1. Let’s Play! Using Play to Build Language Skills in Young Children
Katie Swart, Ph.D.
June 13, 2019
Early Childhood Summit

2. What are your experiences with play?
Who is in the room?
What are your experiences with play?
Think of a time as a young child when you were engaged in play…
Who did you play with?
What did you play? What materials did you use?
Where did this take place?
When did it occur? How long did it go on?
How did it make you feel?

3. Power of Play Play… Exploratory play can help with development of:
Is the most developmentally appropriate way for young children to learn
Is not academic work but spontaneous, creative activity
Should be fun and internally motivating!
Can facilitate a child’s ability to increase:
Verbalizations
Vocabulary development
Language comprehension
Exploratory play can help with development of:
Academic language and vocabulary
Categorization
Numeracy
(Myck-Wayne, 2010)

4. Mildred Parten’s 6 Stages of Play
Unoccupied: child is not playing, shows little interest in long- term attention to any one activity
Onlooker: observes other children, and verbally interacts but does not participate in play
Solitary: plays alone, independent of other children; uses materials differently than others
(Parten, 1932)

5. Mildred Parten’s 6 Stages of Play
Parallel: plays independently but with other children
Associative: everyone playing is participating in a similar way Materials are the common interest.
Cooperative: participating in a common goal. One or two leaders control group activities and different roles and responsibilities are delegated.
(Parten, 1932)

6. A little food for thought…
It is rare to find a toy that inspires high quality play for ALL children at the SAME time.
How children play with toys is influenced by age, gender, culture, & SES.
Play styles and toy preferences may be shaped by their families’ cultural beliefs.
A toy that is novel and engaging to one child with one set of experiences may be less inspiring to a child with different experiences.
Open-ended toys that lead to high quality play contribute more to academic outcomes than educational toys.
(Trawick-Smith et al., 2014)

7. Criteria for Selecting Materials
Developmentally Appropriate
Active
Open-ended
Give feedback
Multipurpose
Safe and durable
Nonsexist, nonracial
Variety
Duplicate
Real-life
Attractive

8. Loose Parts As a definition: Invite conversations and interactions
Alluring, beautiful found objects and materials that children can move, manipulate, control, and change while they play.
No specific set of directions
Used alone or combined with other materials
Can be turned into whatever the child desires
Invite conversations and interactions
Encourage collaboration and cooperation
Promote social competence by supporting creativity and innovation
(Daly & Beloglovsky, 2015)

9. See the display for more examples!

10. What can you do to help your child talk more and use new words?
Follow the child’s lead…
Comment and wait.
Ask questions and wait.
Respond by adding a little more.
**And don’t forget to wait! Give your child time to talk.
(Cole et al., 2006)

11. Take a peek at the Butterfly's week! Check these out!
ECDC at the College of Charleston YouTube Page
ECDC at the College of Charleston Facebook Page

12. A time for questions and conversation
A time for questions and conversation! Please feel free to explore the materials and….PLAY!

13. References
Cole, K., Maddox, M., Lim, S. Y., & Notari-Syverson, A. (2006). Language is the key: A program for building language and literacy. “Talking and books,” and “talking and play” resource guide. Washington Research Institute, Seattle, WA.
Daily, L. & Beloglovsky, M. (2015). Loose parts: Inspiring play in young children. Red Leaf Press, St. Paul, MN.
Myck-Wayne, J. (2010). In defense of play: Beginning the dialog about the power of play. Young Exceptional Children, 13,
Parten, M (1932). Social participation among preschool children. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology.
Trawick-Smith, J., Wolff, J., Koschel, M., & Vallarelli, J. (2014). Which toys promote high-quality play? Reflections on the five-year anniversary on the TIMPANI study. Young Children, 69,