Course:KIN355/2020 Projects/Physical Play
Defining the Concept and Its Importance
Physical play is a form of play that merges play and physical movements, and appears in various capacities throughout all of childhood (Bredin, 2020). The key defining points that play needs to include are the following; controlled by players, self-motivated, voluntary, enjoyable and fun, a free choice, concerned with the process, nonliteral, and free of external rules (Bredin, 2020; Yogman et al., 2018). Physical play includes these aspects of play as well as needing to afford children the opportunity to engage in play that expends energy and practices physical movements (Bredin, 2020). There is a very early appearance of physical play in infants and one that is engaged with often and evolves depending on the capability level of the child (Bredin, 2020). As the child ages and develops, the physical play also changes and becomes more complex (Bredin, 2020). There is great importance in physical play opportunities in children due to its positive impact on motor capabilities, cognitive function, physical health, and behavioral regulation (Bredin, 2020).
Firstly, physical play in childhood plays a role in facilitating behavioral regulation capabilities that further impact learning opportunities (Bredin, 2020). Behavioral regulation is often key in educational settings, encompassing cognitive processes such as working memory, and inhibitory control (Bredin, 2020). Teachers and early childhood educators are able to use physical play as a way to expend the student's energy, which then leads later to the ability for children to control and focus on academics (Bredin, 2020). Having a recess time and physical play incorporated in unstructured class time will increase the engagement in school (Milteer et al., 2011).
Physical play is an interactive experience with the environment and one’s own body to facilitate physical growth and motor capabilities (Bredin, 2020). This relationship shows the need to continually incorporate physical play. The nature of physical play is the expansion of energy by engaging in physical movements (Bredin, 2020). Having this form of play used by early childhood educators, teachers and coaches can promote health-related benefits such as cardiovascular fitness, healthy weight gain, and improved immune and endocrine systems (Bredin, 2020; Lubans et al., 2010). While the child is expending energy they are practicing gross motor skill movements and the more they participate in physical play the more the child’s proficiency levels increase (Bredin, 2020). The nature of play being fun and of free choice is the key to the engagement in physical movement. Using the interest and unstructured time to allow children to move and explore their physical body movements through play leads to an increase in these benefits.
Role in Childhood Development and Contemporary Considerations
InsertChildren’s opportunity to engage in physical play will have an impact on an active lifestyle and fundamental movement skills (Yogman et al., 2018; Lubans et al., 2010). Children engage in physical play as an activity for enjoyment and recreation having a focus on the process and not the product (Nijhof et al., 2018; Bredin, 2020). Expending energy through physical play is important to the development of children into healthy adults (Nijhof et al., 2018).
A main contemporary issue is the increased use of electronic devices (Yogman et al., 2018). The time that children would normally spend engaging in physical play is now being used for passive entertainment (Yogman et al., 2018; Ginsburg et al., 2007). Passive activities include watching television, using the computer and playing video games (Burdette 2005.; Ginsburg et al., 2007). All this electronic activities are taking over the time that children would normally have time to play outside or engage in other forms of physical play. The increasing amount of time partaking in passive activities leads to a decrease in the energy expenditure of the child. The nature of physical play is fun, spontaneous and self motivated (Bredin, 2020). Physical play can be a means to promote physical movements that is enjoyable to the child. In contrast to the passive use of electronics, physical play promotes the development of motor patterns which effects the formation of neural pathways for new skills (Bredin, 2020). Furthermore, decreasing the energy expenditure of children throughout the days will lead to a decrease in positive health outcomes. Due to the increasing prevalence of using electronics there needs to be increased effort to encourage childcare providers and parents to promote physical movements through play (Burdette, 2005). This topic is a prevalent issue in regards to the increasing child obesity occurring partly due to the increase in popularity of passive entertainment options (Yogman et al., 2018). There needs to be a promotion for children to engage in energy expending play to develop lifelong benefits for preventing obesity and other related health conditions such as hypertension and type 2 diabetes (Yogman et al., 2018). Having the rise in childhood obesity affects the whole life of the individual and a key preventative measure can be affording children the opportunity to engage in physical play.
This image demonstrate physical play as children play in the water park and are running around and engaging their bodies
A child who is playing with their dog. This picture shows that physical play can be done in any setting.
Playing a unstructured game of soccer
Physical playing with the water in the river
Going to the beach and having time to engage in physical play with others
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Another prevalent contemporary issue is the increasing pressure on children at an early age to focus on academic success. In recent years there has been a more rigorous school system and pressure from parents focuses on academic success (Ginsburg et al., 2007). This shift to academic pressure is leading to less engagement in the time given to children to engage in physical play. The increasing time that is academically oriented is inhibiting the time needed to engage in play (Milteer et al., 2011). The continual push to start early on heavy academic loads does not allow for personal free playtime (Ginsburg et al., 2007). This is the time that children are able to more readily engage in physical play. There is an increasing need to advocate for education that focuses on playful learning (Yogman et al., 2018). Incorporating and protecting recess and physical play for children can help them involve their own curiosity and build executive functions through playtime (Yogman et al., 2018). This can be promoted by parents, teachers, and pediatricians for educational settings to incorporate time for children to exert energy while engaging in play. Parent involvement is key for the success of physical play, more time given for children to engage in physical play will lead to benefits these academic benefits and also other physical, cognitive and social benefits.
