Different Types Of Play Essay

1. The materials used in play, what the benefits are and examples. Creative play is when children use their imagination and artistic skills to create what they want whilst doing activities such as painting, drawing, sticking, cutting and play dough. The materials that are used in this play are colouring pencils, scissors, glue, paper, crayons, stamps, aprons, feathers and paints. Creative play helps develop math skills because when they are sticking they are seeing a variety of different shapes and sizes and get a basic understanding of this. When children are being creative they are using and developing their fine motor skills, they are doing this by participating in activities such as painting, cutting and drawing. Children are expressing themselves in creative play using materials other than words and they can work together and socialise in the activities this will help build relationships with other children. Pretend play is what kids do to learn about their world and understand how to interact with the people and things that are in it. Children are being imaginative and act out what their parents do for example they play kitchen and mums and dads. This is an understanding of the world and everyday life. The materials that are used in this play are dressing up, plastic food, play kitchens, doll houses and push chairs. Children can express their feelings through pretend play because they may act out something that has happened to them before. It’s also an opportunity to talk to children about feelings and emotions. When children are pretend playing they are making up stories of their own for example they play ‘schools/ teachers’ and make up what’s going to happen. Children are developing their language skills through this and also their social skills because they will be playing with other children and sharing ideas of their own. Children are learning and developing how to problem solve because they all might want to be the teacher but they can’t so they will need to work out how they are going to do this. Physical play is any activity that you do when your body is involved with movement. The materials that are used in this play are bikes, skipping ro pes, footballs, hopping, hopscotch and apparatus. Physical activity helps develop children’s health and growth development. When children physical play they are improving their physical skills and it provides children with feelings of accomplishment, positive self-esteem and a sense of power and freedom. Children are improving their  gross motor skills because physical play involves coordination, jumping, running and balancing, anything to do with their feet and legs. Manipulative play is a play that involves children building and fitting things together. This play helps children develop their fine motor skills and hand co-ordination. It helps children become more confident in using different objects and equipment they will use as they get older. The materials that are used in this play are building blocks, puzzles and Lego/ Duplo. Children become increasingly skilful with their hands, and it also encourages them to think about their actions, plan them, and learn through trial-and-error. Manipulative play also helps childre n to learn the most suitable ways of performing certain actions. Discovery play is allowing children to learn about the world and how it works. Children grow in self-confidence and to experiment and investigate new things, to form new relationships and to develop as individuals. Discovery play is for children to explore, investigate and make sense of the world around them. They can feel the changes in the weather, discover the natural world and move and develop their physical strength. 3. Questions You have been asked to work with a group of children to make paper hats for a party. What type of play is this? This is creative play. How can you make sure that each child makes a hat in their own way? To make sure that each child makes a hat in their own way you could talk to them and help gather their own ideas to put them on their hat. Encourage the children to do it how they want to and not what everyone else is doing. What equipment and materials would you need? The equipment and materials that you need are glue, aprons, stickers, glitter, feathers, sequins, scissors, colouring pencils, cello tape and stapler. Can you describe what pretend play is? Pretend plays are children being imaginative and make believing. What are the different forms of pretend play? The different forms of pretend play are role play, domestic play, fantasy play, imaginative play, super hero play and socio dramatic play. What equipment or items can be used in pretend play? The equipment that can be used in pretend play is play kitchens, tea sets, and dress up, plastic food, card board boxes, books, dolls house, doctors set, plastic babies, teddies, plastic phones, apparatus and cutlery. How can pretend play fit in with the Early Years Curriculum? Pretend play fits in with the Early Years Curriculum by doing a theme. Within my placement my class had monsters week and children had to dress up as monsters at the end of the week. What are the benefits of physical play? The benefits of physical play are that children develop stronger immune systems and it improves focus and concentration. Physical play can promote problem solving skills and leadership skills. Children respond to their peers feelings while waiting for their turn and sharing their experiences, this helps develop their social and emotional development. Physical play contributes to children’s fine manipulative