play is of crucial importance to children's
wellbeing, and play-related skills are
therefore important for all practitioners
BUT can be difficult for adults to
understand its value
Opies - play is unrestricted - no rules/umpires etc/feeling of
fellowship from doing same as everyone else
Bruner - play is principle business of childhood
Brown - contributes to social development, motor skills, cognitive
development, exploration of ideas and creativity, emotional
health and wellbeing, development of self
Ennew - play is central to all human culture
play is crucial to children's wellbeing as a form of learning,
development, expression and investigation of identity,
communication and connection with other children and with
adults
Christensen - engaging with cultures - context and timing of
communication are crucial to process
Mosaic approach - to recognise different voices or languages of
children - participation, reflection, adaptability
does play matter?
play is essential to learning and development; it is also a vital part
of children's identity, culture and quality of life, but it can struggle
to be given priority over other items on an adult agenda
BUT space and time to play is written in Article 31 of UNCRC
as every child's entitlement
A positive perspective on play could be seen as an
essential component of a debate about what services and
practitioners can try to offer to all children to improve
their quality of life
Margaret McMillan - nurseries all about play and
experiencing the outdoors
Plowden report - play principle means of
learning in childhood
BUT outflanked by health and safety,
curriculum based education
OFSTED - more widespread range of activities as
evaluation points to benefits for ch
Welsh assembly - national play strategy
places duty on LA's to address play needs of local childrren
play needs to be inclusive
Gallagher - inclusive childrens spaces - produced and
reproduced to reflect various interests of all who wish to use
it
can help to negotiate, take risks and overcome obstacles
Beresford - 3 factors essential for disabled ch play - resources, training, suitable environmnet
PLUS charity - Sterling
legislation supporting ch rights to play - some practitioners wary
of incl disabled ch because they lack training
play is a vital means of communicating with
children on a day to day basis, but is also an
important way for practitioners to connect
with children at times of trauma or stress
Play therapy - to help ch make sense of things and to
cope with situations such as being in hospital
where can children play?
places to play, outside and inside,
are still very important to children's
quality of life
80% play out, 72% want to play out
more, 82% prefer natural spaces,
Forest School influence
BUT still adults not comfortable with ch playing outside
other barriers - being told off, traffic, fear of strangers
Marsh - new technologies and media good way to
explore identities inlc gender
ch active agents in the process of meaning-making
more children's services could
become children's spaces
Moss and Petrie - ch services sounds too formal - childrens
spaces changes our view with possibilities and potentials
play spaces made with ch rather than for them
For play to be effective, children must be given
sufficient time to immerse themselves, or wallow, in it,
and as well as time, children need children's spaces
A comparative view
different approaches to children and childhood
lead to different approaches to children's play
Scandinavia - pedagogues relationship both personal
and professional and not goal driven
Moss and Petrie - good relationships promote ch play
Nowegian - no wet playtime - outdoors important to ch development
adults could choose to give play a greater
priority in children's services
play should not be marginalised in children's lives
adults attitudes, particularly to risk and
supervision, can limit the contribution of play
to children's quality of life