The Importance of play

In this picture the block structure is representing a town that the boys made. They made
two car washes and a library. As the boys built the structures, they had to negotiate who
was going to build what, how they wanted to design the buildings. The boys are also
using their fine motor skills to construct the buildings, they are using math skills and they
are learning social skills for working together as well as feeling self-confident and proud
of the buildings they have constructed. This picture alone shows just how much children
can learn through play across the physical, cognitive, social and emotional domains. The
three boys worked together in associative play each deciding who was going to build
what and how to place the people around, along with street signs and more. I took this
picture in my C!" #$% practicum class while doing my lab hours in the ""C state
preschool room. This picture along with all the observations and participation in play
just affirms my beliefs that children really do learn from play and need the opportunities
to participate in meaningful play activities.
This picture represents a &oo that that "alerie and Avery constructed. They had to
negotiate where to place the blocks, how they wanted it to look like. Again this is
associative play and the girls are learning across the domains. This play went on the
whole one hour work time and two boys joined in and built a 'gate( for the animals. The
girls then lined up the people) they were using seriation and classification.
In this picture "alerie is reading the book '*rown *ear, *rown *ear +hat !o ,ou -ee.(
As she read the book, /oman was putting the correct felt piece on the felt board.
Through play these children are learning early language and literacy skills.
0utdoor play is just as important for children as indoor play. In the outdoor
environment, children have the opportunity to run, jump, thro balls, and even play blocks,
read and play in the sand, and more. ere are a few pictures to back up my original
beliefs that children deserve and need to have plenty of opportunities to play outdoors. In
conclusion, through my student teaching in the ""C state preschool classroom, my
beliefs that children learn through play and that children need plenty of opportunities to
e1perience meaningful play e1periences.