Practical Applications
There are many activities children can play to engage in physical play. There is a variety of games that can be played alone or with a group of friends. One activity children can engage in by themselves or with others is the game of Hopscotch. This fun game allows children to practice their locomotion skills such as hopping, throwing, and balance all while having some fun. The target age for this game is from seven to eleven years old. This age group is old enough to understand the rules of the game, but they aren’t too old to playing this game in an unstructured format. The equipment needed to play Hopscotch is chalk to make the court consisting of ten squares and some rocks for each participant to throw and use as markers. Hopscotch can also be played indoors and for indoors, one will need painters tape to make the court and bean bags or rolled up socks to be used as markers instead of rocks. The instructions of this game is that everyone has their own rock/bean bag and they throw the rock onto square one and hop over to square two and continue doing so until they reach square ten. When a players hop to square ten they turn around and hop back to the start and then next player goes. Once everyone has finished round one, the first person throws the bean bag into square two and continue hopping to square ten. The game continues until everyone has tossed the bean bag or rock into square ten. Children must pick up their bean bag when they are in the square before it, they must hop over the square with their bean bag, and hopping is done on one foot. Although there are rules and instructions for this game, children can play this during recess or lunch and not follow these rules and play in their own way in an unstructured format. It is a simple game of throwing and hopping that does not need many rules. If a child is unable to hop on one foot due to a structural individual constraint, the game of Hopscotch could be modified to have the child hop on two feet or if they are unable to hop they could walk through the court.
Another activity for children to engage in active play is kicking a ball or Ball Kicks with a friend or by yourself. If the child is playing by themselves they can kick the ball against a wall or if they are with a friend they can pass the ball to each other. This activity would be a target age of children from ages three to five. The purpose of this activity would be to have your child kick around different balls of different sizes and just practice kicking. Kicking a ball is used for many activities and laying down this foundation could encourage your child in the future to join a sport that involves kicking a ball such as soccer or football. This activity will help develop the skill of kicking a ball. There are no rules or instructions for this activity except that the participant must be kicking a ball. This game also does not need to much equipment except for a ball or multiple balls in different sizes and a wall/fence or a partner to kick the ball with. This activity is fairly simple for any child to conduct themselves, as there is not much equipment needed nor is there an environmental set up needed except finding an open space to kick the ball around. If a child is unable to kick a ball due to an individual constraint, one modification for this game would be to practice throwing a ball to a partner or wall instead of kicking the ball. This activity would develop a child’s throwing and catching skills. The equipment needed would be the same as Ball Kicks, a wall or a partner and a ball, just the actions being done would be modified for an individual that is unable to kick a ball.
Summary
Physical play facilitates opportunities to exhaust energy during physical movements (Bredin, 2020). Play should be intrinsically motivated, fun, a choice, concentrated on the process, nonliteral, controlled by the players, and with the absence of rules (Bredin, 2020). Hopscotch or kicking a ball are examples of physical play that encourage development of skills in motor movement, and engage in exploration, leading to health benefits such as increased cardiovascular fitness (Bredin, 2020). Contemporary considerations include the use of technology which has increased sedentary behavior, as well as the focus on academic achievements in contrast to participation in physical activity (Bredin, 2020).
References
Bredin, S. (2020). Module 1: Play. KIN 355 Movement Experiences for Young Children, School of Kinesiology, University of British Columbia.
Burdette, H. L., & Whitaker, R. C. (2005). Resurrecting free play in young children: Looking
beyond fitness and fatness to attention, affiliation, and affect. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 159(1), 46-50. doi:10.1001/archpedi.159.1.46
Ginsburg, K. R., and Committee on Communications, and Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health, and the Committee on Communications, and the Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health, American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Communications, & American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health. (2007). The importance of play in promoting healthy child development and maintaining strong parent-child bonds. Pediatrics, 119(1), 182-191. doi:10.1542/peds.2006-2697
Lubans, D. R., Morgan, P. J., Cliff, D. P., Barnett, L. M., & Okely, A. D. (2010). Fundamental movement skills in children and adolescents: Review of associated health benefits. Sports Medicine, 40(12), 1019-1035. doi:10.2165/11536850-000000000-00000
Milteer, R. M., Ginsburg, K. R., Mulligan, D. A., (2011). The importance of play in promoting healthy child development and maintaining strong parent-child bond: Focus on children in poverty. Pediatrics (Evanston), 129(1), e204-e213. doi:10.1542/peds.2011-2953
Nijhof, S. L., Vinkers, C. H., van Geelen, S. M., Duijff, S. N., Achterberg, E. J. M., van der Net, J., . . . Lesscher, H. M. B. (2018). Healthy play, better coping: The importance of play for the development of children in health and disease. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 95, 421-429. doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2018.09.024
Yogman, M., Garner, A., Hutchinson, J., Hirsh-Pasek, K., Golinkoff, R. M., (2018). The power of play: A pediatric role in enhancing development in young children. Pediatrics (Evanston), 142(3), e20182058. doi:10.1542/peds.2018-2058