“Play is not a luxury, play is a necessity” – Kay Redfield Jamison
Play is vital for healthy human development and is essential to children’s education.
It helps in all aspects in the development of children and young people, including reading, writing, maths, science, social skills, organisational skills and group work skills, plus negotiation and cooperation skills. The list is endless.
Play enables us to develop the necessary skills needed for adulthood; however as adults we need play to help with our overall wellbeing. Developing play skills supports and enhances the learning capacity of children and young people.
According to Dr Sue Jennings, there are three development stages of play and we need to develop skills from all three areas.
The three stages of play that are of crucial importance in ordinary healthy development are:
These are described in more detail below.
The first stage of play (Jennings, S. 2006) is called Embodiment play which includes sensory play. This generally begins during the first year of life and continues through their life time. With this play, the baby uses their body and senses to explore themselves and their world.
From this stage these are a few skills they develop:
Below are a small number of activities that can help develop this stage. As with all the stages, they can be developed at other times in life.
Reference: Jennings, S. (2006) Creative Play with Children at Risk Milton Keynes: Speechmark
“The second stage is projection where the child relates more to the external world beyond the body.” (Jennings, S 2006)
This second stage of play is where children begin to explore the world using toys and objects separate from themselves. The objects can be used through embodiment play and/or used in dramatic play and in a narrative form. For example, a child may enjoy using their senses with the sand by touching, smelling, listening, but may also use toys in it and tell a story about the toys in the sand.
From this stage these are a few skills they develop:
Below are a small number of activities that can help develop this stage. As with all the stages, they can be developed at other times in life.
Reference: Jennings, S. (2006) Creative Play with Children at Risk Milton Keynes: Speechmark
The third stage is role play (Jennings, S 2006) and this usually occurs around the age of two to three years or as the child develops their skills in symbolic interaction with objects. Children develop role play as a way of re-enacting real life events and stories, for example when children play in the home corner and take on the roles of the adults in their lives.
The ability to role play helps us to understand ourselves and others. The skills of role playing enable us to meet the demands of every day realities.
Below are a small number of activities that can help develop this stage. As with all the stages, they can be developed at other times in life.
Reference: Jennings, S. (2006) Creative Play with Children at Risk Milton Keynes: Speechmark
Special Play Time video (You Tube)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OwI88B2WGw&feature=youtu.be
Special Parent-Child Play Times document (pdf)
https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.a4pt.org/resource/resmgr/telehealth/4_-_Special_Parent-Child_Pla.pdf
Life Changing Play (pdf)
https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.a4pt.org/resource/resmgr/telehealth/5_-_Garry_Article_-_Life_Cha.pdf
30 Minutes of Play (pdf)
https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.a4pt.org/resource/resmgr/telehealth/6_-_Garry_Article_-_Thirty_M.pdf
IPA Play in Crisis Booklet for parents and carers (pdf)
Reference: Jennings, S. (2006) Creative Play with Children at Risk Milton Keynes: Speechmark
