Play is no laughing matter, as far as a nursery child is concerned. It's a serious business - not serious in the sense that he has a frown on his face, nor in the sense that he weighs up all his actions very carefully during play, but serious in the sense that play makes a major, unique contribution to his cognitive development. Play and learning are intertwined.
Pioneer theory
The renowned Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget described four stages of intellectual development, each having its own dynamic connection with play as the medium of learning: 1 Sensorimotor stage (from birth to 18 months approximately). In this stage, the baby uses his senses and motor abilities to explore and extend his knowledge whenever an opportunity arises. He will happily play with any object, not just a toy.
2 Pre-operational stage (from 18 months to six or seven years) During this stage, symbolic thought emerges. For the first time, the toddler is able to think about objects and experiences that are not directly in front of him, and he is also able to use a toy (for instance, a small toy spoon) as the object it represents (for instance, he pretends to feed himself). Children can use their imaginations in play, perhaps acting out an adult role, or pretending their soft toys are real.
3 Concrete operational (from seven years to 12 years approximately). He is now mature enough to deal with complex cognitive operations such as logical reasoning and causal relationships - he sees more clearly the connection between two actions. As well as being able to follow games, such as board games, with more complex rules, he enjoys the mental challenge of difficult puzzle toys and complex jigsaws. He also learns through constructing intricate models of objects.
4 Formal operational (from 12 years and older). At this stage, the child is able to think about abstract concepts such as death, religion, morality, love and justice. Most teenagers resent the suggestion that they play, but they continue to learn through sharing ideas with their peers and common activities in the classroom.
Piaget's theory of the link between cognitive development and play, especially his emphasis on the importance of practical, hands-on experiences in play, have been extremely influential. His recognition that young children do not learn through instruction or passive observation alone has ensured that pre-school establishments provide a dynamic learning environment in which the children have ample opportunity to explore new things by themselves, under the watchful eye of a supervising adult.
Problem solving
A classic study in 1974 assessed the effect that play opportunities have on a child's ability to solve problems. Each pre-school child who participated was given a particular problem to tackle: he had to get hold of a piece of chalk which was placed at the opposite end of the long table at which he sat, but he could not leave his seat at any time.
The chalk was too far away for the child to get it by stretching. All he could use were two short sticks and a clamp, and the only solution without moving from his seat was to clamp the two short sticks together to make one long stick. He could then use that new construction to drag the chalk from the far end of the table.
Each child was assigned to one of three conditions before he was given the particular problem to solve: * Play Condition In this, the child was left alone to play with the clamp and sticks for two minutes, without any adult advice, guidance or supervision.
* Teach Condition In this, the researcher showed the child for two minutes how to use the clamp to join the short sticks into one long stick.
* Watch Condition In this, the child sat at the table and simply stared at the sticks and clamp for one minute, without actually touching them.
As you would expect, the children in the play and teach conditions were able to solve the problem much faster than those in the watch condition.
However, the results also revealed that the problem-solving approach of the children in the play condition was very distinctive. First, they were more focused on the problem, less distractible and more determined to find the solution; second, they tended to develop more creative solutions and did not rely on one strategy only; and third, their typical technique was to try a simple solution first and then to move on to a more complex solution.
The links between play and cognition span intellectual development, social development, emotional development and physical development. A nine-month-old learns about colours, textures, sounds and shape when he plays with a rattle, but he also learns about his ability to reach, touch and manoeuvre. Through play a child learns new concepts, such as colour, number, size and volume. He learns social skills such as how to share, take turns and follow rules. In addition, he learns about himself - for example, by progressing up the climbing frame a three-year-old learns about his determination, his willingness to try and his ability to beat anxieties. NW
Further reading
* Forman, G (1984), Constructive Play: Applying Piaget in the Pre-school. Addison-Wesley; ISBN 0201200848 * Singer, D & Revenson, T (1997), A Piaget Primer: How a Child Thinks. Charles C. Thomas; ISBN 0823641341
