EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE AND DEVELOPMENT

Lesson 20: Play Activities in the ECE center

Introduction

Play occupies the most important place in the ECE programme. It is primarily through play that young children in an ECE center are introduced to various skills and concepts.

In an ideal pre-school, children are found to play almost all the time but the play is so carefully planned that the child derives the maximum benefit from the play activities.

As indicated in lesson 6, all play activities must be planned in such a way to cater to the developmental needs of the children.

The aim of education during early childhood period is to stimulate the growth and development of the child. This can be done by giving the children opportunities for play, both spontaneous and structured. A variety of material may be used by the teacher to stimulate their intellectual growth and promote total child’s development.