Unit 4 children and play
D1
There are three different settings I have chosen for this assignment, the three settings that I have chosen are the following: * Pre-school * Local park * Day Nurseries
D2
A preschool, children usually are aged between 3-5, most of the children in this setting would be at the co-operative stage of play, cooperative play is when there is a group of children and they are all doing the same activities. Children will learn to cooperate with other children and play the same games as other children, it is more fun when everyone has a say in the activity and they have fun. Children will play a game together towards a goal, and will not compete against each other. “They can play their own imaginary games organising themselves into roles, etc, e.g. ‘you be the doctor and ill be the patient” (1)
In local parks more younger children go to the park than older children, so I would say the age range would usually be 3-6, the stage of play for this setting would be associative, “during the associative play stage, children share resources and talk to each other”. (2) But they each have their own idea of what they want to do. The children will not co-ordinate their play objectives or interests. A group of children participate in similar activities without organization, group direction, group interaction, or a definite goal, they might talk together but they will not work together.
For children that go to a day nursery would usually be between the ages of 0-4 years, but for this particular part of my assignment I have chosen to look at the younger children 0-1 years as most of these children would usually be solitary play , “ solitary play occurs when a child plays alone, completely independent of others”.(3) The children will play alone without an interest or care in what is going on or what other children around them are doing, and not paying any attention to anyone else. For example, if there were 4 children playing in the same room, they would not pay any attention to each other, and will just focus on what they are doing.
D3- D4
At a preschool children may be involved in creative play, this is when children play in a way that will allow them to transfer information, they will respond in new ways and develop an awareness of new connections with an element of surprise. “A creative activity involves expression of children’s imaginative ideas.”(4) There are a few aspects of creative play that promote learning and development in children. It is important for children to express themselves in many different ways. In a preschool , the children will be involved in creative play , as they will be given the freedom to draw or create something by themselves, this will give them confidence. It is important to let the children explore and develop their senses by using different materials when they are being creative. This will then get the child to explore different elements of creativity.
At a pre-school , creative play would occur when the children are making or building things, for example, at the school I am in for placement , the children were making dinosaurs out of plant pots , cardboard, masking tape , newspaper, glue and kitchen roll
At a local park children may be involved in fantasy play. This is when “children rearrange the world in a way that is unlikely to occur” (5) but that appeals to them, such as: maybe pretending to play at owning a zoo, or an expensive car, or play at being a pop star or a pilot.
At a local park, fantasy play would occur when the children play on the swings or climbing frames. If the children were on the swings they could pretend to be flying into space, and also seeing how can go the highest in the air on the swing. And if they were on the clamming frame then they could pretend to be climbing the tallest building and have races to see who can get to the top first.
At a day nursery children might be involved in object play. “This occurs when children