Do You Know What Relationship There Is Between Play And Childhood Development?
Play is an activity that we develop naturally from an early age. At first glance, it seems that the ability to play serves no function other than to entertain and amuse. However, it has been a few decades since psychologists began to question whether this hypothesis is true; this is why many, if not many educational psychologists have studied in more detail the relationship between play and childhood development.
One aspect that is essential to understand and that can shock us is that from an evolutionary perspective, if something generates pleasure in us, it is because it is evolvingly useful. Therefore, according to this reasoning, the game must have a function or a utility. In addition, studies show that a very restrictive limitation of playing hours in childhood is associated with poorly adaptive adults.
When answering the question of how play and childhood development are related, we need to open our minds to different theories. However, if we are to understand the complex role that games play in our development, we need to take a broad perspective and observe all the information available.
One of the first authors who conducted studies on this subject is Karl Grooss. He saw play as a pre-exercise: it was necessary to reach psycho-physiological maturity as a developmental phenomenon. The game would consist of a preparatory exercise for the development of certain functions. Motor games would facilitate physical development, while psychological games would prepare children for their social life. In addition, since the game is developed in a safe environment, the child can train a multitude of skills without running any risk.
Another totally different point of view is that of Freud ; from the point of view of psychoanalysis, the game would be intimately linked to the expression of unconscious impulses. This would allow the human being to satisfy his unfulfilled desires in reality. However, this theoretical perspective, while it may seem attractive, is based on little scientific evidence. In addition, it violates the principle of parsimony.
For Vygotsky, play is a social activity in which the essential aspect is the cooperation between the participants. Thanks to this cooperation, each player learns to play a role (acceptance of roles); key aspect in adult life. Vygotsky focused only on symbolic play and pointed out how objects take on their own meaning in play (a stick between the legs can become a horse). He sees in play a socio-constructivist perspective, based on the fact that the primary function of play is to learn to share roles and senses.
Another author who has studied gambling more closely is Jerome Bruner. According to him, the game is linked to the immaturity with which human beings are born. Therefore, we can have a multitude of very different behaviors that allow us to adapt and be very flexible. The game would be useful for experimenting with all these behaviors and discovering its adaptation to the cultural and environmental context. By doing this in a playful context, the person is freed from his pressures and can live with minimal negative consequences.
Piaget, one of the great developmental psychologists, also spoke about play. For him, play is no different from non-play activities; it would be an adaptive action thanks to which the child can learn, and in a certain way master, characteristics of reality. This is closely linked to the concepts of assimilation and accommodation that Piaget has developed.
While there are a multitude of views on the function of play, it is clear that play is important in childhood development. In addition, an important aspect is that the different perspectives are not mutually incompatible. The relationship between play and childhood development can be multifaceted and rewarding.
Now that we know the various theories that have been developed about the game, we can imagine its importance. If play disappears from a child’s life, it can affect their physical, psychological and social development. This is why it is essential that playful activities (without pressure and with a huge intrinsic motivation) are present in the daily life of our children.
A play-based education will give children the opportunities they need to grow up, in every sense of the word. In this sense, let’s not make the mistake of trading play for other intellectual or cognitive activities that we consider potentially more rewarding: what is certain is that without play, cognitive and intellectual development will be less. . Let us not forget that before being born, we are already growing, we are developing, and that so that after birth things continue to happen like this, play is essential, as a natural and pleasant inclination.
Our thoughts Jean Piaget is one of the great references in the study of infantile cognitive development. He devoted his entire life to the study of childhood.
