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Characteristics of play:
- A natural part of a child’s life – Adults do not have to tell children how to play.
- Self directed – Adults should not interfere because play is determined by the personality of the player, not the desires of adults.
- A creative activity, not a production – Adults should not concern themselves with what the children might produce during play is dominated by the players.
- A total activity – Children become completely involved as they play. Thus, play may last for a long time or it may end quite suddenly.
- A sensitive thing- When children are deeply involved, it can be easily destroyed by interference or suggestions from other children or adults.
Types of play:
There are 2 main types of play
- Free play (or spontaneous)
- Organized play
In either type, children may work alone or in a group. Each type may involve materials and equipment, or it may not. Basically, free play as its name suggests, is flexible. It is unplanned by adults. It is a self – selected open exercise. Organized play may also be open and flexible. However, some structure is provided in terms of materials and equipment or directions given by teachers. Play may be further subdivided according to the age of the child, whether it involves the use of specialized materials or equipment. Children act out the parts of more characters that may be real or imaginary in organized dramatic play. Games can be invented by the children on the spot, or they can play existed games known to most children or adults.
Sequence of play:
In early toddlerhood, a child generally plays alone at first, or with adults. This stage is termed solitary play. Using all of their senses, children explore a thing before they put it in their play. They touch, smell, see and listen. Manipulating and handling materials are important parts of play experiences. In the earliest years, children are more involved with the manipulation of materials than the uses of them. Gradually, as the toddler’s social relation expands beyond parents, they will engage in parallel play. Parallel play occurs when a child plays side by side with other children, with some interaction, but without direct involvement with them. As the number of relationship outside the home increases, the child’s ability to play with other children develops further in associative play. This type of play may be present in a group.
Ex: a child who participates in finger plays during certain time in a group indicates associative play. Young children will begin to talk about, plan, and carry out play activities with other children. This type of play, marked by mutual involvement in a play activity, is called co-operative play.
Children co-operate with others to construct something, hold competitions, produce dramas with coordinated roles, or play games with rules which initiates group play. Group membership is defined, usually by one or two powerful leaders.
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Participants