Types of Play/ Play Choices Session 5

Learning outcomes By the end of this session we will have; Explored and reflected upon the different types of play Linked this to practical situations

Moyles (2010 p.5) “We must acknowledge that grappling with the concept of play can be analogised to trying to seize bubbles, for every time there appears to be something to hold on to, its ephemeral nature disallows its being grasped.” What does this suggest to you?

Different forms of play Physical: Gross motor Fine motor Psychomotor Intellectual: Linguistic Scientific Symbolic/mathematical Creative From Moyles (2010) Social/emotional: Therapeutic Linguistic Repetitious Empathic Self concept gaming

Stages of Play TYPE AGE EXPLANATION solitary 0-2 spectator 2-21/2 Play alone little interaction with others spectator 2-21/2 Watch other children but do not join in parallel 21/2-3 Play alongside others but not together associative 3-4 Interact with others, preference of people, mixed sex groups Co-operative 4+ Play together and share goals, single sex groups A=stages are not necessarily separated

Dramatic and socio-dramatic play Both types of play involve imitation, make believe, imagination and creativity and involve symbolic activity Both make complex and often high cognitive and socio-affective demands on children

Smilansky (1990) Dramatic play involves pretending to be someone else, role taking, imitating a persons speech actions and patterns, using real and imagined props, using first and second hand experience and knowledge of characters and situations Socio-dramatic play involves cooperation between at least two children: the roles, both verbally and in terms of the acts performed

There are six elements of dramatic and socio dramatic play Role play by imitation Make believe with objects Make believe with actions situations Persistence in the role play Interaction Verbal interaction Watch the following video of children role playing, identify examples of when you can see these six elements

Rough and tumble and superhero play Dominated by boys and involves physical activity such as chasing, running, jumping, wrestling, rolling, crawling as well as well as dramatic gestures and actions This type of play causes conflicts amongst professionals Why do you think this is?

Benefits of rough and tumble and superhero play Children can explore complex realities and role models Children are attracted to the dressing up clothes Practitioners can use these forms of play to build critical discourses with older children Superhero play is a potential site for language development Children engage in social problem solving and experiment with different roles Leads to other forms of social play such as cooperative Reciprocal role taking helps to sustain play as children alternate between hero and villain

Play to Leisure As children develop, the way in which they use materials changes from functional to constructive, then on to dramatic, and finally games with rules. (Piaget) Children aged eight and above have mastered a variety of physical, social and cognitive skills. They have a certain degree of mastery of their gross and fine motor skills as well as general coordination They can often understand more complex rules and concepts in their play. Crave more challenging types of play and leisure activities

Play to Leisure Video Can you identify the different types of play in the video of how play activities have been implemented in an extended school provision? How have play activities developed?

Influences on Play What other influences do you think can have an impact on play types and choices; Gender? Culture? Development? Disability?

Reflect……. In the first observation Bobbie was called a “girl” and a “sissy” because he said he was “Snow White” while the other boys were playing pirates. In the second, a group of five boys are using the Lego to play ‘bad’ Super Heroes. Bobbie, joining in the game, has chosen Cruella De Vil as his ‘baddie’. As a result, Ben tells him he cannot play if he is a lady. And in the third observation during a role-play activity, Bobbie has put on a nurse’s uniform and Terry points out that only girls wear dresses. What are your thoughts on this? children entering the reception class have already acquired a definite gender identity, an identity that is socially constructed and shaped by society’s established beliefs of what it means to be a boy or girl. And children are under considerable pressure to conform to those norms – even though they play a significant role in the construction of their own gender identity. Stepping out of line is not taken lightly as Bobbie has discovered. For teachers, the challenge must be to open children’s eyes to the possibilities of life outside the confines of a rigid gender identity.

Culture…. Influence of popular culture on children's play. Roles that children take in pretend play, for instance, are often derived from favourite television cartoon shows or movies. (Lytle 2003) Johnson, Christie and Wardle (2005) suggest a socio-cultural view of play as a blend of community, inter-personal and personal influences Play/leisure activities take on different forms as defined by each particular culture Examples…??????

Disability…. Children with disabilities or continuing health conditions share all the social, play/leisure and learning needs of other children Need to pay attention to the child’s disability or health condition Importance of differentiation Identify reasons why the importance of play for disabled children might be overlooked

References Johnson, J. Christie, J and Wardle, F. (2005) Play, Development and Early Education Pearson: London Lindon, J. (2001) Understanding Children’s Play Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes Lytle, D.E. (2003) (Ed.) Play and Educational Theory and Practice USA: Praeger Publishers