Unit 3 2.7 Evaluate the key principles of play and their relevance to Forest School.
Play is a vital part of a child’s development. Play is so vital that it has been recognised by the United Nations as a children’s right. In ‘The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child’ it states that every child has the right to “provision, which enables them to develop their personalities, talents and abilities irrespective of ethnicity, culture or religion.” (ref:1)
In the TED Talk by Dr Peter Gray Ph.D., Research Professor at Boston College, on the ‘The decline of play’. (Ref:2) He states that, “Young mammals of essentially all species play. In play, they develop their bodies, and they practise physical skills which are essential to their survival” He goes onto say,
“In risky play, they (mammals) learn to take risks and experience fear without losing their heads. These are lessons that can save their lives.”
Children may not need as extreme training as other mammals but the world in which they live is the same. Therefore, they need to experience that world, through play, in order to make sense of it.
Play is how children interact with and make sense of their world. It allows children to develop their physical strength, their dexterity, their robustness, their leadership skills and their imagination. It allows children to test out possible stressful situations in a safe and controlled way.
Play allows children to investigate what their world is made of. Play teaches them how to build things, how to explore newly imagined worlds and it also allows them to express themselves. It gives children the space to make use of their bodies, how to take turns, how to build friendships and how to lose them.
Play allows children to learn and use new vocabulary. It also allows them to build confidence with the sounds, rhymes and the rhythm of their language. It ignites ideas, personal interests and conversation. It develops social bonds and a sense of belonging. It is what makes us, us.
Without play, we as humans, miss out on vital cornerstones of our development. We become more egotistical and less sympathetic. We are unable to develop strategies to negotiate ourselves out of tricky situations. We are unable to withstand setbacks easily and we become less able to bounce back from disappointment.
If children are not allowed access to child-led play provision they, according to The Play Council, (Ref:4) “have poorer ability in motor tasks, lower levels of physical activity, poorer ability to deal with stressful or traumatic situations and events, poorer ability to assess and manage risk, poorer social skills, leading to difficulties in negotiating social situations such as dealing with conflict and cultural difference.”
It is important to understand the necessity of play in early development and how we must allow children the opportunity to create their own play and to learn from it. Adults should be facilitators and offer opportunities to extend children’s learning through the children’s own play experiences.
In The American Academy of Paediatrics “The Importance of Play in Promoting Healthy Child Development and Maintaining Strong Parent-Child Bonds” (Ref:3) Mr Ginsberg states “Ideally, much of play involves adults, but when play is controlled by adults, children acquiesce to adult rules and concerns and lose some of the benefits play offers them, particularly in developing creativity, leadership, and group skills.”
Mr Ginsberg goes onto say that undirected play “allows children to learn how to work in groups, to share, to negotiate, to resolve conflicts, and to learn self-advocacy skills.”
In (Ref: 4) the Children’s Play Council document we can find a list of the Seven Play Objectives that settings should make available for children when planning provision.
The provision extends the choice and control that children have over their play, the freedom they enjoy and the satisfaction they gain from it.
Forest School is child-led investigation and play. It is here that children have the control over their play and the freedom to enjoy it. Adults act as facilitators and offer a wide variety of activities that stimulate investigation and imaginative play.
The provision recognises the child's
need to test boundaries and responds positively
to that need.
Forest School enables the children in its care to test personal boundaries through risk taking activities. Children are also offered the opportunity to test boundaries socially, through group work and reflective practise.
The provision manages the balance between the need to offer risk and the need to keep children safe from harm.
Safety is of paramount importance in a Forest School setting. That risk is assessed carefully and balanced with both the opportunity and experience given to the child.
The provision maximises the range of play opportunities.
Forest school leaders understand the need for a variety of learning opportunities, as each child is unique and will follow their own learning journey. Children need the freedom to follow their own investigations and interests. This cannot be achieved with a single adult led woodland activity. Children must be offered choice to follow their own interests and investigations.
The provision fosters independence and self-esteem.
In every Forest School session children are encouraged to develop their
independence and self-belief. This is achieved through risk-taking, leadership,
group activities, and reflective practises which involve sharing on both a spiritual
level and a moral level.
The provision fosters children's respect for others and offers opportunities for social interaction.
Forest School is built on an ethos of mutual respect for all in the group. The reflective nature of the group and the social interactions necessary, for the activities provided, will encourage respect for others and one’s surroundings.
The provision fosters the child's well-being, healthy growth and development, knowledge and understanding, creativity and capacity to learn.
Forest School focuses on the holistic development of all the children involved
in its activities. This means that every Forest School leader will focus on
children’s well-being, growth, knowledge and understanding in every planned
session, in order to fulfil the holistic development of all the children in
their care.
I think it is clear to see the vital role that play has in a child’s healthy development. As we move further into the technological age and as play becomes more and more side-lined by passive play and adult led activities, we must ensure we make provision for this most basic of child development needs. As Mr Ginsberg suggests, we must remember that play,
“is a simple joy that is a cherished part of childhood.”
Reference
2. https://youtu.be/Bg-GEzM7iTk
3. The American Academy of Paediatrics “The Importance of Play in Promoting Healthy Child Development and Maintaining Strong Parent-Child Bonds” by January 2007, VOLUME 119 / ISSUE 1
4. Children’s Play Council document ‘WHAT PLAY PROVISION SHOULD DO FOR CHILDREN’
http://www.freeplaynetwork.org.uk/pubs/bestplay.pdf
Comments
Post a Comment