Playing and Learning in Early Childhood

Education
Second Edition

Chapter 2
The Process of Play

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Chapter Preview

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Play from an Ecological Perspective (1 of 2)
• Bronfenbrenner’ s ecological theory examines how
environmental influences contribute to a child’ s play
through the five environmental systems:
– Microsystem
– Mesosystem
– Exosystem
– Macrosystem
– Chronosystem

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Play from an Ecological Perspective (2 of 2)
Microsystem: Play is influenced by the child’s family
Mesosystem: Play is influenced by the interactions and relationships
between the family and early learning teachers
Exosystem: Play is influenced by federal, provincial, and territorial
policies
Macrosystem: Play is influenced by culture and societal ideologies
Chronosystems: Play is influenced by environmental conditions and
timing of events

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How Children Learn and Play (1 of 2)
• Many theories and perspectives about how children
and adults learn exist
• The constructionist theory refers to how humans learn
and that knowledge is constructed based on
experiences
• From the constructionist perspective, children flourish
in play environments where they are co-learners with
peers, and in some cases where adults and children
become co-learners

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How Children Learn and Play (2 of 2)
• Children gain more opportunities for their curiosity to
be simulated and to embrace active play when they:
– Interact with peers and adults about ideas, possibilities,
strategies, and ways of knowing during the active play
process
– Share both the physical space and opportunities for
play to be a social process
– Have play environments that provide time, space,
materials, and opportunities to ponder and tinker with
ideas as individuals or in groups

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Unique Features of Play
• Motivation
• Active
engagement
• Process rather
than product

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Play, Learning, and Motivation (1 of 8)
• Play and intrinsic motivation are interrelated with
spontaneous exploration and curiosity
• Bruner (1961) identified 3 internal motivators that
influence play and learning:
– Curiosity
– Desire to show oneself and others what you know and
what you are able to do
– Striving toward a common goal with others

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Play, Learning, and Motivation (2 of 8)
• The intrinsic motivational level is related to the
environmental conditions and the exposure to play
that the child has experienced
– Intrinsic motivation is at the center of children’s play,
creativity, and the quality of their learning experiences
– Intrinsic motivation can be described as: children
engaging in an activity because it is personally
rewarding, satisfying, and pleasurable while extrinsic
motivation is for an external reward

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Play, Learning, and Motivation (3 of 8)
• Play and its contextual principles are driven by
positive emotions
• Children exhibit positive emotions when they feel
comfortable in their play surroundings
• Positive emotions increase children’s spontaneity,
sense of curiosity, and focus on their play task

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Play, Learning, and Motivation (4 of 8)
• When children are placed in environments that stifle
their natural interests, spontaneous play and learning
become jeopardized, affecting the development of
their self-regulation skills
• Shanker (2016, p. 1) defines self-regulation as the
ability to manage one’s own energy states, emotions,
behaviours, and attention in ways that are socially
acceptable and help achieve positive goals. These
include maintaining positive relationships, learning,
and well-being.

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Play, Learning, and Motivation (5 of 8)
• Developing self-regulation is essential because it is
interconnected to advancing:
– Attention skills
– Memory
– Cognitive flexibility
– Ability to interpret behaviour and social interactions

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Play, Learning, and Motivation (6 of 8)
• A child’s level of self-regulation and internal motivation
is connected to his/her/their ability to:
– Exercise patience and persistence
– Exhibit flexibility, curiosity, and exploratory play
– Approach new experiences

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Play, Learning, and Motivation (7 of 8)
• Intrinsic motivation is affected by:

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Play, Learning, and Motivation (8 of 8)
• Early learning teachers are encouraged to create
environments that support children feeling:
– Important, lovable, and that they are able to make
decisions about their play
• Encouraging and supporting children to make choices
is directly related to building their intrinsic motivation,
self-regulation, and executive functioning skills

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Play, Learning, and Active Engagement
• Active engagement in play is children’s work during
their early years and leads children to develop skills
and abilities in:
– Language development
– Cooperation
– Sharing
– Problem solving
– Expansion of curiosity
– Coordination of body skills

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Play, Learning and Active Engagement
• Children require active play to support them in:
– Developing skills to manage stress and to formulate a
healthy lifestyle
– Acquiring a balance of vigorous play and quieter
activities to enhance each of the child’s opportunity for
full, balanced development of their abilities

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Play, Learning, and Play as Process Rather
than Product
• Children’s play experiences should:
– Focus on the process of play rather than the production
of a product
– Allow children to be in control of their play by being
given the freedom to engage in play, explore, and to be
able to make mistakes without the feeling of failure
– Evolve by making playing experiences voluntary and
self-initiated

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Characteristics of Play
• The 7 common characteristics of play helps the early
learning teacher to understand the foundation of play
and their roles and responsibilities in early learning
programs

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The Play Process
• Children advance through 5 phases in the play
process. They are:
– Phase 1: Body Play
– Phase 2: Motoring Movement Play
– Phase 3: Imaginative Play
– Phase 4: Intentional Imaginative Play
– Phase 5: Peer Play with Rules
• The 6th phase occurs during adulthood:
– Phase 6: Adult Play

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Classifying Play Experiences (1 of 5)
• Piaget (1970) suggests that children participate in
three distinct stages of play. They are:
– Functional / sensorimotor play (birth to age 2)—
Children focus their play on simple, repetitive muscle-
like movements with people, objects, and sounds
– Symbolic / dramatic play (ages 2 to 7)—Children
focus their play on beginning to express fantasy, use
props, and take on roles other than being children
– Games with rules (school-age children)—Children
negotiate the rules before they engage in a play
experience

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Classifying Play Experiences (2 of 5)
• Sarah Smilansky (1968) made significant additions to
Piaget’s play stages. She identified that:
– Children between the ages of 4 and 6 years of age
participate in social / dramatic play that is complex and
sophisticated. She labelled this as a constructive play
stage.

