Author: Annie NG
Speech and Language Therapist
How we define play and how ‘play’ actually looks might be different from child to child, from family to family. But we can probably all agree that play involves a great deal of fun. While we often picture a room full of toys when we think of the idea of ‘play’, children actually don’t need a whole lot of fancy toys to engage in play. All they really need is time, space and the freedom to explore ideas that are interesting to them. No matter what the context or the material, when children play, they learn.
Play starts early
As soon as babies start to interact with their environment and the things around them, e.g. intently looking at something, touching or putting an object in their mouth, they are ‘playing’. Part of exploring their environment also includes figuring out how to get your attention, e.g. by cooing at you or by kicking their legs.
Play and developmental across domains
Many say that play is a child’s work. It most definitely is! The process of play builds the infrastructure of their brain. Each time your child plays, his brain is working very hard to develop all the essential skills that will have long-term personal, academic and social benefits. As they play, children learn to navigate the physical world by moving their bodies and increasing their body awareness. They create experiences and learn to use language to describe the world around them, supporting reading, writing and communication skills. They also learn how to manipulate different objects in three dimensional space, which underpins math conceptualization. They polish up on their social communication skills as they plan their play and resolve conflicts with their peers in play. They also learn to create, improvise and build resilience in different unstructured play contexts.
When children play and explore different ideas, they are continuously reinforcing skills that will become important milestones. Here are some examples of how different developmental milestones are supported in play:
- Cognitive Development
- Object Permanence: Peek-a-boo games help infants understand that objects continue to exist even when they are out of sight.
- Problem-Solving: Puzzles, building blocks and sorting games promote critical thinking, spatial awareness and logical reasoning.
- Imaginary Play: Pretend play allows children to experiment with different roles, scenarios and problem-solving strategies.
- Physical Development
- Gross Motor Skills: Activities like running, jumping, climbing and playing catch enhance coordination, balance and overall physical strength.
- Fine Motor Skills: Manipulating small objects, drawing, stringing beads and using playdough help develop hand-eye coordination and dexterity.
- Social Development
- Turn-Taking: Games involving taking turns, such as board games or sharing toys, teach children patience, cooperation, and the importance of respecting others.
- Empathy and Emotional Intelligence: Role-playing and doll play enable children to understand and express emotions, develop empathy and practice social interactions.
- Language Development
- Pretend Play: Engaging in imaginative play with dolls, action figures or puppets allows children to practice language skills, expand vocabulary and improve their communication.
- Storytelling: Reading books, creating stories and engaging in make-believe scenarios help develop narrative skills, imagination and language comprehension.
- Emotional Development
- Emotional Regulation: Play provides an outlet for children to express and process their emotions, helping them learn to manage and regulate their feelings.
- Self-Confidence: Accomplishing tasks during play, such as building a tower or completing a puzzle, boosts self-esteem and fosters a sense of achievement.
By engaging in play, children actively participate in their own development and acquire essential skills that form the foundation for future learning and growth. In other words, support your child’s age-appropriate play and allow them to explore and discover at their own pace.
Play and literacy development
Play in the early years has a significant impact on later literacy development. In order for infants and toddlers to start reading and understanding text, they have to first develop some pre-literacy skills. These include but are not limited to:
- Language acquisition
- Narrative skills
- Phonological awareness
- Print awareness
- Imagination and creativity
- Emotional connection to reading
- Literacy-related play materials
- Social interaction and communication skills
Some specific examples of pre-literacy skills that are embedded in play:
- Language acquisition: Play provides opportunities for children to engage in conversations, listen to and imitate sounds, and practice verbal communication. Through playful interactions, children expand their vocabulary, learn new words, and develop various sentence structures.
- Narrative skills: Pretend play and storytelling activities allow children to create and share their narratives. They learn to sequence events, develop characters, and use language to convey a coherent storyline. These skills form the basis for later reading comprehension.
- Phonological awareness: Playful activities that involve rhymes, songs, chants and wordplay help children develop an understanding of sounds in language. This phonological awareness, including recognizing syllables, rhymes and individual sounds, is crucial for later decoding and reading fluency.
- Print awareness: Play can introduce children to the concept of print, such as recognizing letters, words and sentences. Playing with alphabet blocks, books or environmental print, e.g. signs and labels, helps children understand that print carries meaning and sets the stage for future reading.
- Imagination and creativity: Play sparks imagination and creativity, which are essential for engaging with stories and texts. Through imaginative play, children explore different characters, settings and scenarios, enhancing their ability to visualize and comprehend narratives.
- Emotional connection to reading: Playful experiences with books, such as interactive story time, puppet shows, or dramatic play based on favourite stories, create positive associations with reading. This emotional connection encourages a love for books and motivates children to become lifelong readers.
- Literacy-related play materials: Providing access to age-appropriate books, writing materials and literacy-focused toys encourages children to engage with print and develop early literacy skills. Play materials like magnetic letters, writing pads and word puzzles support letter recognition, spelling and word formation.
- Social interaction and communication skills: Play facilitates social interactions, turn-taking, and collaborative problem-solving. These skills are vital for later participation in reading groups, book discussions and cooperative learning activities that promote literacy development.
Play together with exposure to a language-rich environment provide a natural and fun way for children to develop their skills across all developmental domains, benefiting them personally, socially and academically for years to come.
