Importance and types of play in different age groups of growth & development

1. Play in children
Nirmala Roberts
India

2. “We are never more fully alive, more completely
ourselves, or more deeply engrossed in anything
than when we are playing”
– Charles Schaefer

3. Play in children
 A child’s business & pleasure
 Universal & individualized for all children.
 Promotes growth and development.
 Has no serious motive & no material gain
 A natural and spontaneous social behavior
 Depends upon age, sex, interest, personality, ability, cultural,
patterns and socio-economic status
 Play, playtime and playmates decrease as the age increase.

4. Importance of Play
In Wellness In illness (Therapeutic)
Physical development Regaining lost musculoskeletal
function/ power
Intellectual and educational
development
Overcoming stranger/ separation
anxiety
Emotional development Overcoming fear of procedures
Social development Social interaction with health
workers
Moral development

5. Physical development
 Development of muscular and sensory abilities –
By running, climbing, riding cycle…
 Learning coordinated movements and skills
 Learning to differentiate sensations by visual,
auditory and tactile stimulations through the use of
play materials.

6. Intellectual and Educational Development
 Learning color, size, shape, number, distance, height, speed,
name of the objects etc.
 Creative activity, problem solving, abstract thinking,
imagination, communication and speech development
 Improves attention span and concentration
 Making a difference between reality and fantasy
 Experiencing the thrill of achievement.

7. Emotional development
 Expressing fear, anxiety, anger, joy
 Enhancing coping abilities – Reduces stress and strain and removes
irritability and destructiveness
 Communication with others
 Outlet for negative feeling – A safety valve to release emotional
tension, reduce emotional trauma.
 Socialization - Interacting with playmates by sharing, understanding,
communicating

8. Moral development
 Learnt from parents, teachers and other adults.
 Right vs wrong; honesty, sportsmanship & value system.
 Learning responsibility.
 Creativity and independence

9. Play in Infants
 Unoccupied, onlooker, solitary independent, social
affective, sensorimotor (sense pleasure), imitation

10. Play for Infants…
Hang bright objects, shiny objects within 20 to 25 cm,
colour sheets
Play music box ,radio, ticking clock, rattles, soft
squeezing toys
Hold the infant ,cuddle, clapping hands, show the place
around, leave on floor to crawl
Peek-a-boo, drums, sponge toys, teddy bears
Play ball by rolling it, building blocks, cup and spoon

11. Play in Toddlers
 Parallel, associative, inquisitive, disorganized,
distractible, skill play

12. Play for Toodlers…
Pull and push toys
Rocking horse
Building blocks
Pounding board
Clay
Kitchen set
Mirror, crayons
Appropriate TV programs
Hide and seek

13. Play in Preschool Children
 Imaginative/ dramatic play – Identifying self
with an adult
 Structured formal play – In late preschool years.
 Loosely organized
 Active, repetitive

14. Play for Preschoolers…
•See-saw
•Likes to listen and play rhymes
•Car, trucks, planes, Doctor-nurse kit
•Toy piano, Drums, puzzles

15. Play in School Children
 Formal games - Competitive sports, games
 Creative, organized, cooperative
 Hobbies for recreation and diversion.
 Imitation and dramatizing more complex activates
(acting out stories in books)

16. Play for Schoolers…
• Table games
• Roller skates
• Musical instrument
• Bicycles
• Puzzles
• Dramatic play
• Athletic sports

17. Play in Older school age and Adolescents
 Daydreaming - A more sophisticated type of
fantasy activity
 Competitive sports, operating computers,
watching television, listening to the radio,
hobbies, reading etc.

18. Play for Adolescents…
•Parties
•Expressive arts
•Engaged in organized competitive sports
•Choose more passive spectator sports

19. Selection and Care of Play Materials
 Depends upon -
Age, abilities, interest, like and dislike, cultural,
experience, personality and level of intelligence
of the child.

20. Selection of Play Materials
 Safe, washable, light weight, simple, durable, easy
to handle and non-breakable
 Realistic, attractive, constructive and offering
problem- solving opportunities.

21. Selection of Play Materials
 No sharp edges/ small removable parts which may be
swallowed or inhaled.
 Not over stimulating and frustrating
 No toxic paints, not costly, not inflammable and not
excessively noisy.
 Avoid toys with electrical plugs for children < 8 years of
age

22. Role of Parents…
 Correct use of toys – Explain the directions for use
 Safe storing of toys - Within easy reach
 Keeping playthings in good condition
 Parents should repair/ discard damaged/ broken toys
 Keep play materials of older siblings away from
younger children
 Parents should involve in their children’s play
.

23. Role of Nurses…
 Educate and ensure safety factors
 Involve in the play
 Ensure therapeutic effectiveness
.

24. Questions…?