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Play
Play is an important survival skill for the
human species: to play is not only to learn, but to learn to survive.
OTTO WENINGER
Play can be defined in many ways; each definition captures a part but not all of this unique experience. Groos defined it as preparation for life. Montessori called it child's work. Freud said it was a child's way to maintain equilibrium between the needs of the self and the needs of society. Piaget said it was an act of assimilation, characteristic of the initiative stage. Frobel said it was the basis of development for the whole child. Erickson saw play as spontaneous activity motivated by a desire for fun. Play is many things and defies most of its definitions. There are no words to define it but it appears to be best defined by Erikson: Play is what you do to have fun. Much has been written about the importance of play on child development and if play is the art of having fun, then it is critical to life at all stages of development.
This chapter focuses on play in a simplistic and rudimentary way. It sees play as the expression of the life force. Humans express their aliveness through play and this makes it worthy of examination for the Child and Youth Care professional. Play begins in infancy and continues throughout their entire life span. When children, early in their lives, are encouraged to play, to express their aliveness, they feel accepted and their existences are validated. When children are stopped, discouraged or stifled in their play, they feel rejected and wrong in their expression of self. Children at all stages of development learn through their play. They learn the art of being human in all of its complexities. The more they are encouraged to play and to express themselves through their play, the more they learn about who they are and how it is for them to be in the world. Even though play is a learning experience, only the severely traumatized child has to be taught how to play. Children already know how to play and need very little supervision. They can, however, benefit from loving and healthy adults who can act as facilitators when they request one, or when their safety needs require one. An adult can structure the child's environment to make learning opportunities more fruitful. Play facilitators can also conduct games or activity experiences which require more structure in a way that is the least intrusive to the child's play experience.
Games and structured activities are a form of play but are less of an expression of the self and more of an expression of self within the confines of rules. Conduct and roles are more clearly defined and play more formalized. Games are generally introduced later in the child's development because of the demands that rules make on the younger child or on the child who is developmentally slow. Games require impulse control, tolerance to frustration, acceptance of limits, and a high level of interpersonal interaction. Children who have not attained these abilities are much happier and better served developmentally when they are allowed less structured play experiences. When the children have reached middle childhood, they are ready for the structure of games. Play for the child in middle or late childhood is almost always associated with rules and organization of thought and behavior. Children in later childhood and teenage years thoroughly enjoy games of all complexities.
The play of early childhood seems to develop in stages, beginning with solitary play where the young child plays alone and does not include others in play. The solitary stage progresses to parallel play where the child plays along ide of other children but does not interact with peers by involving them in the play experience. The next stage is associative play where the child includes others in play but there is no effort made to organize or cooperate with these others. The final stage is cooperative play, which involves organized activities and games (Parten, 1932).
Games can be divided into three types: games of physical skill, strategy, and chance (Sutton-Smith, 1971). Games of physical skill are determined by the players' abilities in gross motor activities. The outcome is decided by who has the highest level of motor ability. Games of strategy are determined by the players' cognitive abilities. The outcome is decided by the player or team who has the highest level of cognitive ability. Games of chance are determined by luck. The outcome has no bearing on the players' abilities in the cognitive or physical areas.
Cooperative games and activities of self discovery and self-expression, e.g., therapeutic games, the arts and guided fantasy, usually played by children of middle childhood ages and older, are an interesting bridge between play and traditional win/lose games. The cooperative game has elements of physical skill, cognitive ability, and luck or chance. As well, it adds an emphasis on cooperation and a de-emphasis on competition. This allows more freedom of self-expression which allies cooperative games with play experiences. Activities of self-discovery and self-expression, in the same way, add structure to the child's ability to express the self. Games and activities of this nature have both the elements of play and games.
MICHAEL BURNS
Burns, M. (1993). Time In: A Handbook for Child and Youth Care
Professionals.
References
Parten, M. (1932). Social Play among pre-school children. Journal of
Abnormal and Social Psychology, 27, 243-299.
Sutton-Smith, B. (1971). Play, games, and controls. In J.P. Scott (Ed.),
Social control (pp. 361-370). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Weninger, O. (1992). Playing to learn: The young child, the teacher and
the classroom. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.
