The Importance of Play

Benefits of Play on Early Childhood Development

Attending preschool gives children necessary tools for not only future academics, but it also helps children develop social skills, listening, planning and self-control. In fact, some researchers suggest that developing social-emotional skills is even more important for preschool children. Dr. Yares suggests, “Preschool is much more about developing social-emotional skills than it is about developing academic skills. Without skills like these, children will have a hard time moving on to academic achievement in later years” (Yares, 2019). These social-emotional skills include learning to share and take turns, showing empathy for classmates and self-regulating their own developing emotions. This environment is impossible to create without the presence of other children, which suggests another reason that attending preschool is so important in the development of young children. Another early-childhood education researcher explains, “Preschool provides a safe but challenging environment for children to learn how to manage the loss of a toy to another child during play or sit quietly and listen to a short story without interrupting. These experiences help them explore different feelings and create the foundation for self-regulation” (Malson, 2019). Learning through play benefits the physical, cognitive, and social development of young children; high-quality preschool education includes unstructured play and has not only individual benefits, but societal benefits as well.

Learning through play improves the physical development of children; these physical benefits have crucial, long-term effects on the development of children. Play has benefits on physical development in children beyond their imagination and oral development. Learning through play has additionally proven to have profound effects on the brain development of children. Play increases the size of the prefrontal cortex, the brain’s executive control center that regulates emotions, makes plans, and solves problems. According to a study conducted by Punkoney (2012), play increases the size of the prefrontal cortex, meaning that the brain is more efficient at making plans, solving problems, and regulating and identifying emotions, all things required for successful social interactions.

Play additionally impacts neural connections in the brain. Sergio Pellis, a neuroscience researcher, explains, “the experience of play changes the connections of the neurons at the front end of your brain. Without play experience, those neurons aren’t changed.” (Punkoney, 2012) Childhood play stimulates the brain and makes connections between these neurons. These neural connections stimulate the development of both gross motor skills and fine motor skills in children. Mayra Mendez states, “Play benefits motor development by encouraging movement [and the] understanding of spatial relations, promoting motor planning skills, and supporting balance and dexterity…It also supports gross motor skills, such as energy, stamina, flexibility, and body awareness” (Mendez, 2020). Physical play is crucial in the early development of both fine and gross motor skills, and this play has proven to have profound positive effects on this development. Physical play can include running, jumping, climbing trees, and playing active outdoor games.

Play has not only physical benefits but cognitive ones as well. Play promotes healthy development and critical thinking skills. It reinforces memory, helps children understand cause and effect, and helps children explore the world. Mendez explains, “Young children learn how things fit together through play. It allows them to use their senses and encourages exploration and curiosity, and these skills are the foundation of intellectual development and cognitive processing” (Mendez, 2020). Play often involves games, and games have proven to have cognitive benefits for young children. According to Gracie Branch, “Games typically involve strategy: Children have an opportunity to make plans and adjust those plans in response to what happens during game play. In addition, game playing engages other critical executive function skills such as inhibition control, cognitive flexibility, and working memory” (Branch, 2010). Psychologist Edward Fisher analyzed 46 published studies of the cognitive benefits of play. Fisher (1999) discovered that sociodramatic play—what happens when kids pretend together—results in improved performances in both cognitive-linguistic and social affective domains. Learning through play has additional positive impacts on children's development of pretend play and oral language skills. A recent study conducted by Nolan & Paatsch (2018) investigated the play and oral language skills of 54 children in the first six months of formal schooling. They discovered that children who participated in a play-based approach showed significantly greater growth in pretend play and oral language skills compared with those children participating in a more traditional curriculum.

Piaget’s theory of cognitive development included multiple stages; his second stage of cognitive development is called the preoperational stage, and occurs between the ages of two and seven years old. Children in this stage are learning how to use language and think about the world symbolically, both of which require real-life experiences, often through the form of physical play. At this stage in childhood, children love pretend play. For a child in the preoperational stage, a toy can have qualities beyond the way it was designed to function; for example, a stuffed teddy bear can be a baby in a make-believe game. Piaget believed that children’s pretend play and experimentation helped them solidify the new schemas they were developing cognitively. This involves both assimilation and accommodation, which results in changes in their conceptions or thoughts. As children progress through the preoperational stage, they are developing the knowledge they will need to begin to use logical operations in the next stage. Learning through play also has benefits on animism in children. Animism is defined as “the belief that inanimate objects are capable of actions and have lifelike qualities” (Lundy, Trawick-Smith, 2021). An example of animism could be a child believing that their chair was mad and made them fall down, or that the stars twinkle in the sky because they are happy. Learning through play helps develop children's view of how the world works in a way that is both engaging and self-guided.

