Course:KIN355/2020 Projects/Exploratory Play
Defining the Concept and Its Importance
As Dr. Bredin (2020) explains, exploratory play is a type of play where children are able to examine either a body, an object, or the environment in order to learn of its properties, while also allowing children to continue to explore through movements and to learn about both the environment and their own bodies. Learning through exploratory play happens without participating in any formal education and is largely unsystematic, therefore meaning that the learning done is purely controlled by the child and what he or she wishes to do is completely up to him or her (Schulz & Bonawitz, 2007). Children will be able to work on their sensory development which includes, visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, tactile, vestibular and proprioception senses (Bredin, 2020). They can create a better sense of where they are in space, be able to balance themselves and to just see and interact somewhere or with something new. All these skills can be worked on through participation in exploratory play.
It is important for early childhood educators and teachers to understand this concept because exploratory play teaches children important lessons about the world in a non-formal context (Gweon & Schulz, 2008). Children are given the opportunity to learn about the world around them driven by their own free will (Schulz & Bonawitz, 2007). Studies by Schulz and Bonawitz (2007) demonstrate that through participating in exploratory play, infants learn about cause and effect. Exploratory play is clearly an extremely important resource that supports a child’s causal learning, which is why it is important for early childhood educators and teachers to incorporate exploratory play (Schulz & Bonawitz, 2007).
Exploratory play is important for childhood movement experiences because children not only learn about their environment, but also gain knowledge on how to appropriately react to objects or other beings they happen to encounter (Schulz & Bonawitz, 2007). Children are able to consciously decide how they wish to interact with objects in their environment, as well as learn at their own pace. A child is able to figure out how different objects react to the child’s own actions and learn through playing, which is important for children especially at younger ages (Gweon & Schulz, 2008). As children’s exploratory play is complex, many factors can affect how a child chooses to interact with what he or she sees, such as the child’s mood, comfort and energy level, and perceived cost or benefit in comparison to the energy the child will need to put into said action while participating in exploratory play (Schulz & Bonawitz, 2007).
Role in Childhood Development and Contemporary Considerations
Exploratory play is an important and integral part of a child’s healthy development, in particular their cognitive development as well as motor skill development (Jennings et al., 1979). This type of play allows children to reduce the level of uncertainty they feel towards new objects, people and the environment, which is a major part of growth during infancy and early childhood (Pelz & Kidd, 2020). Also, infants are born with an innate curiosity to explore what they see (Pelz & Kidd, 2020). With human beings being naturally curious about the world around them, it therefore creates new and exciting opportunities for humans to explore and learn (Pelz & Kidd, 2020). These new opportunities allow for innovation and therefore knowledge, which is exactly what infants who participate in exploratory play aim to receive (Pelz & Kidd, 2020). This type of play allows children in their early childhood stages to learn about the world and improve their cognitive development while in a stage where they are naturally curious and motivated to learn (Jennings et al., 1979). As a child’s curiosity is nurtured through exploratory play, his or her cognitive ability will begin to improve and he or she will be more persistent when participating in structured tasks, such as stacking blocks or other objects, that allow him or her to learn more about the environment (Jennings et al., 1979). As a child is able to participate in exploratory play, he or she is gathering information about the world, which will allow him or her to interact with objects in the environment and learn of cause and effect relationships at an early age (Gweon & Schulz, 2008).
Through allowing the child to satisfy his or her curiosity, he or she will begin to master the environment around them while also improving his or her concentration when completing certain tasks and his or her motivation to complete such tasks (Jennings et al., 1979). To motivate a child to explore and learn for longer, Doan et al.’s (2020) study illustrates that if a child is told that a task is difficult and he or she is able to accomplish it, then he or she is more inclined to explore with more drive in the future. In addition to supporting a child’s growing curiosity and motivation to learn, the quality of play is also important because the quality will dictate how much a child will learn from the experience (Jennings et al., 1979). To produce the highest quality of play, children must adapt and interact with objects differently. By trying different movements and actions, a child will be able to gather more information while improving his or her fine and gross motor skills at the same time, which is ideal (Jennings et al., 1979).
If exploratory play is not facilitated in a child’s life, his or her cognitive development, motor skill development and motivation to explore will be hindered (Pelz & Kidd, 2020). Without the chance to explore on his or her own, the child will be unable to gather information about the environment as early as children that engage in exploratory play, delaying his or her acquisition of knowledge about the world (Jennings et al., 1979). Fine and gross motor skills will also be affected if exploratory play is not incorporated into a child’s life because he or she loses the opportunity to practice these skills in real world settings (Pelz & Kidd, 2020). This experience is valuable, especially at a young age, because these skills make up a large section of how he or she interacts with the world, and without the early experience, the child will be less cognitively developed than other children his or her age (Jennings et al., 1979). Pelz and Kidd (2020) also mention that curiosity will be affected because this trait is typically developed throughout the lifespan and therefore, if a child is not stimulated to be curious, he or she will lose that drive as he or she grows older.
