Child development:Is Play Important
Prepare for this discussion by reading Chapters 2 and 3 in the required text. Next, review the article on The importance of play in promoting healthy child development and maintaining strong parent-child bonds (Links to an external site.) and the National Association for the Education of Young Childcare’s References to Play in NAEYC Position Statements to further prepare to advocate for and discuss the benefits of play experiences. Also, review Stuart Brown’s research presented in the Play is More Than Just Fun (Links to an external site.) video and note how, according to Dr. Brown, “humor, games, roughhousing, flirtation, and fantasy are more than just fun” (TED, 2008).
As an educator, a common topic you will face is defending the importance of play in the curriculum. Parents are often unaware of the benefits of play and would rather have their child be engaged in academic work. In this discussion, you will advocate for the importance of play. You will develop convincing arguments to be presented to a skeptical parent about why play is important for children. Additionally, participation in this discussion prepares you for the Week Five Final Paper through which you will develop your personal framework of play to use when advocating for play.
Initial Post: As an advocate for play, you will likely be required to articulate the value of play and discuss the perceived benefits of play to those who remain skeptical. Your goal is to convince a parent about the importance of play on a child’s cognitive development.
In your post:
Discuss how a child’s cognitive development is influenced by play.
Include at least two examples of neuroscientific research from the course text. Cite your examples within the body of your post and provide a complete reference in APA format as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center at the end of your post.
Describe how you will facilitate cognitive development when working with children.
Explain how you will communicate your perspective to the parent.
……………………………Answer preview……………………………
When we say play we mean a range of voluntary or intrinsically activities which are especially associated with recreational pleasure as well as enjoyment. This kind of activity is highly associated with juvenile-level activities and also children, but in the real sense, play occurs at all stages of life…………………………
