Importance of Play in Child Development
Although no formal education exists during recess, sociologists and psychologists consider recess an integral portion of child development, to teach them the importance of social skills and physical education. Play is essential for children to develop not only their physical abilities, but also their intellectual, social, and moral capabilities. Via play, children are able to learn about the world around them. By role playing, children are able to experience, and gain insight on, a socio-emotional level. Psychomotor learning also gives children clues on how the world around them works as they can physically demonstrate such skills. Children need the freedom to play in order to learn skills necessary to become competent adults such as coping with stress and problem solving. Through the means of caregiver's observations of children’s play, one is able to identify deficiencies in children’s development.
If the weather is bad, recess may be held indoors, in the classroom, where the students finish work, play board games or other activities that take more than one to play. This helps encourage group activity and some of the games are also educational. Or, they might play educational computer games or read books. It also may help to do something non-educational, to help unwind and de-stress from the daily workload.
The innate expression of play is born with us and grows with us as we age from our toddler years to our college years. Take a step back and you will see that play is natural and fun. It is natural, and it is something people just do. You will find that children play in many different ways and for many reasons. It is connected to development, emotions, motivation, cognition, socialization, culture, and learning. In today’s modern age play is organized for many people to enjoy either inside or outside. Play is learning for life and children learn through play, especially outside with friends or with fun activities. The outdoors is the perfect place to promote a child’s free play, get exercise and feel good.
Read more about this topic: Recess (break)
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“It is easy to lose confidence in our natural ability to raise children. The true techniques for raising children are simple: Be with them, play with them, talk to them. You are not squandering their time no matter what the latest child development books say about “purposeful play” and “cognitive learning skills.””
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