Certain characteristics of child play, which may be found in whatever group of children one studies, serve to show how different it is from adult play.
★Play Follows a Pattern of Development.
From early babyhood to maturity, definite play activities are popular at one age and not at another, no matter what the individual's environment, nationality, or economic status may be. During the first two or three months of life, when the baby is gaining control of the muscles in the head and arm regions, his play consists mainly of looking at people and objects and of making random movements in an attempt to grab objects held before him. From then on, his arms and hands will have come under enough voluntary control to enable him to grasp, hold, and examine small objects and toys; his play is then exploratory in nature. After he can walk, he plays by pushing or pulling wheel toys. How a child plays thus depends upon the development of motor and intellectual functions.
In this predictable pattern, toy play begins in the first years of life and reaches a peak between seven and eight years of age. During the "toy age,” the child's play is largely determined by the type of toys he has to play with. Interest in toy play comes chiefly from the fact that the child imagines his toys have life qualities—that they are capable of talking, acting, and feeling as he does. How the child plays with his toys, how long he plays with them, and how much enjoyment he derives from toy play will depend partly upon his intellectual and motor development, partly upon the toy, and partly upon the conditions under which he plays whether alone, with an adult, or with another child. When the right toy is used for the right age and right level of development, the child will derive more pleasure from toy play and will persevere longer in it. As intellectual development progresses, the child begins to lose interest in toys because he is no longer able to endow them with life qualities. This occurs earlier in bright children.
After the child enters school, his play interests change, partly because of his in creased mental maturity and partly because of peer pressures to stop playing with toys that, in the eyes of the group, are characteristic of "babies." During the first and second grades of school, however, there is an over lapping of the play activities characteristic of early and late childhood. A child will often continue to play with his favorite toys when away from the peer group but will play in a more mature way when with the group. At first, the child is interested in running games; after that, sports with strict rules and regulations become the favorite pastimes.
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