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Classifying Play Experiences (3 of 5)
• Mildred Parten (1933) examined play from a social-behaviour
perspective. She identified that play progresses through a series
of stages:
– Solitary Play—The child generally plays alone. There is limited or
no interaction with other children or materials that other children
use.
– Parallel Play—Children begin to either play independently or beside
peers; they do not play with peers.
– Associative Play—Children begin to share play materials and
participate in similar activities.
– Cooperative Play—Children participate in group play. They
determine a common goal and then each child works towards
meeting the goal.

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Classifying Play Experiences (4 of 5)
• Parten identified non-playing roles as “unoccupied
behaviour” time and “onlooker play”:
– Unoccupied Behaviour—Time when children are not
engaged in play; they appear to be wandering in the
play area without a defined purpose.
– Onlooker Play—Children observe other children or
adults in play but do not become involved in the play.
Children may use this strategy to ask questions, learn
about materials, or determine how they may participate
in a play episode.

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Classifying Play Experiences (5 of 5)
• Seagoe (1970) identified:
– As children approach 7 to 9 years of age, they
participate in cooperative competitive play
– This involves play in which children focus on team
sports and victory, such as soccer and hockey (Dietze,
2006).

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Children and Theories of Play (1 of 6)
• Classical theorists examine play through theories of:
– Surplus energy
– Recreation / relaxation
– Practice
– Recapitulation

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Children and Theories of Play (2 of 6)
• Surplus-energy theory suggests that play is a
mechanism to allow humans to burn off excess
energy that is not required for survival and can cause
children to become restless and unable to stay on
task
• Recreation / relaxation theory suggests that play is a
mechanism to replenish energy after hard work has
occurred (directly opposite of surplus energy theory)

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Children and Theories of Play (3 of 6)
• Practice theory suggests that play is a mechanism
whereby children practise adult roles and roles that
are directly related to culture and community
• Recapitulation theory suggests that children engage in
play that has them revisit the developmental stages
their ancestors passed through (this differs from
practice theory)

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Children and Theories of Play (4 of 6)
• Modern theorists examine play from the perspective of
why play exists and the consequences of play for the
child. The modern theories grouping includes:
– Psychoanalytic theory (Freud and Erikson)—
Through play, children act out feelings and work
through challenges by role switching and repetition
– Cognitive-developmental theory (Bruner, Piaget,
Sutton-Smith)—Play is a venue for children to use
materials, interact with people, and build knowledge
about the world they live in
– Neurobiological theory—Suggests that the quality of
children’s play environment can positively or negatively
affect their brain development
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Children and Theories of Play (5 of 6)
• Contemporary theorists examine play from current
societal issues such as diversity, social justice, and
the relative nature of truth and knowledge
– Sociocultural theory—Children learn about their
social and cultural contexts through their daily living
experiences. This theory is influenced by the work of:
 Goncu—The values and beliefs that adults have about
play, directly influences the quality of the play
experiences that are extended to children
 Vygotsky’s (1978) Zone of Proximal Development
(ZPD)—Suggests that, through play, children stretch their
boundaries to figure out situations and then construct
knowledge

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Children and Theories of Play (6 of 6)
• Contemporary theorists examine play from current
societal issues such as diversity, social justice, and
the relative nature of truth and knowledge
– Bronfenbrenner—A child’s development is impacted
by both the person and their environment, which
includes family, community, culture, and society
– Critical educational theory—Critical theorists
examine how play is influenced by gender, class, and
race inequalities within society

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Putting Play Process into Perspective:
Building on Children’s Strength
• Not all children follow the play process in the same way
• Children’s play processes are influenced by:
– Culture, life experiences, their strength, and adult
attitudes and support systems
• Early learning teachers are therefore encouraged to
develop a program philosophy that focuses on the
strength and gifts that children bring to the environment

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The Role of Early Learning Teachers in Play
(1 of 2)

• Early learning teachers promote children’s play by:

– Role modeling positive attitudes towards play
– Preparing appropriate play environments
– Observing and documenting children’s play
– Promoting play and opportunities for expansive
discoveries
– Promoting play in and with nature

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The Role of Early Learning Teachers in Play
(2 of 2)

• The 3 appropriate levels of participation in children’s

play experiences by adults or early learning teachers
are:
– Parallel play—Where the adult plays beside the child,
and not with the child
– Co-playing—Where the play episodes include a child
or group of children and an adult
– Play tutoring—Where the adult, a child, or group of
children play as the adult leads the play for a short
period of time

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Summary

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