and gross motor development and body awareness as they use their bodies in activities. This helps their physical development. What type of equipment can be used for physical play and how can this help children develop? What age ranges this is suitable for? The type of equipment that can be used for physical play can be apparatus; this can help children develop their physical development. They are using their gross motor skills and fine motor skills because they are using their hands to grab and pull themselves up and they are using their feet to push themselves up, balance and climb over. The age ranges that are suitable for this would be 3-12 years old. What large pieces of equipment are there and which ones are particularly popular with the children? How do they use them? Within my placement they have slides, tunnels and tricycles in the playground. The tricycles and slides are the ones that are most popular with the children. The children that play with the tricycles they pretend that they are on motorbikes and make the sounds of it. Some children like to race with each other. Many skills are developed when riding a tricycle such as the ability of know when to slow down and speed up, pedal and steer. The slides, children learn to balance and build up their self-esteem. Children see slides as a challenge when they climb and they enjoy playing on it. What is manipulative play and can you give examples? Manipulative play is building and fitting things together. Examples; Lego Train set Puzzles Building blocks What are the benefits of manipulative play? The benefits of manipulative play are that children can work together, or on their own building blocks and this helps develop their social development. Children are developing their fine and gross motor skills, using their fingers to pick up the pieces. Also they are developing hand- eye coordination because if the child was doing a jigsaw they are looking where the puzzle piece may fit. Children are developing their language skills when playing with friends. When children have completed their activity such as a train set they will sense achievement because they completed it on their own, they may even set themselves a goal and do something a bit harder. What equipment can be used in manipulative play, what are the benefits and age ranges? Duplo can be used in manipulative play, the benefits of this are that children can gain confidence because there is no right way in playing with this equipment. Children are using hand-eye coordination and their fine manipulative skills. The suitab le age for this is 18 months- 5 years old. What is discovery play and can you give me some examples? Discovery play is playing that helps children learn and explore new things and how to use and play with them. Examples; Sand and water pit Farm yards Plasticine and play dough Cars What materials can be used to encourage discovery play? Buttons Pebbles Pasta Different coloured paper Rice How could children combine play? Children can combine play by putting toys with another. Examples; Sand pit with dinosaurs. Water with boats, plastic sea creatures or cups. Playing with the Play dough in the kitchen, making things, pretend food. Case study questions 1. How is this type of language helping Ayse develop her language? It helps develop Ayses language because it encourages to communicate with other children when she is around them. 2. What other skills is Ayse learning?  She is using her fine manipulative skills, sensory and thinking skills. 3. Why is it important that the child minder is ready to join in and support this type of play? It’s important that the child minder is ready to join in and support this type of play because it will give Ayse ideas on what to use to pretend feed her teddy. The child minder can make sure that Ayse is safe when playing and is calm. 4. What is treasure basket play and Heuristic play? Treasure basket play is a play that babies use, it’s a basket that has a variety of toys in that are suitable for the child to play with. The baby can choose what they want to play with and it gives them a chance to explore the different toys inside the basket. They can touch, shake, licking, banging and dropping. The materials that are used in this play are corks, shells, string, sponges, leather wallet and metal scoop. Heuristic play is a play that children use who are mobile and have moved on from treasure basket play. It encourages children to explore through the use of children’s senses. The types of things that are put out for the child to explore would be everyday objects. Children do anything to find out what they can and can’t do with the objects that they have been given, they will put things together or put them on top of each other. The materials that are used for this play are cork, plastic bracelets, pompoms, pegs and different sized bottles. The role of the adult is to show what the children need to do because they aren’t going to know what to do with the things in the basket. Showing the children what to do gives them ideas on what else they might be able to do with it. Children love to explore with the different objects.  When the children are playing the adult shouldn’t interfere and just supervise them because they want to explore on their own, only interfere if children need your help. You should have objects that babies can put in their mouth because that’s the first thing babies will do with whatever they have in front of them, it’s how they feel the object. Babies can only grip objects, they aren’t able to feel with their hands properly which is why they put the objects in their mouth.