Play-based learning also contributes to the development of young children's social and emotional skills. “Playing with other children in a learning environment teaches children to communicate and engage with their peers” (Li, 2016). The practice of interacting with others also develops children's emotional relationships and, overall, strengthens each child's understanding of emotions and social interactions. It is crucial that children learn these skills early in their development because they are more likely to grow into adults with good communication skills and emotional intelligence. One example of how play assists in this development is through acting games, such as "family" or "doctor," which involve empathy and emphasize the importance of this skill in relationships.

Another example of how play supports social and emotional development is when children play games such as tag, it requires them to take turns, compromise, and address others’ feelings. By engaging with other children in play environments, children are able to practice social interactions and strengthen their understanding of human emotions. The idea that play promotes social-emotional development is also supported by Vygotsky’s theories. Vygotsky believed that play should “include creating an imaginary situation, taking on and acting out roles, and following a set of rules determined by specific roles.” He claimed that these actions would begin to reveal a child’s relation to others and the world. Learning through play additionally assists in the ability of children to regulate their emotions, because they are better able to act thoughtfully and empathetically when they are in a less-formal environment. Erikson, a famous psychologist, shows that the play of children is not merely expressive of their conflicts and problems but also an attempt to find symbolic solutions. Erikson also believed that human behaviors and actions are driven by a sense of competence; giving children freedom in how they play enhances their sense of self-competence and drives their learning. Another well recognized theorist, Dewey, believed that play is a subconscious activity that helps an individual develop both mentally and socially. Play should be separate from mandatory work because play is crucial for social and emotional development, so children should receive adequate time to play.

High quality preschool includes large chunks of unstructured play in safe and nurturing environments, and is crucial in supporting the learning and development of infants and toddlers. There are three main components in creating an ideal environment for preschool-aged children: physical, cognitive, and social. It is the responsibility of child care centers and preschools to provide an optimal environment that nurtures children and prioritizes their development. Montessori recognized the importance of play for learning—she believed that children have an innate drive to explore and learn from their environment, and she believed that play was the ideal way to provide learning opportunities. She created an environment where children self-correct and learn through doing, rather than instruction; Montessori aimed to create a learning environment where children’s development is prioritized. The IRIS Center explains how to create this environment: “In order to create an environment conducive to the learning and development of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers, these three components must be carefully designed and implemented. Indeed, every aspect of a classroom environment’s design should reflect its program’s priorities and philosophy” (Corso, Green-Taylor, Shwartz, 2015). Through this thoughtful, nourishing and safe environment, educators and preschools can best support the development of young children. High quality preschool additionally must include educated teachers who consider the individual children and their interests and plan and adapt the curriculum accordingly. High quality preschool can have not only profound impacts on the social, cognitive, and physical development of children, but can additionally positively impact society. A study by Yares & Malson (2016) suggest children who attend preschool are less likely to become incarcerated later in life. The benefits of early childhood education can better entire communities, not only the child or their families.

References

BRANCH, G. (2021). Through Play-Colored Glasses: Play is a powerful tool that promotes early childhood learning and development. Principal, 101(2), 28–32.

Corso, R., Green-Taylor, A., & Shwartz, I. (n.d.). Early childhood environments: Designing effective classrooms. The IRIS Center, 1-5. https://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/module/env/cresource/resources/p07/#content

Lundy, A., & Trawick-Smith, J. (2021). Effects of Active Outdoor Play on Preschool Children's on-Task Classroom Behavior. Early Childhood Education Journal, 49(3), 463–471. https://doi-org.ez.pausd.org/10.1007/s10643-020-01086-w

Nolan, A., & Paatsch, L. (2018). (Re)affirming identities: implementing a play-based approach to learning in the early years of schooling. International Journal of Early Years Education, 26(1), 42–55. https://doi-org.ez.pausd.org/10.1080/09669760.2017.1369397

"Outdoor Play Is Essential to Whole Child Development." 2017. YC Young Children 72 (3): 82–85. https://search-ebscohost-com.ez.pausd.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsjsr&AN=edsjsr.90013690&site=eds-live.

This source discusses the benefits of outdoor learning on child development as a whole, and explains why it is essential for children to develop and learn.

Punkoney, S. (2012, March). Play and how it impacts early brain development. Stay at Home Educator. https://stayathomeeducator.com/play-impacts-early-brain-development/

Yares, A., & Malson, E. (2016). Shining a light on 8 little-known benefits of preschool. Rasmussen University. https://www.rasmussen.edu/degrees/education/blog/benefits-of-preschool/