Free Essays - Teaching Essays

Extract: Discuss the importance in the overall development of the child. Show how and why play changes during the first 6 years of life.

This article will attempt to examine the importance of development in children by considering and examining play as a key developmental factor in the following areas: social, cognitive, physical, mental and language. To do this, a focus will primarily involve children from birth through to six years of age. Moreover, this article will provide an explanation of how children learn through play, a description of childrens learning and development through the various ages in their early life and how these developments change during different aspects of their growth through life.

Firstly, it is important to define the word play. According to a dictionary definition, play is to occupy oneself .. to fulfil or cause to fulfil (a particular role) .. games, exercise or other activity undertaken for pleasure, esp. by children. (McLeod 1990).

By about six months old, babies take a positive interest in the activity of play and often enjoy the play of exploration (exploring themselves and other objects or beings around them). They are, by this stage, using all of their senses (Bee 1994, page 167). Babies of this age learn the basic cognitive and social behaviour as they enjoy play with other human beings (such as parents making funny faces and noises at them) and they learn to distinguish a meaning in different signals and behaviours at the same time learning how social interaction can be pleasurable to them. Babies from this age also learn about their physical makeup and about the makeup of inanimate objects through their sensory exploration (through touch, taste, sound, look, hear) (Kelly-Byrne 1989, page 3).

Journeying through toddler years, young children learn to develop all the key areas of social, cognitive, physical, mental and language important to the growth of the human being. The child learns to sit up, crawl, walk, run, climb and grab at everything; they also learn to explore, discover and experiment with whatever takes their interest (physical play). They use their growing skills to learn physical co-ordination (putting one object inside another), creativity (through drawing and painting), language (through interacting with other human beings or even objects of play) social and cognitive skills (through their own intuition and learning experiences, predominantly by observing and copying the actions and behaviours of others older than them) (Jeffree and McConkey 1993, page 28).

From the ages of four through to six years, children begin to really show off their individual personalities, competencies and/or insecurities. (Kelly-Byrne 1989, page 12).

All of the essays in the "Free Essays" section were written by students and then submitted to us to display and help others. Thanks to all the students who have submitted their essays to us. You should not hand in our essays as your own. We do not condone plagiarism!