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Play of children
In the early formative years,
play is almost synonymous
with life. It is second only to
being nourished, protected and
loved. It is a basic ingredient
of physical, intellectual, social
and emotional growth - Ashley
Montague.
“The great question is whether
the intermediate generation reduces the uncertainty of growing up under conditions of unpredictable change, can serve
as mentors as well as charismatic vendors of deep play,
and as purveyors of effectiveness as well as of engagement”
(Bruner, 1972, p. 765)
Along with cognitive development, which is the basis for our
interaction with the world, both
the physical and the social,
makes play the warp and woof
of childhood development. As
the infant comes to interact
with the world and makes sense
of the world, adults call the activities of the little one ‘play’.
For children, the endeavor of
learning to represent the world
to themselves and to learn the
skills required to live in a given
culture, involves a long developmental phase of dependency. This learning is mediated
by the child’s activity and initiative and her curiosity. Playing therefore is a serious business of childhood as Sutton
Smith states. The attempts of
the child, to learn with miniature objects to suit their height
and stature, seem to evoke
the feeling that the child’s activity is not as serious as other activities. Parents consider culturally valued activities
as worth learning, involvement
with the artifacts and objects of
the adult world as worth paying attention to and to master
them and therefore play gets
the tag of ‘not serious activity’
or something the child indulges
in till she grows up. The child
also practices a number of social roles that surround him or
her. Another serious business
of play is the role it plays in the
psycho-social development of
the child. It allows the child to
experiment and move between
the real and the make-believe!
This is important in childhood
because it allows the child to
abandon the activity when it
gets too painful as when the
mastery of the activity is not
occurring at a given time, he or
she is being shamed (and has to
save face) or he or she needs
to play out a traumatic scene
pressed. High urbanization,
lack of play spaces and inadequate quality interactions with
primary caregivers could result
in personal and societal disturbances. Support for such hypothesis comes from a school
experiment where introduction
of games and play resulted in
reduced violence and bullying
behaviour in the school yards
in an U.S. school. Studies with
deprived children and their
training show that play has a
role in the personality development of children. Therefore,
there is no gainsaying the fact
that play is the serious business
of childhood.
This started with a donation
campaign at Kids India 2013
and will continue with further
events planned in the coming
weeks.
For an overview of the committee and the projects please
visit www.valueofplay.in.
Though play is natural to the
child, factors like child rearing practices, peer influences,
ecological aspects (objects of
various materials), play-space
density, indoor versus out-door
play; other familial, cultural,
social class and media and curriculum, variables have been
Policies in the capitalist, developed countries are moving
towards paying for all kinds
of services, and play is moving into the realm of organized activity for which one
pays. All activities in society
are revolving around consumerism and money economy.
Our Structural Adjustment Polices (SAP), the result of liberalization, have started affecting various facets of our lives.
The immediate impact is seen
in urban land policies and the
way land is allotted. Mumbai
is a case in point. Private bodies are allowed to maintain and
use the land; the users restrict it
to certain elite groups, at times
on payment. The public land
is leased to private parties in
the name of maintenance and
it gets privatized. Games and
sports have disappeared from
our urban schools too.
What policy initiatives and actions can be undertaken to facilitate play? More about this
topic coming up in our next
edition.
so that the child gets mastery
over the situation or conditions
which caused the trauma.
Play also provides a scope for
venting aggressive and socially unacceptable feelings that
arise out of frustrations in life.
Physical activity in play tones
the body, builds muscles and
takes away extra energy. Eric
Fromm, a psychologist is of
the view that lack of childhood
in society has serious repercussions in terms of violence ex-
Realizing the significance of
this topic in India, where a
lack of playing and educational opportunities keeps many
underprivileged children from
developing their full potential, Spielwarenmesse eG initiated the awareness campaign
“Value of Play”. The committee of experts from industry,
sci