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Running head: PIAGET AND PLAY

Session 2: Piaget and Play

John Mitchell
Ivy Tech Community College

Play the Piaget Way

1. What is the toy? Describe it fully here.
According to the Wellman, Gelman, Margett, Witherington, Roseengren, Simons,
and Keils studies in the textbook Child and their Development, at the age of 3 to 5, the

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way a toddler would describe a toy is an inanimate object that can only be moved by
other objects or by people. They also believe that it will stay the exact same size. They
know that a toy is solid and moves along on a continuous path, it exist independently, and
that it has a purpose (Kail, 2015).
2.

On the box, what age is this toy recommended for?

I chose a wooden railroad set and it says 3 years or older.

3. Write how a child in each of the following stages would play with the toy:
Sensorimotor: In this stage, the common age is newborn to 2 years and it is a period
during, which the infant progresses from simple reflex actions to symbolic processing.
The way they would play with a toy is start by paying much attention to it then maybe
start touching and light grabbing at it. After months go by, the goal would be grasping the
toy in there hand and begin to shake it to listen for sounds.
Preoperational: As they start to learn that toys have a purpose they will experiment and
figure out what function the toy serves. They will realize that the train can be pushed
around the track (if the track is build for them by parents) and use sound effects to give a
more fun realistic feel to the child. Animism is believing that the toy has real lifelike
feelings and children at this age sometimes believe this for instance, if the child has not
played with the train set in a while he might think that the train set is emotionally sad for
being all alone.
Concrete Operational: They will be able to understand the properties of the toy in more
detail. If the railroad tracks are in puzzle pieces then the child will be able to put the track
together from past experiences and problem solving. Past experiences would be watching

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father put it together and know that the pieces connect together to make a circle. Problem
solving by identifying the grooves on the end of each piece to connect to the fitted groove
on another piece.
4. What cognitive processes from Piaget or Vygotsky theories are involved in
the toys?
Acting as a scientist is very valuable to children because it is a way to view the
world and try to understand how it works. The child playing with the train set by
grabbing, holding, and maybe even sucking on it is the first step. According to Piagets
theories of assimilation and accommodation, which is new experiences integrated with
prior theories, will come into play. Assimilation is the child understanding that when the
train is rammed into the tracks then it will make noise. The theory of this child is toys that
are rammed against a surface will make a noise (Kail, 2015).
The modification of this developed theory will take place and it is a Piaget term
known as, accommodation (Kail, 2015). If the child keeps ramming toys into surfaces
eventually the parents will let the child know that some surfaces are bad to ram into
because it can cause damage. The child will then realize that not all surfaces are okay to
ram into.
5. What ways can this toy be improved to increase the effect of the toy on cognitive
development?
Numbering the pieces of the train set so children can learn their counting skills
because math is helpful for problematic activities. Having the actually train itself built in
Lego-like pieces to grab the attention and focus of the child can enhance their working
memory and a more sophisticated thinking process. Resulting in building blocks and
counting become an automatic process, which according to the textbook, is cognitive
activities that require virtually no effort (Kail, 2015).

PIAGET AND PLAY

Reference Page
Kail, R. (2015). Children and their development (7th ed.) Pearson Education.