Bel Mesbahi
4/10/16 – Meadow
Humanities & The Creative Arts
“What The Research Says About Play?” Reflection

The study done about play and it’s importance regarding a child’s development was somewhat intuitive, yet highly intriguing. The author laid out the three theories regarding how crucial imaginative child’s play is to their development, being that “ethos of play,” states that play is absolutely the fundamental force in early childhood development. “Equifinality,” claims that pretend play definitely contributes to, but is not fully responsible for children’s development; and lastly, the “epiphenomenal,” theory states that play is not responsible for development in other areas for children at all. Thinking about the three theories objectively, as well as placing my own childhood memories in application with the theories, I can definitely say that imaginative play plays a tremendous role in the early development of children, and in that, I would take the position of “equifinality,” but even leaning towards the idea of “ethos of play.” One quote from the question and answer section Dr. Alison Gopnik summed up a good portion of my perception regarding the topic. “When children engage in pretend play, have imaginary friends, or explore alternative worlds, they are learning what people are like, how people think, and what kinds of things people can do.” This statement literally summarizes my creative development as a child. Myself, and a couple friends created this concept and character game that had an extremely well thought out and intricate plot, with a large multitude of characters, called “The Haneser Game.” The game started in my very early years of elementary school, and was completely started as improvisation. We chose characters to be and created a storyline. Each time myself, or one of our friends had to depart, the game halted, and was later resumed the next day. We called the instances of play, “episodes,” and had different overall general details that corresponded to the seasons changing and other outside elements. Throughout the game, we used some props but most of what we materialized was intangible and came merely from our imaginations, yet, looking back on it, it all seemed so real at the time. In that, I agree with the sentiment that if you want your young child to develop a general sense of open-mindedness on a broad level, the wrong course of action would be to buy them gender specific toys, because that would instill the values exuded from the toys into their daily life perceptions of general life. For example, parents who buy their daughters a multitude of Barbie’s and dolls of the sort that are pushing appearance heavily, it can be reasonably assumed that the girls playing with the toys will put a great deal of thought into the idea of dressing, and their physical appearance at a young age, and that will stay with them in most cases, and affect their development in that way, which is not necessarily positive or forward thinking. In the same respect, parents should refrain from supplying their young sons with toys related to aggression, or having toy guns, because this will instill in them as well, and have a part in their development and their view of other areas of life. I think it’s crucial to understand how important the overall attitude of children regarding play is, at the earliest age possible. Nowadays, with the surge of the information age, and continued technological advancement, we see an increasing amount of young children enjoying spending their free time indoors, playing video games, watching TV, or surfing the web. When I was a young child growing up and developing, my parents encouraged me to spend time outside, exploring and finding things to do for myself. This notion stuck with me all throughout childhood, and it allowed me the luxury of being able to be anywhere with anyone, and be able to create our own game with whatever we had. When I think about the daily activities in my life as an elementary school student, it was shaped by my thought that the possibilities were endless, and this was due impart to the fact that I spent so much time outside trying to make sense of the world for myself.
I think nowadays, kids feel more comfortable with what they already know, rather than having the desire to learn about what they don’t, which is reflected by the overwhelming majority of young students who repeatedly spend their free time inside. This notion is would be seemingly unimportant if it weren’t for the fact that it extends to general life in the sense that students now, have shorter attention spans and are less susceptible to learn new information on their owns, which can be observed in the classroom as well.
“Children will eventually learn to recognize letters. But learning how people work and what’s in others’ minds is a much deeper and more profound learning.” This quote from Dr. Alison Gopnik sums up my opinion regarding the importance of play in children’s development in the sense that, yes, children should learn useful and productive information, but by pushing them to experience things for themselves, they are forced to learn about everything in a much more engaged and open minded way.