With exploratory play being such a significant factor in influencing a child’s development in multiple categories, there is surprisingly not a lot of knowledge surrounding this type of play (Doan et al., 2020). Due to this lack of research, different consequences to a lack of exploratory play at a young age is still unknown and should be explored.
Practical Applications
Due to the impact exploratory play has on a child’s development, this type of play should be integrated early on to reduce any issues that can hinder them in the future. Two practical applications will be described below how children can participate in exploratory play.
The first activity will be sand play and the purpose is to allow children to feel and interact with a new environment. They will be able to work on their gross motor skills by learning how to move in sand and fine motor skills when grabbing the sand and forming it. Sensory development will also occur, specifically tactile, vestibular and proprioception. The child will feel the sand and its different temperatures depending on the day and learn how to balance and move on the uneven surface (Baby Sparks, 2019). Sand play allows children to be creative and do whatever they want. The target age for this activity can be from one to six years old. Equipment needed is sand, buckets, shovels and any other toys the child would like to bring. Parents can go to a nearby park with a sandbox, go to the beach or even just buy a bag of sand and place it in a container or on a table. There are different types of sand that can be used, some are colored and some are more easy to form into a structure. The larger and deeper the space, the more possibilities for the child to play and be creative. For sand play, there really are no instructions, the child just needs access to sand. However, a plan can be made like creating the biggest sandcastle or digging up a hole the fastest. Whoever is in charge just needs to watch and make sure the kid does not eat the sand, or get it in their eyes. There are modifications that can be done with sand play. By adding water, mud is now created, changing the texture allowing the child to feel something new, as well as hear the squishing of mud. Toys can also be buried under the sand and the child will develop motor skills learning how to use a shovel to dig back up their toys. Kids can play with others making sandcastles, allowing them to interact and share with each other. The possibilities are never ending with sand play and it is great for kids to explore a new environment.
The secondary activity is a scavenger hunt and the purpose is to experience different environments and textures. They will be able to develop their visual, tactile, vestibular and proprioceptive senses. The target age for this activity is between three and ten years old. The equipment needed is a list of the things the kids are looking for and a bag to hold all the items. The items to find can be already from the environment like twigs or pinecones, or bring things like toys and balls. The experience of the child and how much they can explore depends on where the scavenger hunt takes place. It can be done at a park, a playground or a trail with opportunities to experience different senses. To start this activity, create a list of things for the kids to find, hand out the list to the children and give them a certain amount of time to find as much as possible. Remember to supervise them and create boundaries so they do not wander off too far. Modifications can be created by placing things where there is some degree of difficulty to retrieve it, or making it easier. An item can be placed in a puddle so kids can feel the water and possibly jump on it to make a big splash. A simple balancing activity can be implemented in front of a listed item so they develop their vestibular skills to not fall off. If there are many leaves laying around, an item can be hidden underneath so they feel the different textures and hear the crunching of the leaves. A scavenger hunt is a great activity for children to work cooperatively and explore new areas.
Summary
Exploratory play is unstructured play where children use their cognitive and physical capabilities to learn about their body and environment. Children will learn motivation and the courage to examine unfamiliar circumstances. Without this learning, they will have increased levels of uncertainty towards new people and environments, therefore hindering their growth. Moreover, children can improve their fine and gross motor skills as well as their understanding of the cause and effect relationship. Since exploratory play is highly dependent on the child’s creativeness, children should lead their own play in a sandbox or a scavenger hunt, where they make their own rules while learning about the environment.
References
BabySparks. (2019, October 21). Developmental benefits of sand play. Retrieved November 1, 2020, from https://babysparks.com/2019/10/21/developmental-benefits-of-sand-play/
Bredin, S. (2020). Module 5: Sensory perceptual development. KIN 355 Movement Experiences for Young Children. School of Kinesiology, University of British Columbia.
Doan, T., Castro, A., Bonawitz, E., & Denison, S. (2020). “Wow, I did it!”: Unexpected success increases preschoolers’ exploratory play on a later task. Cognitive Development, 55, 100925.
Gweon, H., & Schulz, L.E. (2008). Stretching to learn: Ambiguous evidence and variability in preschoolers’ exploratory play. Proceedings of the 30th annual meeting of the Cognitive Science Society (pp. 570-574).
Jennings, K. D., Harmon, R. J., Morgan, G. A., Gaiter, J. L., & Yarrow, L. J. (1979). Exploratory play as an index of mastery motivation: Relationships to persistence, cognitive functioning, and environmental measures. Developmental Psychology, 15(4), 386-394. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.15.4.386
Schulz, L. E., & Bonawitz, E. B. (2007). Serious fun: preschoolers engage in more exploratory play when evidence is confounded. Developmental psychology, 43(4), 1045.
Pelz, M., & Kidd, C. (2020). The elaboration of exploratory play. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 375(1803), 20190503. doi:10.1098/rstb.2019.0503