Feelings of children during games Free Essay Example

The Knox Revised Preschool Play Scale was used in the observations of Noah and 42 months play behaviour was observed as the overall score. The original Play scale was designed in 1968 with further versions made up until 1997 where the Revised Knox Preschool Play Scale was designed. It is an observational assessment giving a development play behaviour from birth to 6 years (Parham & Fazio, 2008).

Noah demonstrated a higher range of play behaviour for 36- 48 months under space management. In gross motor skills, this was observed when he went through the play tunnel using co-ordinated body movement as he was crawling.

He appears to be reaching the beginning of the motor development stage from 3 to 5 years where there is an improvement in the efficiency of skills such as running and jumping and using his skills in sports where he was playing football in the garden (Sharma & Corkerill, 2014).

He climbed the steps to get into the trampoline twice and on the slide once. Hopping up and down several times in the trampoline and once in the playroom.

He displayed good balance when he was reading the book in the trampoline and getting up off the trampoline. In the playroom stability again was seen when he sat with his legs crossed over each other and used good eye-head hand co-ordination in reading the book. This is another indicator he has reached his development milestone of 3 years (Sharma & Corkerill, 2014). He also displayed interest in his willingness to take on challenges such as where he unknotted a bag, he initially called for mum but then he continued and untied it himself using his fine motor skills.

This was also seen when he was putting the jigsaw together his friend was helping him and he was determined to challenge himself.

Noah was observed within the overall age range of 36-48 under material management. Under the headings of manipulation and construction, he was observed in the 36-48 months range. He used small muscle activity when raking the sand and untying the knot in a bag. Under construction, he was observed taking things apart such as the box when he was doing magic by taking off the lid a few times, and he combined the sand to designed an ice cream. He appeared to be in the 30-36 play age for both purpose and attention. Under purpose, he didn’t appear to show a real interest in a finish product and his attention appeared to be between 15 to 30 minutes when he moved between activities during this time. Floor work games were where his attention lasted longer. Playing on the floor with toys and friends is considered in line with his developmental age (Sharma & Corkerill, 2014).

Under Pretense-symbolic 30-36 months suited Noah as he did display some imitation with the binoculars and saying “Nice to meet you”. Under Dramatization, this was observed in the sand pit where he made ice cream for his friend and asking what colour she wanted. This would be consistent with what research suggests where boys of preschool age engage in more concrete pretend play and girls engage more in abstract pretend play (Li, Hestenes, & Wang, 2014).

Under Participation, Noah demonstrated 36-48 months range for this dimension. For type he played with his friend throughout the video on the trampoline, he read to his friend and was pointing out colours and playing in the sand displaying play for 36-48 range. Children at 3 years can match 2 or 3 primary colours however they sometimes confuse the colours but they know all the names of the colours (Sharma & Corkerill, 2014). He showed signs of beginning co-operative play when reading and pointing out colours in the book however there was no turn-taking and grabbing was seen in the sand pit, 30 to 36 months is deemed more suitable. Humour was shown many times when he said “cheese” into the camera and doing magic with the box 36 to 48 months. For language, he used many descriptive words and could change his speech when he was calling his mum or when he was asking his friend what flavour ice cream she wanted. He also was singing a nursing rhythm at the start of the video.

3. Play has many meanings, it is fun, flexible, and can be challenging or not. It depends on the experience of a person or state of mind as to the value of the play experience (Case-Smith & O’Brien, 2015). It can absorb a child where their internal locus of control can be seen externally through their observed thought processes and the actions of play (Stagnitti & Cooper, 2009). Play behaviour is done in a context and is impacted by cultural and societal roles and the physical or social environment where play occurs (Parham & Fazio, 2008).

When Noah was playing in the sand, he pretended to scoop an ice-cream for his friend he knew exactly how to scoop the sand to make the correct rounded shape. This symbolic play would suggest he had seen this previously in his physical or social environment. Decontextualization of action occurred where Noah used the sand as it was ice-cream which was out of context. Decentration also occurred as he used the sand and made the shape of ice-cream to give to his friend. According to Stagnitti and Cooper “Decentration” is the ability to play on another object other than the person (Stagnitti & Cooper, 2009). It is through decentration a child learns the ability to understand the perspective of others (Stagnitti & Cooper, 2009).

Vygotsky sociocultural theory believed children developed their cognitive competencies in play and the zone of proximal development with a more skilled partner through learning by guidance and encouragement. Scaffolding is part of this support to enable a child to be independent in doing a task and to provide social norms and values (Shaffer & Kipp, 2014). This was evident when the trampoline was wet Noah used a towel to dry it also when he was outside on the table and he had to empty something in the bin afterwards. He has learned this norm to be tidy and clean up after yourself. This is consistent with the development progress for aged 3 years under self-care and independence where a child starts to make an effort to keep the surroundings tidy (Sharma & Corkerill, 2014).

