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Play An Endangered Species
Instructor, Sept, 2000 by Sheila G. Flaxman
Daily media stories of out-of-control young people should be a warning that kids need safe, healthy outlets for physical energy. Plus, there is an ever-increasing amount of research documenting the poor physical condition of children today. Yet schools persist in curtailing the time allotted for children to run, skip, stretch, jump--play. Why don't more administrators realize that active play develops healthy bodies while teaching children to enjoy exercise?
In your classroom and school, take the opportunity to fight for free play as an integral part of a child's day. When playtime is threatened, so is a child's chance to grow.
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Sheila G. Flaxman has been an early-childhood teacher and administrator for 35 years. She lives and works in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Free Play: 10 Benefits to Children
1 Muscular development and control of large muscles, fine motor skills, and eye-hand coordination.
2 Speech development through social interactions during play.
3 Social development: parallel play leading to cooperative play.
4 Language-skill development through dramatic play to clarify ideas.
5 Problem solving and creative thinking--probably the 0 most important skills for living in the world today.
6 Increased consciousness of the cause-and-effect involved in a sequence of events.
7 Therapeutic value in providing opportunities for "safe" acting-out behaviors.
8 Opportunities for self-talk, a useful tool for teachers as they listen to children at play.
9 Development of self-confidence while trying new 9 things in a nonjudgmental environment.
10 Learning cooperation and values by putting them selves in the "shoes" of others.
COPYRIGHT 2000 Scholastic, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group
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