Course:KIN355/2020 Projects/Game Play
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Defining the Concept and Its Importance
For young children, game play is very important more for the social aspect than actual motor skill development as game play provides children with an opportunity to still be physically active but everyone involved must follow a designated set of rules. Game play allows young children to practice important social skills such as taking turns, learning rules and how to be good sport (The Importance of Playing Games with Your Preschooler, n.d.). Game play can also be looked at as organized sports as there are a set of rules and everyone playing must follow them, it is just more structured than simply children playing in the park. Organized sports provide young children with the opportunity to develop their motor skills, social interactions, creativity, and overall enjoyment of physical activity (Committee on Sports Medicine and Fitness, 2001). In terms of motor skill development, there is a high level of importance of stability of motor coordination levels through organized sport participation as the sooner a young child can develop motor skills, the better off they will be long-term as the potential health-related benefits of staying engaged in physical activity increase with the higher motor coordination level one is at (Vandorpe et al, 2011). In order for the benefits of game play to be fully maximized, the game must be properly designed to the age and developmental level of the children that are participating. This can apply to preschool children as they have quite short attention spans and having longer lasting games may cause them to lose interest (Committee on Sports Medicine and Fitness, 2001). Games should instead be focused around having fun and allowing the children to explore a variety of movement experiences, especially ones they have not done before or are not great at (Committee on Sports Medicine and Fitness, 2001).
Marbles, an example of game play for young children, encourages development of fine motor skills and digital finesse which leads to the refinement of their manual dexterity (Lancy & Grove, 2017), essential skills to further their development not just in play but in other instances such as in the classroom with writing and typing. As the Committee on Sports Medicine and Fitness stated (2001), the games need to be directed towards the proper age and developmental stage because as the child learns the rules to the game from the basics, they can shift their focus to no longer being a psycho-motor focus to now being able to focus on the game from a social aspect (Lancy & Grove, 2017).
Role in Childhood Development and Contemporary Considerations
It is important to have young children get involved in game play or organized sport early due to the fact that by the age of six, one’s brain has reached nearly its full size (Vandorpe et al., 2011). Vandorpe et al. (2011) determined that due to the plasticity of a child’s brain before the age of six, motor development through experience would be most effective while the brain is in the critical development period. There have also been studies that show positive relationships between a typical developing child’s level of gross motor skills and their participation in organized sports (Westendorp et al., 2011). It has been shown that developing a child’s level of movement skills is important as preschoolers, children and adolescents with lower levels tend to be less physically active than the same aged participants with normal or high motor skill levels (Vandorpe et al., 2011). Higher level of physical activity and lower levels of screen time in early childhood have shown to have favourable outcomes on health factors later on in life (Hinkley et al., 2018). Participation in sports and game play can make up for intellectual disabilities when learning motor skills as children with borderline and mild intellectual disabilities who participated in sports had higher object-control skill scores than typical developing children who did not participate in organized sports or game play (Westendorp et al., 2011). Physical activity through sport participation in young children allows them to develop their gross motor skills and as the child grows older, their level of gross motor skill development may play an influence as to their level of physical activity engagement, having seen children with higher levels of motor skill development at a younger age remain physically active in their later years (Westendorp et al., 2011). Children begin to develop levels of manual dexterity from a young age as children who participate in forms of game play such as marbles, show elevated levels of manual dexterity refinement from a young age (Lancy & Grove, 2017).
