Everyone knows what play is don’t they? Play is what children do while they wait to grow up isn’t it? Well, play is so much more. A child’s play is hard work and is vitally important for him or her to develop into a happy and satisfied adult.
Through play a child learns to think and plan.
Play is the child’s way of finding out about the world he lives in. He is constantly exploring and experimenting. He questions, tests, observes, tries and tries again.
Through play a child practices skill.
As a child matures, their play becomes a more social activity. At first he will play alongside other children, then he will move to interact and through this will come the skills of sharing, turn taking, negotiation, empathy and language.
During play a child develops and practices language.
Through play a child’s vocabulary can be expanded, trying out new words and phrases and finding new ways to communicate and share his excitement, pleasure or even anger with others in an appropriate way.
We need to encourage children’s play by providing as many unstructured materials (those that don’t have a “right” or “wrong” way to use them such as sand, water, paint, paste, clay or dough) as possible and not having an expectation of an “end result” or “finished product”. We need to let them explore their natural environment, the big wide world. We need to let them make mistakes and takes a few risks and we need to be there to share those special moments of discovery and excitement.