My job as an Educator makes me appreciate and value God's gift to Children "PLAY".Sometimes when I look at topics for the week I just wonder how to put it across the kids for better understanding and what better way is there than PLAY METHOD.Over and over again I see children lit up with joy when they see lndividuals who understand what play means to them.
Learning and teaching doesn't have to be all seriousness,strictness and boring.Adding spice to our classroom delivery matters alot and likewise parents loosen up and have play with your kids.
“According to Piaget, “Play consists of responses for
pure pleasure” and similarly the preschool play way
method is considered the most fun and effective
methodology along with the project method and lesson
plans.
Play is one of the main ways in which children learn. It
helps to build self worth by giving a child a sense of
his or her own abilities and to feel good about
themselves. Because it’s fun, children often become
very absorbed in what they are doing. In turn, this
helps them develop the ability to concentrate.
Providing children with a range of playthings will help
them learn in a number of ways:
Examples of exciting things kids can play with:
Sand and water play can be an early introduction to
science and maths, eg learning that water is fluid,
not solid, and that it can be measured in different
sized containers.
Playing with dough, drawing and painting pictures,
dressing up, playing with dolls can encourage
creativity, imagination and expression of feelings.
Building blocks, jigsaws and shape sorters can help
with recognising different shapes and sizes, putting
things in order and developing logic.
Playing ball games, dancing, running, climbing all
help to develop body movement, strength, flexibility
and co-ordination skills.
Games help with turn taking, sharing and mixing
with others.
Singing, playing simple music instruments help to
develop rhythm, listening and hearing.
Learning through play is a term used in education and
psychology to describe how a child can learn to make
sense of the world around them. Through play children
can develop social and cognitive skills, mature
emotionally, and gain the self-confidence required to
engage in new experiences and environments.
Tim Taylor writes: "Learning does not have to be boring, nor
does it have to be entertaining, but it does have to
mean something to the learner.
Five Scientific Benefits of Play to Children
Better behavior
Taking recess away from schoolchildren as
punishment might be counterproductive. According to
a 2009 study in the journal Pediatrics, kids behave
better in the classroom when they have the chance to
blow off steam on the playground during the day.
Researchers compared teacher ratings of 8- and 9-
year-olds' behavior in schools with and without
recess periods. The kids who had more than 15
minutes a day of breaks behaved better during
academic time. Unfortunately, 30 percent of the more
than 10,000 children in the study had no recess or
less than 15 minutes of recess each day.
Playing for the team
Play teaches kids to, well, play nice. Research
published in the Early Childhood Education Journal
in 2007 revealed that both free play and adult-
guided play can help preschoolers learn awareness
of other people's feelings. Playing also teaches kids
to regulate their own emotions, a skill that serves
them well as they move through life.
"You get to try things out with no consequences,"
said Kathy Hirsch-Pasek, a child development
psychologist at Temple University, who researches
the benefits of play. "[Play] also allows you to wear
different hats, to master social rules. That's huge."
Let's move
Tree-climbing, foursquare and even a round of
dress-up get kids moving much more than television
or computer-game time. The American Heart
Association recommends that children over the age
of 2 engage in at least an hour a day of moderate,
enjoyable physical activity. There's evidence that
active children grow into active adults, thus
decreasing their risk of heart disease and other
scourges of a sedentary lifestyle. One study
published in 2005 in the American Journal of
Preventative Medicine followed Finnish citizens over
21 years and found that the most active 9- to 18-
year-olds later remained highly active later in life.
Learning boost
Reading, 'riting, 'rithmatic and … recess? A 2009
study in the Journal of School Health found that the
more physical activity tests children can pass, the
more likely they are to do well on academic tests.
That suggests unrelenting classroom time may not
be the best way to improve test scores and learning ,
said psychologist Hirsch-Pasek.
"Children learn to count when they're doing
hopscotch," Hirsch-Pasek said. "They learn about
numbers when they're playing stickball, and believe
me they know which team is ahead. They are telling
stories on the playground, and they're getting
active."
It's fun
All work and no play really does make Jack a dull
boy. Play is a natural state of childhood, Hirsch-
Pasek said, pointing out that even non-mammals do
it . University of Tennessee biopsychologist Gordon
Burghardt told The Scientist magazine in 2010 that
he's even observed turtles playing.
The joyful properties of play are evident in schools
served by the non-profit Playworks, which assigns
research "coaches" to schools to teach classic
playground games and mentor children in the art of
running their own recess. Playworks focuses on low-
income school districts, where kids are at high risk of
dropping out before high-school graduation.
"We find that kids feel safer," after Playworks helps
facilitate recess, said spokesperson Cindy Wilson.
"Kids tell us they're more likely to come to school."
Not only that, but recess extends the same freedom
to children that adults may take for granted.
"Adults get breaks," Wilson said. "Kids need breaks,
too."
Adapted from:
Wikipedia
www. livescience.com
Family lives
Kalli.com
www.greatschool.org
