Roles Of The Average Child Are Characterised By Play

Introduction During the early years of life, the roles of the average child are characterised by play. Children actively explore and interact with people and objects in their world. These interactions provide the child with an understanding of control and connectedness. Children repeat actions to establish relationships between materials and objects. Students then modify their interactions to examine new relationships. During the first few years of life language develops and play evolves, from exploration to using objects to pretend and mimic activities in the world. What is play Types of play Similarities and differences in children’s play Knowledge to professionals Recommendations to support play What is play? Are there different†¦show more content†¦Research has indicated that through play children practice and master a large variety of skills needed for later childhood and adult life (Piaget, 1962; Takata, 1971). They learn to solve problems, make decisions, persevere, and interact with the people and objects in the environment (Robinson, 1977). Children develop language skills, symbolic thinking, social skills, and motor skills as founded in the Australian Early Childhood Curriculum (Athey, 1984; Florey, 1971; Lewis, 1993; Vandenberg Kielhofner, 1982; Whaley, 1990). In addition there is a centre to just playing, with no underlying motive of gaining or refining set skills, that is equally important to childhood development (Pierce, 1997). Play is the basic nature of all children. Parents of typically developing children are seen as the facilitators of play as they respond to and encourage the collaborations of their child. They act as play partners, and companions, following the play initiations of the child. They begin with the shapeless interactions their children have with toys, and expand play repertoires by adding intricacy to the process of play. For example, a parent will naturally follow the child’s lead as the child begins to build with Legos. Expanding on this skill, the parent will ask â€Å"Is that a house