by Grace Larson

Created on: April 08, 2009

Children are not simply playing . . .
Children are learning about the world around them while experimenting and exploring. In play, children are mirroring what they see and hear, gaining developmental skills enhancing their educational experiences.

Play is the foundation of learning. Children are not stuck in a set way of how things are done. In today's world more often childhood as we once knew it is disappearing. Children have fewer opportunities to explore, to be playful, or to behave as children. Video games and television have often replaced creative play. Make-believe and simply "messing around," creating and discovering is being exchanged.

Play unlocks the world of "how?", "why?" and "what for?"of the everyday world in which children live. It comes from thinking and being unafraid to try. There is no fear of failure because there is no failure. There are no standards of right and wrong. The absence of such standards is what allows for innovation. Play invites learning to value error as a means of learning further.

Play builds self-reliance. Self-initiating behaviors are developing. Children enjoy making choices for themselves. It teaches cause and effect. Knowledge is formed and reformed through experience.

When children repeatedly ask "why?", "how come?", or "what for?", they are not intending to irritate they are attempting to understand their world. Taking the time to explain in words they can understand for their age helps them to process the world around them. Offering your child the opportunity through positive experiences to question and explore encourages learning.

Through play children are advancing their cognitive, physical, social and emotional development. A child develops their concept of the world by their actions with objects and interaction with others. Children experiment and observe the changes actions bring. Experiences through play increases a child's attention span as they continue in activities for periods of time.

For very young children grasping items and placing them in their mouths, an infant is learning through their senses and small motor functions to relate to the world. A toddler learns about gravity as they test tossing things from their highchairs.

Preschoolers use dramatic play for social development. Dress up allows the child to try out different roles of those around them; i.e., mom, dad, firemen, a business person, etc. Their social world expands from self to family and others around them. Sharing and cooperative plays become

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