ExchangeEveryDay Past Issues

Children are learning through play, they learn to use thier language/words,take turns, use thier imagination and use thier social skills.

I’ve been thinking about the issue of play in ECE recently so thank you for this article. What is the difference between play and work? What are the similarities between the two? And why do adults (including early childhood professionals sometimes refer to play as work particularly as children’s work? Whereas adult work solely to produce an outcome, children do not necessarily play to an end result. Nevertheless, this does not mean play is of a lesser value than work and so there is no need to equate the two. I feel uncomfortable about the use of analogy between play and work because it tends to endorse undue demand for “accountability” for children’s play particularly in early childhood. When faced with demands for “increased productivity, the temptation to “structure” activities in EC programs is also increased often to the detriment of the developing child. The noted characteristics of play such as pressure free, intrinsically motivated, controlled by the players, free from external rules, non-serious, enjoyable, etc appear to have little in common with work whether it is used as a verb or a noun. Paradoxically though, productive work habits have been observed as one of the countless functions and benefits of play to children’s development.

Play is the work of the young child!