Play is the most natural part of human life since our birth. You will encounter play wherever children are rich and have toys they can only dream of, but also where they have to make do with just pebbles on the street. In what ways does play develop children and what kinds of games can we encounter with them?
Play as the most natural part has been present in the life of every person and all of humanity since the beginning of history. People played in prehistoric times, they played in antiquity and the Middle Ages, and they play today. The fact that play is entertainment is only the view of us adults, because we go to work and perceive children's play as filling free time. However, it is not like that . Play is the most important activity for children; through it, they discover the world, the people around them, learn what is good and what is bad. It is one of the child's most important needs, alongside the need for love, safety, and security.
During play, the human organism records all influences that act upon it and uses these influences in its further development. The experience of the game thus represents experiences from the "unreal" and a person carries these experiences over into the real one. For example, a child also learns to lose in play and thus prepares for possible failures in real life.
In play as a spontaneous activity, we can try out solving real-life tasks, and thus play fulfills its psychological function :
we discover and learn to manage our feelings and emotions,
we develop our fantasy, imagination, and creativity,
we develop our willpower, courage, and perseverance,
we develop the ability to empathize and work with other people.
However, through its impact, the game also fulfills its social function :
creates social relationships between people,
gives the opportunity to express oneself and self-realize,
helps to cultivate and foster interpersonal relationships.
The way of playing changes in relation to the child's age. The following six types of play observed during her research by the American sociologist Mildred Parten back in the 1930s. Even though the world around us has changed since then, children still play in these exact ways to this day.
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SOURCE: www.eduworld.sk