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Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
1. What is play?
1. Check your understanding
2. Extend your understanding
3. Apply your understanding
2. How is play related to development?
1. Check your understanding
2. Extend your understanding
3. Apply your understanding
3. How is play related to teaching and the curriculum?
1. Check your understanding
2. Extend your understanding
3. Apply your understanding
Resources
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Read the following table to learn more about Piaget’s stages of play.
Table 7.3: Jean Piaget’s Stages of Play
Age (approximate) | Characteristics |
Early to Late infancy | Non-symbolic practice or functional play corresponds to the sensorimotor stage of cognitive development and is based on physical activities (birth to two years-of-age). Children engage in repetitive actions using objects or their own bodies. For example, a child might repeatedly grasp and shake a rattle or push a small cart around the room. |
Early Childhood (before age 6) | Symbolic/dramatic play is also referred to as pretend, fantasy and socio-dramatic play. It involves mental representations and corresponds to the pre-operational stage of cognitive development (two to six years-of-age). That is, children develop play themes --such as playing house, or store-- and carry them out by adopting roles, such as parent, child, storekeeper, customer, or cashier. At this stage, children use fantasy in their play and engage in complex forms of pretend behaviours. Most play in preschool years is symbolic play. |
Late childhood (before age 12) | Although Piaget & Inhelder (1966) state that symbolic play marks the highest point of development of children’s play, the final stage of play is games with rules (e. g., marbles, tag, etc.). This play corresponds with the cognitive stage of formal operations: as children begin to think logically this is reflected in their play.Children might play games which already exist, they might invent their own, or they might create new rules for existing games. For example, a group of children might adapt tag to the playground equipment and develop a new set of rules. They decide that you have to stay on the equipment and if you touch the ground, you are “it.” |
Source:
Piaget, J. (1962), Play, Dreams and Imitation in Childhood, New York: Norton.
Consider the table outlining Piaget’s stages. Think about a young child you know. What kinds of play do they engage in? Where would their play fit with Piaget’s stages of play? One of the critiques of Piaget’s theory is that children are now understood to achieve the milestones associated with each stage at much younger ages than he originally thought. This is also true for children who grow up in different cultural contexts. For example, children who are from pottery-making cultures or contexts understand conservation of mass much earlier than children who do not have such experience. Therefore, the context is instrumental in shaping the child’s development. Can you cite evidence of this criticism based on what you have observed?
Table 7.4: Elkonin’s Levels of Play
Levels of play | The Child’s Roles | The Child’s Actions | Props & toys | Rules and Relationships |
Level 1: | Roles exist, but they are determined by the nature of the actions instead of determining the actions. Children do not name the roles they take on; neither do they assign themselves the names of people whose roles they are playing. For example, two siblings are playing with brooms, dustpans, and other cleaning tools in their home. | Actions themselves are stereotypical and consist of repetitive motions. | Props are realistic and determine both the actions and the roles. | The other children do not object if one player acts inconsistently with how this script unfolds in real life. |
Level 2: | For a child to play a role means to perform actions associated with this role. Children can name the roles they play, but only after they start to play. For example, the children might hold a hose and pretend to spray water. They might then name their roles as “firefighters.” | The play action reflects accurately the action in real life. | Actions with objects are associated with a role. | The child is able to follow rules in play rather than submit to one’s own immediate wishes. When one of the players does not follow the real-life sequence of the actions, the other players do not accept these actions. However, they do not argue with the player or explain what was done wrong. |
Level 3: | Children name the roles they will play before the play starts. The roles determine and direct the children’s behavior. | The nature of actions and their logic are determined by the role the child plays. The actions become more varied. | Actions are determined by the roles so realistic props and toys are needed to perform the roles. In the restaurant play, the children could use play food and dishes, real menus, order pads, etc. | If a child acts in a way inconsistent with the real-life logic of actions, other children object by saying something like “you are not supposed to do that.” When corrected, children treat their mistake seriously and try to fix it and to explain why they broke the rule. For example, if the “cook” began preparing a meal before the waiter had taken the customer’s order, the other children might say “We need to take the order first.” |
Level 4: Relationship-Centered/ Mature Play | The roles are well defined. A child playing a role acts in a manner consistent with this role throughout the entire duration of play. | The sequence of play actions is well defined and consistent with the logic of these actions in real life. | Actions are determined by the relationships between the characters children play so props and toys do not need to be realistic to perform the roles. | The child is able to follow rules in play is fully developed. Children object when someone does not follow the logic of actions or breaks the rule. Children go beyond stating that “you are not supposed to do that,” referring to the reason for the existence of this rule in real life. |
Source: Elkonin, D. (2005), ‘Chapter 1: The Subject of our Research, the Developed Form of Play’, Journal of Russian and East European Psychology, 43 (2): 22–48.
Table 7.5: Play as Adaptive Behaviour
As discussed in the chapter, Sutton-Smith’s (2008) more recent theory of play combines brain development research, evolutionary theory, and studies of animal behaviour to examine how play is a means of adapting to one’s conditions.
Adaptive Layers | Characteristics |
Layer 1—Evolutionary Conflict Origins of Play | In order to imitate conflicts or avoid engaging in them, animals develop defensive rituals. The relationship between ritual performance and play has protective functions. That is, younger members of the species can engage in simulations of conflicts in place of other, more dangerous interactions. These rituals are the origins of play. |
Layer 2—Reflexive and Reflective | Over time, instead of reacting instinctively to danger, mammals developed another response. This response was play that imitated conflict but removed many of its dangers and tensions. Play also had the potential benefit of providing exercise and conditioning that could subsequently help the mammal if a real conflict should occur. For example, you might have seen two dogs play fighting, seeming to bite each other on the neck without injuring one another. This play would prepare them to defend themselves should a conflict arise. |
Layer 3—The Duality of Primary and Secondary Emotions | The nature of play can be described as a dynamic duality of contending forces. The first side of this duality, is related to primary or expressive emotions—shock, anger, fear, disgust, sadness, and happiness. For example, Sutton-Smith explains that teasing games produce shock, fear is shown in risky play, and happiness motivates our play. However, these emotions expressed in play must at the same time be controlled by rules and traditions, which is the second side of the duality. These rules are also motivated by emotions. |
Layer 4—The Duality of Play Performances | Within play itself, emotions are expressed in the dualities that surround the performances of the players. They are expressed in how their personalities (i.e., being arrogant, fearful, sad, lonely, etc.) affect the performance and in how the players feel about themselves. |
Layer 5—Dualistic Cultural Scripts | Each of the adaptive levels arises from various cultural processes which influence the scripts for various forms of play. |
Source:
Sutton-Smith, B. (2008), ‘Play Theory: A Personal Journey and New Thoughts’, American Journal of Play, Summer: 80–123.