What is Play?
“Play is activity engaged in freely by the child in order to explore and interact with the environment and the people in the child`s world. Play is a vehicle for learning the things a child wants to know and for learning things that teacher wants to teach” (Shipley, 2008, p.18). The natural tendency for children to play allows them to enhance and develop skills, explore and adapt to their environment and understand their world and the things in it. Play can also be very therapeutic to children by helping them overcome emotional issues and situations, adapt to their surroundings and the people around them and help to reduce anxiousness or anxiety.
“Play is activity engaged in freely by the child in order to explore and interact with the environment and the people in the child`s world. Play is a vehicle for learning the things a child wants to know and for learning things that teacher wants to teach” (Shipley, 2008, p.18). The natural tendency for children to play allows them to enhance and develop skills, explore and adapt to their environment and understand their world and the things in it. Play can also be very therapeutic to children by helping them overcome emotional issues and situations, adapt to their surroundings and the people around them and help to reduce anxiousness or anxiety.
Play versus Not-Play
o 2) Play focuses on means, not end- it is process-orientated not product orientated
o 3) Play occurs when objects are familiar- exploration occurs when objects are unfamiliar or poorly understood
o 4) Play involves pretending, meaning engaging in activities that have an “as if”, representational or nonliteral quality
o 5) Play is free of the externally imposed rules that distinguish play from games
o 6) Play is characterized by the active involvement of the participant and, therefore, excludes daydreaming and mindless exploration
(Shipley, D., 2008, p. 19)
- There are six factors that distinguish play from not-play:
o 2) Play focuses on means, not end- it is process-orientated not product orientated
o 3) Play occurs when objects are familiar- exploration occurs when objects are unfamiliar or poorly understood
o 4) Play involves pretending, meaning engaging in activities that have an “as if”, representational or nonliteral quality
o 5) Play is free of the externally imposed rules that distinguish play from games
o 6) Play is characterized by the active involvement of the participant and, therefore, excludes daydreaming and mindless exploration
(Shipley, D., 2008, p. 19)