: Great Information." 2006. 15 Sep. 2011.
<http://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/cancer/pedresource/pedres_docs/Childr
enLearnThruPlay.pdf>.
• Titus, Mandi. "The Advantages and Disadvantages of Structured Play."
eHow Family. eHow Contributer. 15 Sep. 2011.
<http://www.ehow.com/list_6954899_advantages-disadvantages-
structured-play.html>.