Journal of Emerging Trends in Educational Research and Policy Studies: Home

Abstract:
This paper lays emphases on how play can enable children to learn for proper functioning in societal challenges and adjustment. Play opens the window of learning in a child's life and acquaints him or her with movement, observation, relationships, emotions and much more. Play time is learning time for young children as they build towers, dance, read, sing, paint, run and laugh together and watch learning unfold. Learning through play is a term used in education and psychology to describe how children can learn to make sense of the world around them. Through play children can develop social and cognitive skills, mature emotionally and gain self confidence required to engage in new experiences and environments. Play enables children to make sense of their world and possess a natural curiosity to explore and act as medium of realizing life goals. Play is mostly a self chosen activity by the child. In order for an activity to be considered in play, the experience must include a measure of inner control, ability to bend or invent reality and a strong internally based motivation for playing. If parents and educators try to label experiences as play, but in reality have specific requirements for the activity then it becomes work not play. Play is not wasted time but rather time spent in building new knowledge from previous experience. Play changes young children's experience and substantially affect their development and learning especially when intervention starts early in life and not a breed-ganged set of strategies. This research is expected to provide parents, guardians and teachers the right skills to handle children play activities in school and non-school setting. Play provides the children with the way withal to explore the world and acquire knowledge bank for societal functioning.

Keywords: play, learning, play time for children and parents, culture learning and playground.

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