Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Review: What Play Means for Children.

Title of the article: The Importance of Play
Source: http://www.articlecity.com/articles/family/article_2742.shtml
Author: Judy Hansen
Date of Publication: May, 2008.

Garcia Fernandez, Gabriela.

Most people may think that children play because they are bored, but to play is much more than that. Jude Hasen explains in the article “The Importance of Play” the role that this activity has for children and how play becomes a door to the world for them. For this author, when children play, they are immersed in a world of wonder, exploration and adventure, which gives children the opportunity to learn and experience things themselves. Taking into account her explanation, there’s no doubt that play is vital then, for children’s development.
As any important activity in human life, to play has different stages: the first one during toddler hood, the second stage when children are preschoolers and the third stage during children’s school age. Each stage is adjusted to each age capacities and abilities, and each one adds important experiences to children’s life and development.
What is more amazing than the stages of play, is the fact that play “benefits the child in ways that might be difficult for adults to imagine” as J. Hasen states in the article. To support this opinion, the author explains the most relevant benefits that play has in children’s life. First of all, play brings joy. Apart from that, it “fosters socio-emotional learning” because when playing children display their independence in the decision to embark in play activities. On the other hand, play “hones physical and motor development” since it involves the uses of the sense and the body.
As important as those benefits, is the fact that to play “facilitates cognitive learning”. It is vital to the intellectual development of a child. To play “enhances language development”, “encourage creativity” and “provides bonding experiences”. Taking into account all these benefits explained in the article, it is clear that play is a very important factor in children’s life.
But what is the importance then, in getting to know what play means for children? First of all, to know this, may encourage parents to support their children’s playtime. If parents get to understand play as an extremely beneficial activity for their children, their view over this activity will always be positive, leading to parent’s support to it. And this support is no other thing that a great contribution, and the best contribution, that parents could do to their children life and development.

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