“Imaginative play is essential to cognitive development, but it is becoming endangered by our busy lives. Children who do not engage in imaginative play because their time is overly structured or spent watching television or other forms of media are not developing the language and reasoning skills that are so critical to early childhood development” (Bodrova & Leong, 2015).
Children are meant to utilize their own imagination, because it instills the gift of problem solving. Subconsciously children are learning to problem solving when making their own rules, building prop and environments, communicating in role play, and etc. There are numerous amounts of ways that children can learn through just playing with peers or even through imaginative play by themselves. Having a child watch TV all day can taint their child ability to use one’s own imagination. Children are not utilizing the skills needed to develop language and reasoning skills.
“Play is an essential part of every child’s life and is vital for the enjoyment of childhood as well as social, emotional, intellectual and physical development” (England). The most natural state of mind for children happens when they are playing. With knowing that, it is quite understandable that in this state of mind a child is more liable to learning meaningful lessons. The brain of the child is not fully developed, therefore attention maintenance it not the most feasible benefit when working with a child. To gain a child’s attention long enough to be able to educate them, one must first place them in the mindset of play; bringing about enjoyment.
As a child I was encouraged to play outside with friends. Although my parents may have had an ulterior motive to get my siblings and myself out of their hair, I was learning to use our imagination. Every night after homework we would play outside making up all different types of games. One of our favorites was called capture the flag. The flag would be in the front yards of many neighbors’ yards and was guarded by the opposing team. We had to figure out ways to capture our team’s flags. We didn’t know it but we were problem solving; coming together and making up various plays based on the scenery, amount of players, and amount of flags. This game was just one of many games that we played together and in the process we learned how to communicate and were scaffolding various instances. With the new technology children are more likely to play inside. Videos games have taken over and although children are still utilizing their problem solving skills, they are lacking the socialization and physical aspects of being able to play outside.
References
Almon, K. (2002). The vital role of play in early childhood education. Retrieved from http://www.waldorfresearchinstitute.org/pdf/BAPlayAlmon.pdf
Bodrova, E., & Leong, D. (2015). Play: The Work of Lev Vygotsky. Retrieved from Child Development Media: http://www.childdevelopmentmedia.com/articles/play-the-work-of-lev-vygotsky/
Davis, J. (2011, Dec 30). What is imaginitive play and how to encourage it? Retrieved from Learning 4 Kids: http://www.learning4kids.net/2011/12/30/what-is-imaginative-play-and-how-to-encourage-it/
England, P. (n.d.). Freedom to play. Retrieved from Why is play important?: http://www.playengland.org.uk/about-us/why-is-play-important.aspx
britneymathieu 