The Power of Play

Encouraging children to play is an important task for caregivers and parents because research has shown that play contributes significantly to the cognitive, emotional and social development of children, particularly during the preschool years (ages 2 1/2 to 5). In fact, psychologists consider play as vital to a child’s cognitive development as food or sleep.

The role of play in early childhood development serves the following functions:

• Dealing with conflict and fear
• Working through developmental challenges
• Experimenting with social roles
• Contributing to an increase in self-reliance, self-control and self-regulation

Play allows children to explore their environments and become active participants in their own development. Through pretend play, children can confront their problems actively and overcome any feelings of fright, pain or anxiety they may be experiencing. Children are able to freely express their emotions and work through any concerns or frustrations that they encounter on a daily basis such as the power differential between children and parents. The solutions that they discover through pretend play are often precursors to more advanced problem solving strategies later in life.

Role playing provides an opportunity for children to not only act out their conflicts and fears but to act out their aspirations as well. Many children pretend to be mommies, daddies, doctors, firemen or other social figures. In this fashion, children are able to explore social roles and cultural values by themselves or with playmates (note that cultural factors can influence the themes and types of play of children but all children should have an internal desire to play). For example, playing “house” can help children comprehend social norms and rules which can contribute to their development of empathy skills (i.e., understanding other people’s perspectives). These empathy skills aid in their ability to connect to other children, share, take turns and develop true peer relationships. This can be a daunting task to a preschooler who is trying to overcome his or her egocentric thinking. In addition to social and emotional development, role playing such as playing “house” contributes to language development as children experiment with using different, more complex words and phrases.

Another daunting task for children to overcome as they get older is delay of gratification (i.e., wanting something immediately without the ability to wait). Acting out social roles during pretend play can help children learn how to behave appropriately in different situations. For example, my 17-month-old nephew’s inability to delay gratification leads to temper tantrums, which are normal, primarily because as a toddler he does not have the words to express his frustrations. As he moves through the preschool years, he will learn to regulate his emotions and express his frustrations in a more effective manner. Playtime to work on this issue can be accomplished through play with adults as well as with children of similar age. Having a variety of play environments increases the situations and roles that a toddler will experience.

It is critical for parents to encourage play from a very young age. Play can come in the form of solitary play as a child explores his toys or surroundings. Or it can come through interaction with adults and other children. It can be in set playgroups or can take place during the simplest daily tasks. For instance, my nephew loves to push the grocery cart at the store, take food cans off the shelf and put them in the cart, push the button on the elevator and remove dishes from the dishwasher. Allowing him to partake in these activities will promote optimal child development. An added benefit is that learning these life skills from a young age will help him increase his self reliance leading to independence as an adult.

For further information/resources on pretend play, please visit the following links:

For examples of pretend play games:

http://www.articlesbase.com/home-and-family-articles/imaginative-play-benefits-of-pretend-play-for-childs-development-games-scenarious-ideas-317173.html

Research articles on the role of pretend play in cognitive development:

http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v4n1/bergen.html

http://ematusov.soe.udel.edu/final.paper.pub/_pwfsfp/0000004a.htm

Research abstract on pretend play as a predictor of higher IQ:

http://gcq.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/53/2/106