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Another Plea for Play
September 10, 2015
Courage starts with showing up and letting ourselves be seen.
-Brené Brown
-Brené Brown
"It is before the age of 7 years — ages traditionally known as "pre-academic" — when children desperately need to have a multitude of whole-body sensory experiences on a daily basis in order to develop strong bodies and minds. This is best done outside where the senses are fully ignited and young bodies are challenged by the uneven and unpredictable, ever-changing terrain." This strong statement comes from Angela Hanscom in her Washington Post article, "The decline of play in preschoolers — and the rise in sensory issues."
"Preschool years are not only optimal for children to learn through play, but also a critical developmental period. If children are not given enough natural movement and play experiences, they start their academic careers with a disadvantage. They are more likely to be clumsy, have difficulty paying attention, trouble controlling their emotions, utilize poor problem-solving methods, and demonstrate difficulties with social interactions. We are consistently seeing sensory, motor, and cognitive issues pop up more and more in later childhood, partly because of inadequate opportunities to move and play at an early age."
Contributed by Kirsten Haugen
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Comments (3)
Displaying All 3 CommentsShishu Vikash Kendra
Kolkata, West Bengal , India
To teach Play is the best medium in the early childhood
Child Friend
Pennsylvania, United States
I completely agree with Margaret. Teachers need to understand child development. Learning is so natural to a child, we as teachers support that learning by providing a creative and playful environment and by listening to and being engaged in conversation with the children. The academic push is not getting us anywhere. The learning is in the play.
Penn State (retired)
State College, PA, United States
The importance of play in the early years cannot be stressed enough. It is intriguing that recent research shows how important play is for brain development, as well as cognitive and social development. My generation became preschool teachers reading about play, and seeing classrooms full of playing children as we did our field experiences. But where do today's novice teachers learn how to do this? As we move toward more and more children getting publicly funded pre-k the need for "skilled" teachers is emphasized, but the definition of "skilled" does not seem to begin with understanding that young children learn best through real play.
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