Chapter 11: Peers, Play, and Popularity Play By Kati Tumaneng (for Drs. Cook and Cook)

Play A pleasurable activity that is actively engaged in on a voluntary basis, is intrinsically motivated, and contains some nonliteral element (Hughes, 1999). Through play, children develop muscle coordination, social interaction skills, logical reasoning and problem-solving skills, and the ability to think about the world as it really is and as it could be.

The Social Levels of Play: Parten’s (1932) Classic Study Observations of 42 children ages 1-5 years as they engaged in free play at their preschool. Six levels of play: Unoccupied behavior Onlooking Solitary play Parallel play Associative play Cooperative play Connection between ages and types of play; lower levels among younger children.

Types of Play from Infancy through Adolescence Sensorimotor Play in Infancy – Play that evolves mostly around the practice of sensory activity and the development of new motor actions. At first, infants discover their own bodies. 3 months – Interact with objects in the world. 6 months – Incorporate every object into action pattern they prefer at the moment. 9 months – Pay more attention to specific features of objects and begin treating objects differently (Hughes, 1999; Ruff, 1984). The Nature of Children’s Play:

Types of Play from Infancy through Adolescence Symbolic play – Play where children use make- believe and pretend to embellish objects and actions. Begins to emerge between 12 and 14 months. By 2-3 years, can pretend an object is something else. Sociodramatic play – Play that involves acting out different social roles or characters. Becomes common by age 3. Functions (Hughes, 1999): Imitation of adults Reenactment of family relationships Expression of needs Outlet for forbidden impulses Reversal roles

Types of Play from Infancy through Adolescence By age 6, most children have entered the stage of concrete operational thought. Become more logical and realistic, and fantasy and pretend tend to give way to seeing the world more as it really is. Push the limits of skills and demonstrate their mastery by performing stunts that become increasingly complex and dangerous. More active in organized sports.

Types of Play from Infancy through Adolescence Leisure Time in Adolescence Shift from concrete and realistic thought of the grade school child to the more hypothetical and idealistic thought characteristics of the formal operational stage. In some sense this represents a return to fantasy of earlier years, but this time adolescents use their imaginations to speculate about how the world could or should be (Hughes, 1999). More active pursuits.

Common Activities in Adolescence (Anderson, Huston, Schmitt, Linebarger, & Wright, 2001)

Trends in Play and Appropriate Toys and Materials for Different Age Groups

Cultural Differences in Play The same developmental progression probably occurs in all cultures but culture can influence where they play, whom they play with, and the main themes in their play. Opportunity and central themes and styles of social interactions that occur during play vary across diverse cultures. Space available also varies. Through play, children learn the skills that are important for their culture. Play effects social themes and interaction. E.g., children of US found to be more aggressive (Farver & Welles-Nystrom, 1997). Culture and Development in Children's Play development_in.htm

Picture on Slide 6: from Cook, J. L., & Cook, G. (2005). Child development: Principles and perspectives (1st ed.) (p. 445). Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Graph on Slide 9: from Cook, J. L., & Cook, G. (2005). Child development: Principles and perspectives (1st ed.) (p. 446). Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Table on Slide 10: from Cook, J. L., & Cook, G. (2005). Child development: Principles and perspectives (1st ed.) (p. 447). Boston: Allyn and Bacon. All other images retrieved from Microsoft PowerPoint Clip Art.