Game play should be designed as a form of leisure for physical activity (Eime et al., 2013) due to the idea that parental/adult involvement may have negative effects on the child’s desire to participate as they may put unnecessary pressure or expectations on them (Committee on Sports Medicine and Fitness, 2001). A review done by Lancy & Grove (2017) found that girls enjoyed playing hopscotch more when they were able to modify the rules to fit their needs and wants. The review also found that parents, schools and municipal authorities are having to intervene in the games more as children are spending less time in unsupervised play and are lacking the social skills that are needed to engage in game play when settling disputes. It has been noticed however, that younger girls tend to resolve conflicts easier than young boys as the boys tended to want to show physical dominance over the weaker ones where girls were more inclusive and would adapt the rules to fit the needs of all (Lancy & Grove, 2017). Play through sports has also been shown to improve a child’s self-esteem and social interaction (Eime et al., 2013). In a study done by Moeijes et al. (2018) found that boys suffered fewer internalized problems (emotional and/or peer problems) than girls when participating in team and organized sports. This may be due to the fact that boys place greater importance on success in sports for self-esteem reasons than girls (Moeijes et al. 2018). Organized sports, unlike unstructured or free play, allows children a greater opportunity to develop rule specific skills as well as skills for better health and safety within the sport (Committee on Sports Medicine and Fitness, 2001). Social skills are essential to a child’s psychosocial well-being as well as an important precursor for their school readiness, meaning that preschools must have a sufficient amount of opportunity to develop their social skills due to the long term impacts it may have (Hinkley et al., 2018). The research done by Hinkley et al. (2018) shows that participation in play and physical activity could provide a way for children’s social skills to develop as they can interact with other children as well as observe social skills of others. Providing children with an opportunity to repeat practice of rules that are associated with game play allows them to develop, practice and sustain prosocial behaviour (Moeijes at al., 2018).
Practical Applications
Game 1: Hide and Seek, ("Hide and seek (Rules and history)," 2020)
· Purpose statement: Allows children to get involved in organized play, as motor development develops through experience.
This game is also a great activity to participate in leisurely. It can have multiple players to ensure different play types can occur, such as environmental play as Hide & seek can be played indoors and outdoors.
Target age: 3-8. From earlier research in this wiki page, a six-year-old brain can understand and learn about how their bodies move at this age; it is also the critical development period (Vandorpe et al., 2011). Therefore, games such as Hide and Seek help encourage motor development through the number of rounds. While motor development is essential, Hide and Seek comes with other benefits such s social interaction with other children. Hide and seek can be played with may few and many children during a round of the game. Thus it provides children with the opportunity to interact with other children and observe strategies that other children have used to win the game (Moeijies et al.,2018). Therefore children aged 3-8 can learn a multitude of things from this game.
· Apparatus/equipment needed and environmental space/set-up: There is no need for this game's equipment. It involves the creativity and environment to hide from whoever is seeking them. The ideal space for outdoor play would be in a playground, and the perfect space for indoor play would be a house or room that has places to hide in
· Instructions: One child is selected to be deemed it or the person to seek the other children. The seeker must close his/her eyes and count to 100 to allow the children to hide. Once the children have found their hiding spot, they cannot change their hiding place and keep quiet until they are found. The objective of the seeker is to see all the kids hiding ("Hide and seek (Rules and history)," 2020).
The objective of the hidden children is to keep hidden to win the game.
· Modifications:
· Depending on the environment where they want to play the game, the seeker can count longer to ensure all the children have a hiding place
Game 2: Capture the Flag; ("Capture the flag," 2019)
Purpose statement: To provide the opportunity for children to build relationships with other children, explore sport-like motor skills needed for organized sports later on, and improve overall self-esteem (Eime et al., 2013). This type of game does allow strategy and teamwork between children to win the game.
Thus, to win, children must collaborate with their perceived strengths to use it towards capturing the flag. Sometimes, this type of game can be unsupervised or loosely su[prevised during recess at school.
Unsupervised play allows children to improve their social skills with each other without teachers or parents that may intervene (Lance & Grove, 2017). One article states that parents and adult supervision could have adverse effects on children's desire to play the game as they might endure unnecessary stress and pressure to do well (Committee on Sports Medicine and Fitness, 2001). Thus this game allows children to work on their social skills, play without the stress of parents or teachers spectating, and improve upon gross motor skills and strategy to help them in future sports.
· Target age: 10 years old and older. As children grow older, physical activity through participation may allow children to develop gross motor skills. However, at an older age, such as at ten years old, the amount of development of their gross motor skills will determine how often they stay active (Westendorp et al., 2011).
