Children Learn Through Play

As infants, children explore their physical and social world through their senses. Adults can facilitate learning through play by providing infants with opportunities to see, touch, taste, and smell a variety of phenomena. At this stage, give-and-take games such as peek-a-boo with loving, responsive adults help infants learn to interact socially.

At the toddler stage, children begin to develop the ability to engage in early pretend play - imitating familiar events in their lives. Toddlers experience strong emotions which they are not yet able to fully understand. By acting out emotion-laden scenes in their play, such as reassuring a doll that mommy will return, toddlers learn to cope with fears and they gain the self-control that will propel them to the next stage of development.

As children enter the preschool and kindergarten years, they begin to explore the world through indirect experiences such as stories, pictures, and television programs. Information gained in this way becomes the basis for imaginative play which takes children beyond the here and now.

At this stage, play activities such as drawing, building with blocks, dance, music, and crafts help children expand their knowledge and understanding of the world while developing eye-hand coordination and other motor skills. Children also become increasingly focused on peers at this stage. They benefit from play activities, props, and toys that encourage them to interact with others and engage in 'dramatic' make-believe play.

As children move into the elementary school years, the focus shifts from dramatic or pretend play to 'games with rules' and organized sports which require strategy and skill. Games with rules include traditional board games, card, video, and computer games, as well as physical games such as tag and 'red rover.' Through these play experiences, children hone their ability to relate to others, their gross motor skills, and their eye-hand coordination.

At about age 9 to 12, team sports take on increasing importance, helping children refine their abilities to reason, think strategically, and interact with others. They also refine these skills through play activities such as crafts, advanced building sets, science projects, sophisticated jigsaw puzzles, and computer and video games.

In many cases, play activities at this age become the basis for life-long interests and hobbies. While children begin to play less in the traditional sense as they move into their teenage years, they begin to transform their interests and hobbies into the 'play of the adult.'

Learning - and learning through play - is a continuous and rewarding journey!

Sources: Association for Children's Museums, Northern Illinois University

10 Ways to Explore Dramatic Play

1. Act out a book. Pick a familiar story and have kids act it out.

2. Provide a fun pretend play set-up. Think about your child's current interests. Do they love to help you in the kitchen? Then, set up a pretend-play kitchen area. Do they love to play doctor? Then, set up a hospital or a vet clinic.

3. Make puppets. Puppets are both fun to make and fun to play with.

4. Play dress-up. You can find inexpensive items for dress-up at a thrift store or even go through your closet. There may be clothes hanging in there that you no longer wear, but would be perfect for dress-up play. 

5. Combine sensory play and pretend play. Use dirt and construction toys to bring a construction site to life.

6. Have fun with small world play. Help you kids set up a scene for small toys or dolls to play in. They can experience and learn with dramatic play on a small scale. 

7. Use music. Use a song with actions or one that tells a story. Encourage you're children to sing, dance and do actions. Make sure you join in and have fun!

8. Make and use masks. It's easy to pretend you're someone or something else when you put on a mask. 

9. Use blocks and loose parts to set the scene. Will your children build roads or a castle? Either way they're setting up a scene that will provide hours of pretend play.

10. Above all else, make it accessible and easy for your kids to enjoy dramatic play. Put the dress up clothes where your kids can get to them whenever it strikes their fancy. Have a box of loose parts always available so they can create and pretend.

*Bonus Activity: Go outside! It's so easy to grab a stick and turn it into a magic wand. They've traveled to the moon, through a forest, and even to a magical fairy-tale kingdom without even leaving our backyard.

Source: Creative Family Fun

Ten Commandments of Dramatic Play in the Home

The Ten Commandments of Dramatic Play in the Home

First, be your child’s playmates — this is most effective when your children are young. However, let your child be in charge.

Second, if your child is older (more than 4 years of age), arrange a play date so that they can support each other’s dramatic play.

Third, play along if your child creates an imaginative playmate. Usually this playmate has a character which complements theirs. However, draw a line and be firm when your child starts to do something ‘naughty’ and blame this on her imaginative friend.

Fourth, do not intervene with your child’s play. Let their imagination flow.

Fifth, do not interrupt the play even when it’s time for your ‘child-turned-caveman’ to have lunch. Your child can always have lunch in his ‘cave’.

Sixth, provide a space in your home for imaginative play even if this means that your home will not look like a ‘designer home’ for a while. For instance, let your child transform the dining room table into a cave, or let her connect all the coffee and side tables and transform them into a tunnel.

