The Value of Play (Observation)

Tommy and his friends are all playing in the school playground. Tommy is riding his tricycle and his friend Jackson is riding behind him. They peddle their tricycles by the play structure and park them. Tommy goes and climbs to the top of the side first. He is standing at the top of the slide and calls to his friend, “Come up, come up, I’m here.” Once his friend Jackson comes up, two of them go inside a tunnel, and put their faces against the plastic glass while tapping the glass. “Hello, hello, do you see us? We are in side the tunnel,” they say. Very soon both of them slide down the slide. Jackson asks Tommy to play hide and seek. Jackson is going to hide and Tommy will find him. Tommy goes to a big tree, covers his eyes and counts, “1, 2, 3… I’m coming. I’m coming.” He turns around and starts to look for Jackson. Soon he spots Jackson. “I see you! I see you! You are under the slide.” He runs to Jackson, while Jackson still tries to hide. Once Tommy goes under the slide and touches Jackson, Jackson finally comes out. They see some other kids playing in the sand and they go to join them. First Tommy picks up a stick and starts to draw something in the sand. Jackson sees some buckets and a shovel in the sand. He picks up a bucket and shovel and starts to load the bucket. Tommy throws away his stick and wants to help Jackson to load the bucket, but there are no other shovels. Tommy tries to take shovel from Jackson’s hand. Back and forth they grab at each other. The teacher, watching from the side, comes over and explains that we can not grab the shovel from each other. Here we have two people that want one shovel—what can we do? Can we take turns using the shovel or one scoop from Jackson, one scoop from Tommy, or can we use other tools as a shovel? After the teacher explains, Tommy decides to use the other small bucket as a shovel. “What are you making?” the teacher asks. “Cakes,” they both say. Scoop by scoop they fill the big bucket. Tommy also fetches water to pour in the bucket. “The bucket is so heavy,” Jackson says as he lifts it. Tommy says, “The water makes it heavier. Let’s carry it together.” So they both lift the bucket and put it on the bench, to bake the cake.
From this scenario we can see play helps physical development. Tommy is running, climbing on the slide, riding his tricycle, which helps him to develop motor skills. Tommy scoops sand in the bucket and uses the stick to write on the sand--this helps him to develop fine motor skills. Plays helps cognitive development. When running in the sand and climbing on the play structure, telling his friends he is at the top of the slide, then sliding down--when he is in the tunnel--this shows that he is starting to understand the perception of spatial directions. He is counting when playing hide and seek. By adding water to the sand he realizes water makes the bucket heavier, and so he understands cause and effect. Play helps social emotional development. Tommy plays with his peers, he learns how to solve problems, how to collaborate. He recognizes himself as an individual, separate from others. Through peer play he develops self confidence. For these reasons, we see that play is important to all areas of development.