Introduction
The surrounding environment provides early learners with a world of exploration, enjoyment, and discovery. Because play is what children spend the majority of their time doing, various contexts enable learning through activities that they find interesting. While play can be considered a defining characteristic of human development, there should be an understanding that the process of playing is not always natural and may require cultivation. Therefore, the play-based approach can include both child-initiated and teacher-supported learning. Play-based learning is essential because it helps children develop social skills, motivates them to learn about different phenomena, as well as strengthens language and numeracy skills. Through play, children can develop various imaginary situations, enabling a new sense of everyday life (Fleer, 2021). Play creates unique situations that are different from the educational and/or preschool context as well as the real-world environments in which children live. In the play, the child exists both in reality and in imaginary contexts, which enables a unique psychological state of thinking and acting that an individual experiences.
Play in Education
Scholars have studied the application of play-based learning in teaching younger generations because children are naturally wired to engage in play. Discussing play-based learning, Vygotsky stated that “in play, a child is always above [their] average age [and] daily behavior […] play contains all developmental tendencies in a condensed form; in play, it is as though the child were trying to jump above the level of [their] normal behavior” (quoted in Bodrova and Leong, 2015, p. 371). Through play that emulates different social contexts, children have the opportunity to create imaginary situations, take on roles and act them out, and follow the rules determined by their specific roles. Thus, play can be viewed as a transitional step from a child’s thinking, that used to be limited to the properties of a current context to thinking more freely from constraints.
Different learning contexts can provide ample opportunities for engaging in play. Thus, when children learn about different objects and phenomena, such as animals, they can be involved in the play, and they can immerse themselves in actions that are relevant to the subjects they study (Fleer, 2021). For example, when learning about horse riding, children can engage in play, such as pretending to ride a horse to understand the characteristics of the object, use the concepts related to horse riding more deliberately, and later begin using more scientifically relevant concepts (Fleer, 2021). Through play, a child can move from the idea of a particular horse toward a more general concept, which encompasses the system of caring for a horse and the science associated with horses.
Because the learning environment is a highly social context, various methods of play can be put in place. Social pretend is one of the methods that has been widely applied in the learning context. Within the approach, children are welcomed to exhibit their transformations (e.g., pretending to be a teacher, a nurse, a shop owner) and transform objects, situations, and people collectively to create non-literal “as-if situations” (Whitebread and O’Sullivan, 2012, p. 198). Social pretend play can have an immensely positive impact on the strengthening of both the self-regulatory and metacognitive capabilities of the child. Notably, metacognition is concerned with control cognition, while self-regulation is much more extensive and entails the control of all aspects of behavior, including conduct within as social, motivational, and cognitive aspects.
Younger learners, usually between ages three and six years old, engage in social pretend play that becomes increasingly complex as time passes, leading to the rapid development of different self-regulatory skills. Such a type of play is connected to positive developmental outcomes in domains such as early literacy capacity, social competence, and problem-solving (Fleer, 2021). In early childhood development, self-regulation is crucial because it represents the ability to grasp and manage one’s behavior and reactions to feelings and phenomena affecting the child (Fleer, 2021). Besides, engaging in social pretense during play allows developing the type of intentional learning, enabling them to check and control thinking and behavior (Whitebread and O’Sullivan, 2012). In addition to regulating their own behavior and thinking, play compels children to regulate and understand the thinking of their co-players, which establishes and maintains a collective pretense.
Similar to the way in which pretend play develops as time goes on, the metacommunication skills, which are imperative to the proper social functioning of children, gradually develop as they play. Metacognition over covert and auxiliary messages that are conveyed through gestures, facial expressions, and tone of voice and can significantly improve along with play (Bruce, Hakkarainen and Bredikyte, 2017). For children engaging in social pretense, metacommunication can function in a way similar to private speech, clarifying children’s actions and extending the knowledge about co-players.
The ongoing experience of pretense play has a positive impact on the development of older children who begin engaging within more complex contexts. This enables them to have a better understanding of various representational aspects of pretense and be more effective at discussing non-literal situations while reflecting on them later. In more complicated pretense-play contexts, both implicit and explicit metacommunication play a defining role in maintaining negotiations in pursuit of convergence. When a child successfully selects the most appropriate metacommunication strategy during play, they will reach a higher level of convergence.
Conclusion
To conclude, play is a reliable and flexible tool that can be extensively used to teach children about different phenomena. While playing, children have the opportunity not only to learn new information but also to develop their communication, metacommunication, self-regulation, and social skills, as well as engage in more complex interactions as time goes on. When early learners find themselves in different scenarios, they start to engage in problem-solving, learn how to play with others, develop motor skills, expand their creativity and imagination, as well as discover independence and positive self-esteem. The most important part of the play is that it is highly social, which has shown to be highly helpful for children’s all-around development.
Reference List
Bodrova, E. and Leong, D. J. (2015) ‘Vygotskian and Post-Vygotskian views on children’s play’, American Journal of Play, 7(3), pp. 371-388.
Bruce, T., Hakkarainen, P. and Bredikyte, M. (2017) The Routledge international handbook of early childhood play. Milton Park: Taylor and Francis.
Fleer, M. (2021) Play in the early years. 3rd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Whitebread, D. and O’Sullivan, L. (2012) ‘Preschool children’s social pretend play: supporting the development of metacommunication, metacognition and self-regulation’, International Journal of Play, 1(2), pp. 197-213.