North American Ed - Coping and competence

3.3 Valuing play

Article 31 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) recognizes the right of the child to engage in play and the provision of appropriate and equal opportunities for play (United Nations, 1989).

As discussed on page 2.6 of this module, opportunities for play in early childhood build competence and coping skills. Through play, children learn to negotiate with each other, understand each other’s thinking and feelings, explore the world around them and experiment with how things work. Through play, children develop a repertoire of flexible responses to situations they both create and encounter.

The next two videos are of groups of children playing in Tajikistan. This first video, filmed in a park, shows children playing on a slide. In the second video, children are playing football.

While adults can play a role in directly supporting children’s play, it is important for children to have opportunities for unstructured play, which allows them to take the lead and explore without adult-lead structure. The Canadian Public Health Association (CPHA) is an example of one organization that has produced a policy and position statement on children’s unstructured play. Click on the next link to see the CPHA document and read their recommendations for a variety of stakeholders from government officials to those who design play spaces.

Facilitating play

What is the role of adults in children’s play?

Watch the following two videos to see different ways educators facilitate children’s play. The first video is of a child and educator playing together in the dramatic play area. The second is of a group of children playing with blocks and cars over an extended period. Notice how the play evolves in each video and the different roles the educators assume during play.

In the next two clips, listen as Dr. Carl Corter, professor emeritus of Applied Psychology and Human Development at the University of Toronto, points out why it is important to attend to and sometimes structure children’s play.

Play is important for children’s coping in all kinds of contexts. In the next video, Sheila Williams-Ridge, director of the Shirley G. Moore Laboratory School at the University of Minnesota, discusses how play, carefully supported by an observant adult, can help a child deal with a new and somewhat scary experience – in this case, a visit to the doctor.

In healthcare, medical play is a therapeutic intervention that can empower children to face their fears. In the next video, two child life specialists describe the importance of medical play and of children being active participants in the health care process.

In the next scene, the child life specialists describe and show how special medical puppets are used in a medical play session.

Active play optimizes brain development, promotes physical growth, and fosters social and emotional development. Young children come to understand their world, navigate their surroundings and learn to negotiate with others. Children develop a repertoire of flexible responses to situations they create and encounter, develop self-regulation and learn to overcome day-to-day challenges.

The following reading is a publication of Abilio and the Strategic Knowledge Cluster on Early Child Development (SKC-ECD). The following publication summarizes why active play is essential for young children and offers guidelines to parents.

Neuroscientist Dr. Bryan Kolb, professor at the Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience at the University of Lethbridge, explains why and how active play is essential for brain development, particularly brain plasticity and that play is a type of practice for problem solving.

The following website is from Ontario’s Best Start Resource Centre. It provides a variety of facts, tips and resources for both parents and professionals to promote physical activity in the early years.

This next video is an example of children at a school in East Africa playing outside.

Simple large group games and activities for young children can also be meaningful opportunities for play. The role of the adult is key in ensuring the game or activity is appropriate for the ages of the children and fun. In the next clip take note of the role and playfulness of the adults in these activities.

Although active play does occur indoors, it is more common outdoors. Mariana Brussoni highlights key research findings that support implications for parents, educators and policy makers.

Risky play

Many child development experts are concerned about over-protective approaches to child rearing – commonly referred to as “helicopter parenting” and “bubble wrapping” children. These practices could make it hard for a child to develop a sense of competence and the ability to cope in difficult situations. Dr. Brussoni is part of the BC Injury Research and Prevention Unit. In the next video, she discusses anxiety-based caregiving, when adults’ fears lead them to inhibit children’s play opportunities. She recommends that adults consider children’s needs and competencies rather than placing arbitrary restrictions on children.

Marlene Power, executive director of the Child and Nature Alliance of Canada, concurs with Brussoni in terms of adult fears inhibiting children’s play. In the next video, Power describes that although adults now seem to understand the importance of risky play they still have a great deal of fear, which leads them to restrict children’s freedom to play.

Brussoni and Power are some of the many advocates who encourage risky play, which includes the possibility of injury. While on the surface this seems to go against the adult obligation to protect children, there are in fact many reasons to provide children with opportunities to take chances with “risk”, albeit with certain parameters.

The next reading, from the CPHA, defines and discusses risks and hazards as they relate to children’s play and playgrounds.

Now listen to Brussoni speak to this same topic.

Earlier in this module, early childhood educators Marc Battle and Melinda Walden defined risky play. In the next video, they discuss the value of risky play.

Watch the next video to see one child’s experience with risky play and to hear an explanation from Melanie Walters. In the Communicating and Learning module, p. 2.5, Walters explains that risky play is a core component of their program philosophy.

Ellen Sandseter, of Queen Maud University College of Early Childhood Education in Trondheim, Norway, is a leading theorist and researcher in the area of risky play. As has been described in preceding videos, she identified six possible components or types of risky play: speed, heights, dangerous tools, dangerous elements, play fighting, and getting lost. In the next article, Sandseter and her colleague Rasmus Kleppe provide further explanation about each type of risky play. They also highlight research findings, questions, and implications.

In the next video you will see young children using hammers, an example of a potentially “dangerous tool”. As you watch, think about your own comfort level with play such as this.

In the next video, Brussoni elaborates on what is meant by “getting lost”, pointing out that this refers to giving a child an opportunity to feel independent rather than actually encouraging a child to be lost.

Now listen as Marc Battle and Melinda Walden describe a project they did with a group of school age children that involved risky water play on a riverbank.

Next, Battle and Walden have suggestions for educators who want to provide children with risky play opportunities.

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