Therefore, participation in games such as Capture the Flag could encourage motor development and physical activity. Capture the flag encompasses many qualities of a sport, such as working in teams, running, jumping and changing quick directions.
· Apparatus/equipment needed and environmental space/set-up: A set of cons are required to divide a gym or field into two zomes, and a designated circle in each zone for the flag's placement ("Capture the flag," 2019).
· Instructions:
- Children must be divided into two teams and sent to their respective zones
- The goal of this game is to reach the other side to retrieve a flag back to their zone without being tagged
- If a person is tagged with the flag, the person is sent to a holding zone, and the flag is placed back in the flag zone
- A teammate can tag someone in the holding zone to bring them back to their home zone where they can both freely walk without being tagged; this can only happen once in a game
- If an opposing player gets to the flag zone with the flag, they can stay in that zone without being tagged before they decide to head back over the cones
· Modifications:
· Teams may choose to hide their flag in the flag zone but must show some visibility as to where the flag may be placed
· If a player is tagged with a flag in hand, they can drop where the flag is and walking to the holding zone
· A player is permitted to pass or throw the flag to another teammate over the centre line to their home zone
· If a flag is placed outside of the flag zone, there is a rule against guarding the flag, also known as 'puppy guarding.'
Insert video vignette...as per Section 4 requirements.
Summary
Game play is the social skills like learning rules, taking turn or being good sport developed by children while playing games (The Importance of Playing Games with Your Preschooler, n.d.). Game play is best adapted when the children games are designed to their age, developmental levels they possess and are also short spanned (Committee on Sports Medicine and Fitness, 2001). Game play is best learned by the child before the age of six as this is the critical developmental period when the brain is becoming fully formed (Vandorpe et al., 2011). Different creative games like hide and seek or capture the flag can help children develop skills of Game play.
References
Capture the flag. (2019, September 6). Playworks. https://www.playworks.org/game-library/capture-the-flag/
Committee on Sports Medicine and Fitness. (June, 2001). Organized Sports for Children and Preadolescents. Pediatrics, 107(6), 1459. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A75561250/HRCA?u=ubcolumbia&sid=HRCA&xid=c7744689
Eime, R. M., Young, J. A., Harvey, J.T. et al. (August 15, 2013). A systematic review of the psychological and social benefits of participation in sport for children and adolescents: informing development of a conceptual model of health through sport. International Journal of Behavioural Nutrition and Physical Activity , 10(98). doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/1479-5868-10-98
Hide and seek (Rules and history). (2020, May 29). The Backyard Gnome. https://thebackyardgnome.com/hide-and-seek-rules-history/
Hinkley, T., Brown, H., Carson, V., & Teychenne, M. (2018). Cross sectional associations of screen time and outdoor play with social skills in preschool children. PLoS One, 13(4) doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/10.1371/journal.pone.0193700
Lancy, D. F. & Grove, M. A. (2017) Marbles and Machiavelli: The Role of Game Play in Children’s Social Development. Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications, 3(4). https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/sswa_facpubs/621
Moeijes, J., van Busschbach, J.,T., Bosscher, R. J., & Twisk, J. W. R. (2018). Sports participation and psychosocial health: A longitudinal observational study in children. BMC Public Health, 18 doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/10.1186/s12889-018-5624-1
The Importance of Playing Games with Your Preschooler. (n.d.). Familyeducation. https://www.familyeducation.com/life/early-learning/importance-playing-games-your-preschooler#:~:text=Game%20playing%20enables%20and%20encourages,to%20be%20a%20good%20sport.
Vandorpe, B., Vandendriessche, J., Vaeyens, R. et al. (September 7, 2011). Relationship between sports participation and the level of motor coordination in childhood: A longitudinal approach. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 15. 220-225. doi: 10.1016/j.jsams.2011.09.006
Westerndorp, M., Houwen, S., Hartman, E., & Visscher, C. (2011) Are gross motor skills and sports participation related in children with intellectual disabilities? Research in Developmental Disabilities, 32. 1147-1153. doi: doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2011.01.009