A supportive environment is one where there is an opportunity to learn and develop which is safe and secure. The child learns how to self-regulate and practice their social skills through reciprocity and social interactions. Early caregiver relationships with a young child up to 3 years are the most salient when the child’s brain plasticity is at its strongest for brain function and behaviour. It is here the child develops their motor, cognition, language and visual systems (Osher, Cantor, Berg, Steyer, & Rose, 2018).

Urie Bronfenbrenner an American psychologist had a theory on the environments surrounding a child and how each interact and influence the development of a child. He called this the ecological systems theory (Shaffer & Kipp, 2014). The microsystem is the innermost layer which is the immediate environment for the child where they interact and perform activities with social interactions. People in this microsystem can be family, day care, and teachers. People in the microsystem influence the development of the child and the child influences their development. The Mesosystem is the environment outside the home such as the school, and peer group, if the relationship in the microsystem is challenging it can also affect the mesosystem. However, the opposite is true if there is a strong supportive microsystem as the child can develop easier in this system.

The Exosystem is a context that the children are not a part of but it still influences their life such as extended family or if their parent has lost their job it affects their home environment. The Macrosystem deals with the culture which surrounds all 3 systems and how values are different across cultures and this influences children in their environments directly or indirectly. The last system is the Chromosystem which has a temporal dimension and it influences the young child depending on the stage they are at in life, for example, puberty can cause conflict between young people and parents for a short period (Shaffer & Kipp, 2014).

A longitudinal study was done in 2010, comparing the parenting styles of middle-class mothers living in Berlin and Delhi with 3-month-old babies and 19-month-old toddlers. German children are raised to be independent and the mothers view their babies as mental beings with their wishes and needs (Keller, Borke, Chaunhary, Lamm, & Kleis, 2010). Concerning play, when compared German mothers teach their children how to engage in more autonomous play by using their initiative to play and support them verbally and non-verbally. Whereas, in the Indian family intense social relationships are encouraged and babies are always in close proximity with mothers and caregivers where they experience touching and emotional closeness. In play, Delhi mothers preferred a more didactic play style in their teaching of play with the mother creating a structure for play. They also value autonomy and relatedness in play to promote family cohesion (Keller, Borke, Chaunhary, Lamm, & Kleis, 2010). The latter culture of parenting style would appear more positive and nurturing for a child to develop play skills and more social interactions.

It is through a child playing they learn about rules which are consistent and clear in the environment but also enable them to have the freedom to explore what a certain toy does and how the child can play (Parham & Fazio, 2008). However, to develop as a child gets older and their curiosity increases risky play which can occur outdoors such as climbing or lifting is encouraged with supervision. Children engaging in risky play experience the excitement and challenge themselves which develops their self-regulation skills and helps them assess the risks. It also develops their motor abilities in balance and co-ordination. They have the freedom to explore the environment especially in nature and develop their sensory awareness. (McFarland & Laird, 2017).

Dr. Mary Reilly in the 1960s, believed by a child engaging and developing interests in play and mastering it displayed occupational behaviour which would affect their future success in work or leisure (Case-Smith & O’Brien, 2015). She believed a child adapts to an environment by curiosity through engaging in play which they master. This occurs in 3 development stages exploratory, competency, and achievement. Exploratory behaviour occurs with the motivations of a child in searching for new experiences of play and to use this motivation to reach competence through practice and mastery to gain achievement or success (Case-Smith & O’Brien, 2015).

Furthermore, there are barriers to children engaging in play based on the context they are trying to play in. For families who have low-income, play can be reduced due to lack of toys, and space which reduces play stimulation for children (Case-Smith & O’Brien, 2015). Depending on the location of a home if it is in a socially deprived area that is prone to violence children are restricted in playing outdoors independently (Yogman, Garner, Hutchinson, Hirsh-Pasek, & Michnick, 2018). It also encourages the use of playing more in digital games.

In Ireland, research was carried out with school-going children aged 6 to 8 years the focus was to ascertain their understanding of wellbeing and what factors contributed to it. It was done through creative tasks to complete and a focus group. The study showed play was consistently attributed to their wellbeing and happiness for the majority of children. Play included outdoor play, social play, and reading. The research also revealed the children’s feelings when they don’t get to participate in play, some children reported feeling “very sad” (Moore & Lynch, 2017). This research portrayed how crucial play is for the wellbeing and happiness of a child.

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