Play

Play

Question # 1

What is the purpose of play?

What is the purpose of play?

Some examples:  To help children develop physical, intellectual, emotional, social, and moral capacities.  To help children create and preserve friendships.  To provide a state of mind that - in adults as well as children - is uniquely suited for high-level reasoning, insightful problem solving, and all sorts of creative endeavours. https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/freedom-learn/200811/the-value-play-i-the-definition-play-gives-insights

Question # 2 How do children feel when they play?

How does play make you feel?

Answer by Dara aged 7, Cameron aged 7, Nina aged 6 and Blair aged 2:

Happy http://www.playscotland.org/what-is-play-playwork/what-is-play/

Question # 3 What do children learn through play?

Free play is nature's way of helping children discover what they love.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3892573013 Page 17.

Free play is the means by which children learn to  make friends,

 overcome their fears, and  solve their problems.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3892573013 Page 5.

Free play is the primary means by which children practice and acquire physical skills and intellectual skills that are essential for success in the culture in which they are growing.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3892573013 Page 5.

When children play on outdoor playground equipment, climb trees and/or skateboard, they learn to control

both their bodies and their fear.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3892573013 Page 17.

What children learn through their own initiatives, in free play, cannot be taught in other ways.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3892573013 Page 5.

Question # 4 How important is it that children have freedom to play?

Free play with other children is the primary means by which children learn to control their emotions.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3892573013 Page 40.

Children have the right to play.

http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CRC.aspx

Children are designed, by nature, to play and explore on their own independently of adults. Children need freedom in order

to develop. Without freedom, children suffer. The drive to play freely is a basic, biological drive.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3892573013 Page 3.

Play is, first and foremost, an expression of freedom.

The freedom to quit is an important aspect of the definition of play.

Without that freedom, rules of play would be intolerable.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/freedom-learn/200811/the-value-play-i-the-definition-play-gives-insights

Play is self-chosen and self-directed.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/freedom-learn/200811/the-value-play-i-the-definition-play-gives-insights

The essence of playground-style play is that kids experience the challenges and joys of turning their own ideas into projects.

https://learn.media.mit.edu/lcl/resources/readings/chapter5-excerpt.pdf

Question # 5 To what extent does play strengthen creative thinking?

Play involves an active, alert and non-stressed mind-set. This is ideal for learning and thinking creatively.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/freedom-learn/200811/the-value-play-i-the-definition-play-gives-insights

In play, there is no “right way” or “wrong way”.

http://www.playscotland.org/what-is-play-playwork/what-is-play/

In play, it is the process that matters, not an end product.

http://www.inclusionworks.com.au/blogs/what-is-play

The invention of many technologies came out of play.

For example, the invention of the flute led to the invention of the piano, the invention of music boxes and the invention of computers.

https://www.ted.com/talks/steven_johnson_how_play_leads_to_great_inventions

Question # 6 To what extent does play help children develop friendships?

Peter Gray starts out his book “Free to learn” in the most amazing way. He explained than he was 5 five years old, he and his family had just moved to town. At his mother's suggestion, Peter had gone door to door knocking and asking “Do any children about my age live here?”

That way, he got to know Ruby Lou, who was just one year older than he was. Playing with Ruby, Peter learned, for example, to ride a bicycle and climb a tree. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3892573013 Page 1.

Hunter-gatherer children play with children, who have a wide range of ages.

Age-mixed play is less competitive / more cooperative than same-age play.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3892573013 Page 33.

Question # 7 How has play changed?

Playing has changed.

For example, children  play more in indoor spaces today,  gather more in smaller groups.

https://static.sdu.dk/mediafiles/Files/Information_til/Studerende_ved_SDU/Din_uddannelse/Kultur_og_formidling/WorkingPapers/02_ChildCulture_PlayCulture%20pdf.pdf Page 21.

Question # 8 What questions can you ask to discover play culture?

Examples of questions:  What do you like to play at home?  What do your parents do when you play?  Do you prefer to play with other children or prefer to play by yourself?  Do you like to share your toys with other children?  Do you like to ask other children if they want to play with you? Why / why not?  How do you ask other children if they want to play with you?  Do other children like to play with you?

Sources of inspiration https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3892573013 http://www.inclusionworks.com.au/blogs/what-is-play https://learn.media.mit.edu/lcl/resources/readings/chapter5-excerpt.pdf http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CRC.aspx http://www.playscotland.org/what-is-play-playwork/what-is-play/ https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/freedom-learn/200811/the-value-play-i-the-definition-play-gives-insights https://static.sdu.dk/mediafiles/Files/Information_til/Studerende_ved_SDU/Din_uddannelse/Kultur_og_formidling/W orkingPapers/02_ChildCulture_PlayCulture%20pdf.pdf https://www.ted.com/talks/steven_johnson_how_play_leads_to_great_inventions