Running head: SIGNATURE ASSIGNMENT 1

Signature Assignment

Courtnee Jones

Fresno Pacific University

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Signature Assignment

Play is more than just throwing toys on the floor, telling your child to go play at a park or

even letting your child stay on an electronic all day long. Play is important and it involves both

the child and the parent to play a huge role in it. Playing is one of the most important things you

can do with your child. The time you spend playing together gives your child lots of different

ways and times to learn things. Play helps your child build confidence in themselves, develop

social skills, communication skills and develop physical skills. There are two types of play

unstructured and structured.

Unstructured play is the best play for young children because it lets the children explore

and do what they want to. Free play is not planned and lets your child use their imagination to

move at their own pace. Parents tend to not be involved in their childrens play but are only their

to direct them in the right direction. This is the type of play that I like to be involved in because

this is the time of dress up and be someone who you admire. Structure play is a lot different then

unstructured play. This play more organized and happens at a fixed time or in a set space, and is

often led by a grown-up. This type of play does not let the child express and use their

imagination to openly play by themselves. During this play children are forced to do what the

adult says and plays along with it. These two types of play can happen indoors and outdoors.

Playing outdoors give your child a chance to explore more than he or she would be able to

indoors because of the amount of things to do or seek. Indoor activities that was used when I

monitored a classroom was indoor recess application which was a dancing video that the children

followed that got them up and moving around but only inside the classroom.

Not having play involved in our classrooms and also as a main part of our day for our

students is a horrible mistake. Students need to have that ability to be able to get up and move
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around freely instead of being behind a big desk listening and observing the teacher all day long.

If our schools agree to have no play whatsoever our children of the future will become obese, no

emotional and social contact with one another and children will become more self centered about

themselves. Nows technology is more involved with electronics that children are automatically

drawn to and if we do not get our children out the house an off the electronics, they will enjoy

life a lot better. Children are spending much of their time being passively entertained or

minimally interacting by a keyboard or control pad with an electronic device. Having play

increases how the child figures something out, pick up new ideas, solve problems with one

another, use their imagination and learn to cooperate appropriately with one another. I could not

see my life without play being involved. Many of my childhood memories are me being involved

in play with my family and friends. As a mother of now two little girls I will be encouraging

them to play outside and even inside to interact with each other more instead of letting the

electronics dictate what they do and how they do it.

Physical Education, also known as P.E., is for all children to teach them the skills and

knowledge needed to establish and sustain an active lifestyle. This is taught during school time

by instructors who know what exercises and circular activity is appropriate for the children. As a

teacher giving the students a break is the best possible solution if you want to keep their attention

close. Having a break from whatever you are doing only benefits you and your peers around you,

like for example adults take breaks from their daily routine to gather themselves to come back to

whatever they were doing successfully. As stated, As defined by Pellegrini and Bjorklund

(1997), recess usually serves a double purpose: students are allowed to take a break, either

indoors or outdoors, from academic work, and is also allowed some freedom in choosing and

engaging in an activity on their own terms. Like the current study, Pellegrini and Bjorklund
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experimented with the structure of recess and found that students learn better when they are

given recess breaks during instruction. (Pellegrini, 1997)

The relationship between play and cognitive development is described differently in the

two theories of cognitive development by Piaget and Vygotsky. Piaget and Vygotsky had the

same idea but was total opposites when it came down to cognitive development. Piaget said that

play was just for pleasure and even though it did allow children to practice things they have

learned previously, it does not mean it will result in the learning of new things. According to

Piaget believed that children are like "little scientists" and that they actively try to explore and

make sense of the world around them. Vygotsky says children not only practice what they

already know they also learn new things as they do this. Whether children are practicing what

they have learned or just creating new knowledge, it is clear that play has a valuable role in an

early childhood classroom. Play is also important to have during center time with the children

because at every station each child is doing something productive that they have learned

throughout the week, so to have dramatic play as part of a center is really helpful. According to

Vygotsky, humans use tools that develop from a culture, such as speech and writing, to mediate

their social environments which led to higher thinking skills.

All in all, play is an important subject in our classrooms and schools that are needed

everyday. Play should only come from the childs knowledge and how they think play is aspired.

Unfortunately, the play experience for todays child is quite different from that of their parents

because of how broad and huge technology has come. It will take parents and teachers to

cooperate and become on the same page with one another and their children play structure.

Parents and teachers need to provide a comfortable and stable environment to create the needs of

their children to be involved in play. Play is suppose to be more than fun, let the children create!
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References

Fox, J. E. (n.d.). Earlychildhood NEWS - Article Reading Center. Retrieved August 07, 2016,
from http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com/earlychildhood/article_view.aspx?
ArticleID=240

Hoorn, Judith Van., Barbara Scales, Patricia Monighan. Nourot, and Keith Rodriguez Alward.
Play at the Center of the Curriculum. 6th ed. Boston: Pearson, 2011. Print.

Mahoney, K., & Fagerstrom, T. (n.d.). The Importance of Recess and Play. Retrieved August 07,
2016, from http://www.supportrealteachers.org/the-importance-of-recess-and-play.html

Pellegrini, A. D. & Bjorklund, D. F. (1997). The role of recess in childrens cognitive

performance. Educational Psychologist, 32, 35-40.