Seventh, read a lot to your children and take them to as many places as you can. After reading, ask stimulating questions to your child, for instance, “What would you do if you were a …..?”. These will provide them with more experience more ideas for pretend play.

Eighth, when searching for a preschool for your child, investigate whether the preschool will support imaginative play.

Ninth, for older children, consider involving them in theatrical productions or puppet movies.

Tenth, provide your children with many toys which support imaginative play.

Source: Best Child's Toys of Texas and Dramatic Play at WordPress

Play Across Ages

How is Dramatic Play Different in Children of Different Ages?

Serena’s brother Stanley is two and a half years old. His favorite place to play is the sandbox. He spends long periods of time peacefully pouring, sifting and digging in the sand. Recently he has begun to imitate a large construction machine that has been used in a road- widening project near Mrs. Conklin’s house. Stanley’s play begins when he assumes a position on all fours in the sandbox. Stanley uses his right arm and hand as a slow-moving, rhythmical shovel. As he digs he makes noises that are uncannily like those made by the machine he has observed. Occasionally he sits back on his heels and wipes the back of his hand across his brow. Mrs. Conklin tries to offer him a drink of water at these "breaks" and to inquire about the progress of the work. In this way Stanley learns that his efforts are important and worthy of respect.

While Stanley digs, two four year olds in another part of the yard are engaging in yet another form of dramatic play. After arranging some small plastic dolls in a shoe box one says to the other "No honey. I’ll drive the children to the doctor. You have to go to work now!" and she drives the shoe box car across the lawn.

Mrs. Conklin’s five-year-old son particularly enjoyed a family camping trip over the summer. When he and his six year- old cousin are together they beg Mrs. C. for a tent, which she provides by throwing an old sheet over the picnic table and anchoring the edges with logs. "They take all kinds of things in there to use as sleeping bags, blocks for flashlights, pretend food, and other blocks for "firewood". Sometimes they invite the younger children in for a pretend supper around the campfire. At other times Mrs C. encourages the play by suggesting that she serve snack at the "camp".

Children over the age of five continue to enjoy dramatic play, sometimes inventing elaborate games that continue for days or weeks. They may also use puppets or paper cutouts to enact stories or put on simple plays (which occasionally go on for a longer time than adult audiences might wish!). In their play they become everything from astronauts to ballerinas.

Source: Pennsylvania State University

Reconstructing Life Experiences

Kudos to New Creations Preschool who understands the value of dramatic play. In their article they state:

"...[A] favorite area for a lot of kids is our Dramatic Play Center. This area provides dress-up clothing, housekeeping materials, a doctor kit, a birthday party kit, and such things as pizza/restaurant props.

While you may think the kids are just playing and having fun here, they are developing important skills in many areas—language, social, emotional, motor, and cognitive. In “What are the benefits of dramatic play in early childhood,” Jennifer Streit sites how each of these areas benefit. She also points out that the Association of Childhood Education International (ACEI) states that dramatic play is imperative to a child’s growth in all areas of learning and cannot be replaced by adult instruction.

Dramatic play is the child’s way of reconstructing and reenacting his/her life experiences.  Their play shows us how they think our world works. Children also express their feelings of frustration and anxieties through role playing, which they may not express through conversation with an adult."

Reality vs. Fantasy

When children become immersed in play, it may seem as if they can't tell the difference between reality and fantasy. Have you ever wondered if your child's imaginary playmate was real to your child?

Dramatic play...allows children to differentiate between real and pretend. This is readily apparent when observing children using exaggerated voices to signal that they are playing their roles or in the child that announces, "It's just pretend." It may seem as though a child who has spent several hours engaged in dramatic play has just been "playing around" and has nothing concrete to show for it. On the contrary, the kind of play where a child takes on a role, and learns to interact from within that role, is very valuable to her development.

Source: Leap Frog

Buy Products Made in the USA

All our products are made in the USA.

What problems does buying American-made products fix?

• unemployment
• high prices for goods
• high prices for services
• poor economy

How?

Once Americans start buying more American goods the demand for them will increase. As a result of the rising demand, more factories or plants will be developed. Many good job opportunities will then be available. Not only will the manufacturers benefit, openings in higher paying fields will increase. A few of these include the engineers of the building and the plumbing and construction companies. Hence when all this is put into action many Americans will be on better economic standing. That means they will once again have high buying power. Rising profits for American base business and their employees will take place. All of this combined will keep the U.S economy and its citizens financially healthy. In order to achieve this, all Americans must be properly informed by the government, as to why they should buy American. --Laura Ramos Source: Made in USA