Play is very significant for
the optimum development of children who are in their middle childhood. This is
portrayed by the eye opening documentary Lost Adventures of Childhood: The High Price of
Hyper-Parenting that shows
the high price that many families are paying where the value of playing among
children is not comprehended. According to Jones (2010), “for an activity to be
regarded as play, it ought to be both voluntary as well as self-organized†(34).
Middle childhood refers to a stage as well as a pathway that is significant for
future development of a child. Newman (2007) asserts that the developmental
markers in middle childhood are categorized into the following broad domains-
cognitive, physical, emotional and social development. This essay looks into
the role that play has on the physical, cognitive, emotional and social
development of children during middle childhood.
Physical Development: during the middle
childhood stage, this domain entails biological as well as neurophysiological
development, the modification of both perceptual and motor skills, along with
physical health, together with nutrition and exercise. Children who are of
school-age go through rapid spurts in terms of height, weight and progress in
athletic capacities. They commence on the inception of puberty at different
ages, with girls having an average of 11 years and boys of 13 years, a stage
that is marked by hormonal changes, and observable transformations in both
physical appearance as well as behavior.
Play
is significant in the development of gross motor skills. Children continue
building and improving on their gross motor skills during middle childhood. At
this phase of development, children develop extensive body movement skills like
walking and running, skills that they had initially learnt during their earlier
developmental stages. Generally, boys tend to develop these skills relatively
faster as compared to girls, excluding skills entailing balance and precise
movements like skipping and hopping. This is why the school curriculums provide
regular scheduled chances for both exercise and play. The access to physical
activities helps in supporting healthy bodies for physical development.
Play
also contribute to physical development by enhancing fine motor skills. Fine
motor skills are different from the gross motor skills in that they require
coordination between the eyes and hands (Jones, 2010, p.54). Girls have a
tendency of developing fine motor skills faster in comparison to boys, for
instance, middle-childhood children demonstrate dramatic improvements in
relation to printed handwriting or drawing.
Cognitive Development: The domain of this
stage entails intellectual as well as language development, reasoning
capacities, as well as memory abilities. The childhood middle years are
characterized by a steady improvement in logical reasoning by use of concrete
examples, increased cognizance of memory in addition to learning strategies. In
addition children achieve and consolidate significant academic skills like
reading, writing, as well as computing.
Play
significantly contributes towards the cognitive development of children during
middle childhood. Generally, middle childhood play nurture the cognitive
development of children. During this stage, children exercise the executive
skills while planning pretense scripts by use of symbols in games and
organizing games that are governed by rules. For instance, during construction
of play with blocks, tentative manipulation precedes the ability to the
creation of new forms. The three dimensional construction assist older children
in the development of visual spatial imagery which supports the learning of
both mathematics as well as sciences. Humor is as well evident in the middle
childhood play, even though some is “non-sense†humor entailing cognitive
incongruity that illustrate what children know.
Emotional and social development: the emotional
domain entails personality, inspiration, emotional development, as well as
self-esteem. Children who are of school-age obtain individual competencies by
means of participating in activities such as academic, athletic or artistic, or
emotional attachments to their family members. In addition, they develop a deep
sense of who they are as well as what they intend to attain in life by means of
critical efforts and commitments. On the part of social development, the domain
entails social skills along with interpersonal understanding, maintenance of
close relationships, and ethical development. Children improve reciprocal
understandings of other people through both the family as well as peer
interactions, developing same-sex friendships, and searching fairness in their
peer groups.
Play
is significant in the emotional and social development of children during their
middle childhood. According to Newman (2007), children practice their abilities
to self-direct, self-organize, as well as negotiate with others. Such types of
experiences help in building confidence in accepting immediate gratification,
persevering, in addition to collaborating. Even during instances when play
deals with themes that are hurtful, the intrinsic motivation of children makes
sure that the play serves an enjoyable and meaningful purposes for those who
are playing. For instance, role playing or aggression can be significant in
helping children in dealing with the reality associated with such issues.
Organized games that are accompanied by rules are common during the middle
childhood. Benefits in perspective taking permits children to comprehend the
roles of different players during a game in addition to permitting the
transition towards rule-oriented games. Taking part in organized games assists
children in forming more mature concepts in relation to both fairness and
justice.
In
conclusion, play is a very imperative aspect amongst children during their
middle childhood. It is helpful in the development physical, cognitive, and
social skills. Nevertheless, environmental factors such entertainment like
music and watching of films makes it harder for the contemporary children to
concentrate on playing in comparison to their parents who had enough play
during their days. It is therefore the responsibility of the parents as well as
teachers to ensure that the children have adequate play time for physical,
cognitive, emotional and social development.
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