Unit I- Definition and Nature of Play

EXPECTED OUTCOMES:
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
a. Define play
b. Explain the different perspectives of play
c. Describe the characteristics of play
d. Explain the kinds and stages of play
e. Explain the values of play
f. Explain the legal basis of play

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:
To better understand the lesson, be guided by the following questions as you go through
the topics.
a. What is play?
b. What are the different views about play?
c. What play is, and what play is not?
d. How play progresses?
e. What is the importance of play?
f. What does the law say about play?

EXPLORING CONTENT:
Play is our brain’s favorite way of learning (Ackerman, n.d.). Young and adults have basic
need for play and recreation. In fact, Heraclitus wrote that man is most nearly himself when
he achieves the seriousness of a child at play. For children, play is a natural preoccupation
that no one can stop. Many things happen when children play. While you cannot exactly
describe what happens after, researchers have proven that the gains in all domains of
development are truly amazing.
As kids we have our own stories to tell about our play experiences. While we do not
have the same experiences, we definitely know what it is. We have an idea in mind of what
it is all about because play is a natural human inclination. At the moment, I know some
childhood memories are coming back that I am sure is making you smile. You recall your
playmates and the fun that you had with them.
Play is part of every child’s life. For a child to enjoy childhood, ample time must be
given to the child to interact with the environment. It is an indispensable tool for children to
explore, learn and develop mastery of the environment. There are many ways in which
children play. They do it by exploring movements, constructing with equipment, creating
games, using imagination and chasing others around a playground.
There are many definitions of play given by different authors. UK Play Therapy wrote
that play is a physical or mental leisure activity that is undertaken purely for enjoyment or
amusement and has no other objective. Froebel, the Father of Kindergarten Movement said
that play is the highest expression of human development in childhood. He added that it
alone, is the free expression of what is in a child’s soul. It is one that brings joy and
happiness to a child. It is something done willingly and spontaneously. Meanwhile, Russian
Psychologist Lev Vygotsky (1978) in his essay, referred to play as an activity that is desired by
the child, one that involves imaginary situation, and always involves rules.

Characteristics of Play

In Aistear, there are 10 characteristics of play identified in their Early Childhood

Curriculum Framework. The table below summarizes the characteristics and description:
 In addition, in an article by Rubin and his colleagues (1983) they characterized play as
a behavior that is (a) intrinsically motivated; (b) focused on means rather than ends; (c)
distinct from exploratory behavior; (d) nonliteral (involves pretense); (e) free from
externally imposed rules; (f) actively (not just passively) engaged in by the players.
Further, although the exact wording varies, other specialists on play include the
following characteristics (Feeney, 2016):
1. It is intrinsically motivated. Play is its own reward. Children play not for anything
else. The play for their own satisfaction.
2. It is freely chosen. Children choose play. If there is compulsion, it becomes work,
not play.
3. It is pleasurable. While play is a serious pursuit for children, and can include
challenges, fears and frustrations, the quality of joy stands out when we think of
play.
4. It is done for its own sake. It is play, rather than outcome which motivates
children to play. Children are more involved in discovery and creation (process)
than the eventual outcome.
5. It is active. Play involves physical, verbal or mental engagement with people,
objects, or ideas.
6. It is self-oriented rather than object oriented. When children are presented with
an object, they will ask, “What can I do with this object?”
7. It is often nonliteral. Children suspend and alter reality for make-believe. They
temporarily set aside the external world for fuller exploration of the internal
imagining (For example, let’s play bahay-bahayan. I will be Nanay, you will be
Tatay).
8. It is focused. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (2008), a psychology professor calls this
flow– complete and energized focus. Focused play creates a sense of
timelessness and living in the moment.

Apparently, the above-mentioned characteristics of play show that play is positive,

exploratory and contributes to development.

What play is NOT?

People have different notions of play. Armstrong (2015) explained play telling what it
is not. In the American Institute for Learning and Human Development, he wrote that:
1. Play is NOT competitive sports. Organized activities such as basketball are not
children’s play because they involve adult-imposed rules and schedules that children
must follow or suffer the slings and arrows of parents and peers’ disfavor.
2. Play is NOT digital anything. There are apps and sites and software programs that
look like play like Minecraft where kids can play with blocks. However, these apps are
programmed by adult minds, not by children’s minds, and the structures that children
must work with are adult-imposed. Digital, so to speak, is anything that everything is
programmed as 0’s and 1’s and children’s minds do not work (or play) like that. True
play is one in which children imagine all the subtleties and nuances that goes around
in the nooks and spaces and corners that 0’s and 1’s never reach.
 3. Play is NOT commercially made games. At home, families can have lots of fun in
playing scrabble and chess among others but again, they are adult-imposed rules.
True play is one in which children create their own rules. Playing with commercially
made games limit the possibilities of what children can do.
4. Play is NOT “play with a purpose”. Children play because it is an activity worth
pursuing in its own right, even if it leads to absolutely no outcomes, objectives, or
skills.

Kinds of Play
The way children play differs in every age group. Babies play differently, adults play
differently. Apparently, play changes across the life span. When we consider play in early
childhood, it is worthy to note that different types of play are not restricted to young
children. They can be:

 Body and movement play. Physical play is the easiest to identify. When a baby sucks
his toes, a preschooler rides a bike, a kindergarten plays jumping rope, or an adult
dancing, these are all examples of body and movement play.
 Rough-and-tumble play. This is play fighting without intent to harm which is a
characteristic of all mammals. Often, this happens at home or at the playground and
sometimes even in school. You see children seemingly fighting but they do this
primarily to have fun and not to harm.
 Object play. This is also an easy-to-recognize and early-to-develop form of play. This
involves exploring and manipulating objects. Toys typically represent object play
and there are special industries that make toys. They may simply be a cup to bang
on, a box to climb in, or it can be as complex as an old machine.
 Imaginative play. This is also referred to as pretend or dramatic play involving the
creation of a story or narrative. Players in imaginative play immersed themselves in
acting out the story as they create it. They dress up like their mother and use
mother’s hat and shoes.

