Research has found that playgrounds are essential to not only physical strength, but mental strength as well. Playgrounds help develop social, emotional and cognitive skills. Children however, need more than the traditional playground. They need playgrounds that challenge their skills and provide opportunities to learn new ones.
How did the importance of play develop? Play used to be seen as wasteful and frivolous. Plato and Aristotle found that play was important in the education of children. Furthermore, Locke, Rousseau, Deway, Montessori and others reinforced that play should be an integral part to educational programs. The National Recreation Association in the 1900's developed guidelines for certain equipment for playgrounds like providing a sand box, swings, a small slide and a climber. This is known as the traditional playground. Unfortunately not much has changed since then. Many people believe play is good for burning off energy and for physical growth. Therefore, traditional playgrounds are fine because they satisfy this requirement. It has been found that there are two factors in the development of the child: unstructured and structured learning. Most of the child's development is from unstructured activities which most do not comprehend.
What are the benefits of play? The developmental benefits of play include cognitive developmenf, increased imagination and creativity, increased discover and reasoning, manipulative skills and though development and improved problem solving.
What are the types of playgrounds and what do they contribute to children?There are three major types: .
1. traditional type: Traditional type: slides, swings, see saws, etc. identifiable to children, but does not provide for cognitive and social play .
2. contemporary type: joins or connects different pieces forming a continuous piece known as the superstructure or multi functional structure. Less numerous, more costly, liked more by kids than traditional type, encourages educationally worthwhile forms of play.
A child's play is an integral part of the child growing up. ... However for the purposes of this essay I will talk of the playground area at two different schools. ... I walked into the younger playground to observe them first. ... Interesting that up at this playground the gender separation was extremely evident. ... I picked up a skipping rope and began to run around the playground using it. ...
Introduction Over the past eight weeks, I have been attending regular "play sessions" on the playground of Woodward Elementary School. ... Problems arise when separate requirements conflict with one another or with the child's own perceived needs and, at times, it is difficult for the child to understand that these requirements even exist! ... " Similarly, the objectives of the adults on the playground are very different from the objectives of one's cohorts, and the child must find a way to interact that satisfies the rules delineated by both groups if he is to funct...
At the playground, riding a bike, or even in someone's driveway one of the parents is always visible. ... When I was young and in daycare we had one teacher; our playground was in a huge open field. Now there are at least two teachers and the playgrounds now are fenced in. ... So they don't have to worry because they know their child is safe. ... It's better than a child being seriously injured or possibly kidnapped because the parent(s) were too preoccupied to watch their child(ren)....
These are some of the thoughts that would soar through a child's mind as they walked into a school for the first time. ... All the kids run out of the school to the playground with one thought in mind: freedom. ... The slide, the biggest and tallest part of the playground, standing almost to the clouds, scares a little child like me but nevertheless I"m climb to the top and slide down time and time again. ...
Another child came over and tried to take his car away, Garrett jumps up from the floor and pushes the child away and tell the other child "it's my car". ... After riding around once he gets off the bike and begins to walk to the other side of the playground where a teacher was blowing bubbles. ... After getting done with popping and catching bubbles, he ran over to one of the other teachers on the playground. ... He sets a couple plates out and begins to put the pizza on the plates when he turns around to get a cup another child comes over and tries to grab a piece of the pizza...
Is a big city really good place to bring up a child? Personally, I feel that it is probably the worst place to raise a child! ... There is no doubt that a big city is not a healthy environment for a child to grow up in. ... Since there are few parks and playgrounds, many children are forced to play in streets, where they are in danger of getting hurt. ... In conclusion, I believe that bringing up a child in a big city has far more against it than in its favour. ...
No parent can dictate the things their youth picks up at a playground, at school, or at another child's house. Just like everything else, new information spreads from child to child like wildfire. Kids also have a major impact on who a child will behave and how they will act in the future. Friends are models, the people a child clings to so they feel a part of a group. ... This has serious psychological consequences that a child may always carry with them. ...
The narrator talks about the child in the poem as the girl-child (Piercy) who plays with her "doll that did pee-pee, miniature stoves and cherry colored lipstick" (Piercy) as she applies the color to her lips. ... As the girl-child in "Barbie Doll" enters "the magic of puberty" (Piercy), a classmate tells her, "You have a great big nose and fat legs" (Piercy). ... Unfortunately, the girl-child cannot forget her classmate's stinging criticism, which ultimately causes her to become insecure about herself. ... The narrator mentions, "of the playground some boy who did not depend, on spee...
