Comments on: Cognitive and Emotional Development Through Play

By: Ray

Ray — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 22:35:00 +0000

It is not only that play is discouraged. Children do not really play,“This is what they do”, they work at learning all the time, it is not play. Play is an adult concept for something that seems unproductive. Do I hear Tiger W about now?
Anyway it is not only the lack of play time that seems to be an issue, it is the lack of controlled risk that children are allowed to engage in. If a child has never learned the effects of falling out of a 5 foot tree at 5 years of age, they do not realise the effect of driving a 25 valve, pocket rocket car into a tree when they are 17. Play, risk, hurt, ouch, think.

By: Alvaro

Alvaro — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 14:05:16 +0000

Sandra: I couldn’t agree more. We typically encourage people not to “outsource their brains”…, and indeed this applies to children’s development too: if we (adults) make most decisions for them, they won’t develop their capacities as much. Learning in a Safe Space (Play) is important.

By: Sandra Fischetti

Sandra Fischetti — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 06:54:53 +0000

I found this article very insightful about the need for children to learn through playing. It seems that children’s lives are often too structured by adults to allow spontaneous playing. I think the lack of playtime stunts a child’s self-initiative, imagination, and creativity.