Stages of Play
As children grow and develop, they engage in different and increasingly complex
types or stages of play. It is important to understand the different stages of play because it
is a valuable tool in working with children. The stages of play have been described in several
perspectives by developmental theorists. Parten studied the different social dimensions of
play while Piaget and Smilansky focused on the cognitive aspects.
Parten: Stages of Social Play
 In the early 1930’s, Mildred Parten developed categories of play that described the
nature of the relationship among the players. These stages are as follows:
Solitary play (dominant in infancy). In this stage children play alone and
independently with objects. They may be playing nearby but they go unnoticed.
Parallel play (typical of toddlers). Children play side-by-side but still are engaged
with their own play objects. There is little interpersonal interaction, but each may be aware
of and pleased by the company of a nearby companion engaged in similar activity.
Associative Play (seen most in young preschool-aged children). Associative play
involves pairs and groups of children playing in the same area and sharing materials. There is
brisk interaction, however, true cooperation and negotiation are rare.
Cooperative play (characteristic of older preschool and kindergarten/primary-age
children). This is the most social form of group play. Children work together to create
sustained play episodes with joint themes. They plan, negotiate, and share, and share
responsibility and leadership.
Piaget and Smilansky: Cognitive Stages of Play
Piaget, unlike Parten who studied the social aspects of play, looked at how play
supports cognitive development. He developed a framework with 3 stages of play
development that are parallel to his cognitive stages of development. Meanwhile, Sara
Smilansky adapted Piaget’s stages of play based on her observations of young children from
diverse cultural economic backgrounds. She categorized play into four types, similar to
those of Piaget but she added another type which she called constructive play. Here is the
combination of their work on the cognitive stage of play:
Practice or functional play (dominant from infancy to 2 years of age). In here,
children explore the sensory qualities of objects and practice motor skills. Children engaged
in this type of play repeat actions over again as if practicing them.
Symbolic play (dominant from 2 to 7 years of age). In symbolic play, children use
one object to response object to represent another object and use make-believe actions and
roles to represent familiar or imagined situations. It emerges during the preoperational
period as the child begins to be able to use mental symbols imagery. Smilansky further
categorized this into 2 forms: constructive play, in which the child uses real objects to build a
representation of something according to a plan and dramatic play and socio-dramatic play,
in which children create imaginary roles and interactions where they pretend to be someone
or something (mommy, doctor, dog and so on), and use actions or objects, or words to
represent things or situations (a block for an iron, arm movements for steering a truck).
Games with rules (dominant from 7 to 11 years). In games with rules, children
recognize and follow preset rules to sustain solitary or group play that conforms to the
expectation and goals of the games. The ability to agree on and negotiate rules is viewed as
growing from the cooperation and negotiation developed in cooperative play.

Values of Play
Play is an important teaching tool. It is not just all fun and games! When children
play, they learn to interact with others and develop critical lifelong skills. Play is important in
raising well-rounded children. The following are some of its simple benefits:
1. Physical - Active play helps kids with coordination, balance, motor skills, and
spending their natural energy (which promotes better eating and sleeping
habits).
2. Emotional - During play, kids learn to cope with emotions like fear, frustration,
anger, and aggression in a situation they control. They can also practice empathy
and understanding.
3. Social - Playing with others helps kids negotiate group dynamics, collaborate,
compromise, deal with others’ feelings, and share – the list goes on.
4. Cognitive - Children learn to think, read, remember, reason, and pay attention
through play.
5. Creative - By allowing imaginations to run wild during play, kids create new
worlds, and form unique ideas and solutions to challenges.
6. Communication - Play allows kids to exchange thoughts, information, or
messages by speech, signals, writing, or actions.

ENRICHING LEARNING:
What is play? https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=what+is+play
%3f&&view=detail&mid=4F0158EDD4E990DC5B344F0158EDD4E990DC5B34&&FORM=VRDGAR&ru=
%2Fvideos%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dwhat%2Bis%2Bplay%253f%26FORM%3DHDRSC3

Importance of Play https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnH4Ijen7OI

Play in early childhood: The role of play in any setting. https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=pjoyBZYk2zI&t=230s

UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

https://www.savethechildren.org.uk/what-we-do/childrens-rights/united-nations-convention-
of-the-rights-of-the-child
PD 603 https://www.pcw.gov.ph/law/presidential-decree-no-603
Bawat bata sa ating mundo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RL31hI0ykv0

References:
Feeney, S., Moravcik, E., Nolte, S. (2016). Who am I in the Lives of Children? An Introduction to
Early Childhood Education. Pearson
Eberle, S. (n.d.). Play is our brains’s favorite way of learning.
https://thegeniusofplay.org/genius/expert-advice/articles/play-is-our-brains-favorite-way-of-
learning.aspx#.X2NuNmgzbIU
Heraclitus on meaningful play (n.d.). https://www.classicalguitarshed.com/tq-heraclitus-
child-at-play/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CMan%20is%20most%20nearly%20himself,of%20a%20child
%20at%20play.%E2%80%9D&text=One%20of%20the%20luxuries%20of,child%2C%20we%20lead
%20with%20curiosity
Armstrong, T. (2015). What children’s play is not?
https://www.institute4learning.com/2015/10/28/what-childrens-play-is-not/
6 benefits of play. (n.d.). https://thegeniusofplay.org/tgop/benefits/genius/benefits-of-play/
benefits-of-play-home.aspx?hkey=75c664db-cb16-4004-8756-03ba00ba381e