EMOTIONAL AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN AND PLAY

EMOTIONAL AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN AND PLAY

It is of most importance as teacher’s that we encourage play in our classrooms; this is the way all of our students will gain many skills. The skills include: sharing, communication, taking turns, patience, and creativity. I truly believe that the first five years of a child’s life are the foundation of their future educational experiences and as teacher’s we need to promote play in order for our students to be successful in the future. According to a prior study “Preschool play has many benefits, children can be creative, explore, experiment, learn, communicate, and socialize” (Ashiabi, 2007). Although there is a need for academics, play allows children to emotionally understand and communicate with their peers (Ashiabi, 2007). Socially play encourages children to get along with their peers and to form relationships, to acquire new skills and to refine on old ones (Ashiabi, 2007). Because of the correlation between social emotional skills and school performance teachers need to encourage play in the classroom.

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