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Child's play

SADIKA AKHTER
***Play is serious business and fun to the children. We have to allow our children to play. If parents take an active part in their child's play, play can build selfesteem. When a parent praises the spectacular use of red in a child's picture or responds to a baby's pretended cooking, children learn that what they have to offer is interesting and entertaining to the larger world.***
OPPORTUNITIES to play are really opportunities to learn. During play, children learn and practice social skills, develop cognitive abilities like problem solving, and refine language skills. Renowned psychologist, Jean Piaget, summed it up best: "Play is a child's work."
How do our parents perceive play? When our children play we think that play is a waste of time. We always try to control our children; we always try to prevent our children from playing. We praise our children when they do their homework properly, but never praise our children when they play nicely. I have seen that many parents complain about their children playing, and want their children only to read and write. But reading and writing comes gradually, generally after six years of age. Until the age of eight, children must play. If our children don't play, what will be their work?
Another important thing is that we buy toys for our children and keep the toys in the showcase or the locker. We don't allow the children to play with the toys, because we fear the child might destroy the toys. We have to think about the importance of the play. Play is not only play to the children. It is the essential part of
their life. The primary function of a toy is to play and have fun. But the children learn a lot through play with toys, for example a doll is a baby, not only a doll to her. It provides lots of textures to explore. A child may like to dress up the doll or use it in role play games to develop language and imagination. With one toy three different children play in three different ways, which is useful to three different stages in develop-ment.
When your child begins to pretend, engage her in conversation. If she has an orange and says, "It is an orange," ask her where she got it: From the store? An orange tree? Carry on relevant words and ideas to enhance the play: Let's make orange juice. What do we need to make juice? Expand on her words and see where she goes with it.
It is important to support pretend play because it encourages your child to use cognitive skills like problem solving (what do we need to make orange juice) and perspective taking (how does mother make orange juice). The ability to pretend develops on its own without your intervention. However you can help take your child's pretending to the next level and expand his or her vocabulary.
From early life, play is the primary way children learn. Through play, children explore their bodies, their relationships with their parents and peers and the world around them.
Five year old Fahim always breaks a toy car. His mother is so angry with him. His mother doesn't want to buy another car for him. But what does Fahim think about the car? Fahim who breaks a car is playing, but he is also an amateur researcher. How is the car made? Who is driving the car? How is the car moving without a driver? He looks for these questions.
In addition to encouraging exploration and relationship development, play helps children develop verbal and logical skills. When the children play imaginative play, for example, it reinforces the idea of the future tense and sequential thought.
Two years old Lana was playing imaginative play. What was she playing? Let's see her conversation. She was playing with a doll, she was having conversation with her doll, for instance, "Oh, Babu do you want to go to bathroom? Where is the diaper?" She pretends to change the diaper of her baby doll. Then she asks her baby, "Will you take bath? Oh, the water is cold!" She calls someone to make the water warm and then bathes her baby.
Imaginative play helps children to concentrate, to be attentive. How does a child develop a game of supermarket? I have observed in my study that one child first set up a counter with blocks as the pretend foods and called friends to buy things from his shop. All these actions help a child to learn about sequential acts. He also had a story or script in mind that helped him to perform sequential acts. When children pretend, they learn to be flexible, substituting objects for those they don't have. For example, a child will use a stick for a telephone. Through imaginative play, children learn empathy for others.
Play helps develop our children socially, physically, intellectually, and creatively. When children play with blocks, blocks help children play in a group and encourages them to work with other children in solving problems. When children play with blocks, they try to reach for blocks, pick up, stack or fit blocks together, they get strength in their fingers and hands, increase eyehand coordination. Blocks help children learn ideas for many academic subjects. It develops children's vocabularies as they learn sizes and shapes; they also learn math skills like totaling, subtracting, and eventually multiplying with blocks. Blocks also help the development process of creativity. Children try to make something with their own design. We can ask our children when try to make anything, "Tell me what you made?" This will encourage a dialogue and offer the child new opportunities to explore.
Through play, children are able to express and cope with their feelings. Play helps relieves stress and pressure for children. They can just be themselves when they play. Play is serious business and fun to the children. We have to allow our children to play.
If parents take an active part in their child's play, play can build selfesteem. When a parent praises the spectacular use of red in a child's picture or responds to a baby's pretended cooking, children learn that what they have to offer is interesting and entertaining to the larger world.
But today's parents and children have busy lives. Now our children have less free time outside of school to play. Due to safety concerns and urbanization, the culture of playing with neighbourhood children is becoming a thing of the past. I have seen that when children do get free time, they often choose to watch television, videos, or play video games instead of playing with other children or playing with different games. Unfortunately all these factors affect play today.
As an anthropologist and researcher, I believe in the social aspects of play. Children's play is a cultural activity. An important aspect of play is strongly related to our own culture. For example, when children pretend play, they make house, they pretend to be a mother, a father, the children act according to the norms and ideas of our society and culture. It is important to encourage children to play, not only for their physical and mental development, but also for their cultural improvement.
Sadika Akhter works as a researcher in a child-centred international organization.