Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
1.
The artist apprentice--while a child or children are creating an "art object," you
listen for and meet their requests for materials or assistance.
2.
The peacemaker--if children get into conflict about materials for any other
reason, you mediate the conflict.
3.
Guardian of the gate--if there is limited space to participate (e.g. only so many
easels in a room), you make sure the space does not get to crowded, and monitor turns
if needed.
4.
Parallel player--do whatever the activity is that the children are doing, without
intervening in their interactions (e.g. play in the sandbox near them, but not directly
interacting).
5.
Spectator--watch closely what the children are doing, without interacting directly,
to learn more about the interests and skills of each child.
6.
Participant--be part of a play activity (e.g. you can be a grandparent in a makebelieve housekeeping incident).
7.
Parents, teachers, and caregivers can also consider play in developmental domains in
their choices of toys and materials for children. They will want to include a balance of
toys for different types of play, as suggested in the following list:
Gross-Motor Play
Large blocks
Transportation toys
Climbing equipment
Housekeeping equipment and props (child-size broom, dishware, table and chairs, etc.)
Types of Playground
Traditional Playground
Monkey bars can still be found in local parks, but newer versions of hanging
equipment are taking over the playground. Swinging bars instead of the fixed-in-place
styles are gaining popularity. The movement of the bar offers a challenge as the child
plans how to swing from one bar to the next. Other popular hanging bars or rings are
formed in various shapes and styles, offering complexity and skill-building potential for
all ages and ability levels.
Sandbox
The sandbox offers a child an opportunity to dig, design and build. Small,
portable, raised plastic sandboxes can be placed on porches and patios. Wooden
sandboxes can be built in the standard square or rectangular shapes, but they can also
be built in the shape of a pirate ship or car. Store-bought sandboxes are often made of
plastic, and can be shaped like turtles or dolphins. Trucks, cars, shovels, pails and
sifters offer plenty of sand play adventures.
Climbing Equipment
Climbing structures have evolved over the years from basic domes to structures
shaped like caterpillars, dinosaurs or geometric configurations. Climbing nets allow the
imagination to run wild when children pretend to be pirates or spies. Plastic rock walls
and ledges build strength and skills in analytical reasoning. These structures will
encourage children to have adventures while climbing in a safe environment.
Swings and Slides
Swings and slides are traditional staples of the playground. Safety swings allow
younger children to be fastened or lifted into place. Rope and tire swings are
increasingly popular and can attach to play structures or can hang freely from a tree.
Plastic slides don't hold heat like steel slides, and are available as add-ons to home
playground equipment or commercial equipment. Curved slides that twist and are
topped by tunnels are also popular.
Balance Equipment
Equipment that promotes balance will help a child improve his physical dexterity.
Stepping stones that increase and decrease in height will challenge a child's balance
and spatial awareness. Balance beams in various heights are another way for the child
to learn these skills. Dual ropes connected to two poles, one rope just off the ground
and the other rope strung about three feet higher, will allow the child to balance on the
lower rope, while holding the upper rope.
Adventure Playgrounds
Adventure Playgrounds is an outdoor area that has fixed and movable structures
(such as slides and rope ladders) on which children can climb and play and that often
also has equipment and loose materials for building projects and modifying preexisting
structures <In an , children are given hammers, nails and boards and under adult
supervision can construct anything they want.
The first planned adventure playground was erected at Emdrup near
Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1943. C. Th. Sorensen, an architect who had designed many
playgrounds, noticed that children enjoyed playing with scrap materials left on
construction sites rather than on established playgrounds (Frost & Klein, 1979). This
observation led to the creation of the first adventure playgrounds, sometimes called a
junk playground.
The Adventure Playground has three overlapping concepts:
Adventure Play - a mode of activity.
Adventure Environment - a type of physical setting.
Play Leadership - a form of relationship and an organizational role.
Community:
Community is important for children and for adults. Adventure playgrounds
provide an opportunity for children to meet one another and make their own
community through games, activities, and the development of friendships.
Safety Guidelines
Teaching Kids About Playground Safety
Safe playground equipment and adult supervision are extremely important, but it's only
half of the equation: Kids must know how to be safe and act responsibly at the
playground.
Teach your kids to:
Never push or roughhouse while on jungle gyms, slides, seesaws, swings, and
other equipment.
Use equipment properly slide feet first, don't climb outside guardrails, no
standing on swings, etc.
Always check to make sure no other kids are in the way if they're going to jump
off equipment, and land on both feet with their knees slightly bent.
Leave bikes, backpacks, and bags away from the equipment and the play area
so that no one trips over them.
Always wear a helmet while bike riding, but take it off while on playground
equipment.
Never use playground equipment that's wet because moisture makes the
surfaces slippery.
Wear clothes that do not have drawstrings or cords. Drawstrings, purses, and
necklaces could get caught on equipment and accidentally strangle a child.
Wear sunscreen when playing outside even on cloudy days to protect against
sunburn.
The way children play also reflects their cognitive or intellectual development.
There are 2 theorists that we rely on when talking about Cognitive stages of play,
Jean Piaget and the more contemporary Sara Smilansky.
Childs age
0-2 years
2yrs+
6+
Piagets Description
SENSORIMOTOR
PLAY.
The child uses their
motor skills to explore
objects in the
environment. Children
gain pleasure from
repetitive use of their
physical and sensory
skills.
Symbolic Play
The child uses one
object to represent
another. This means a
significant change in
thinking as children are
using an internal
representation or idea.
Games with rules.
Children are involved
in complex and
structured rule
governed games.
advanced, and less energy was used meeting these needs, we have had to
compensate by expending our excess energy in some other manner, namely, play.
Sigmund Freud, psychoanalyst, born in 1856. He suggested that play was a way of
expressing socially unacceptable behaviors. Play was therapeutic, allowing one to vent
undesirable feelings and actions in a more acceptable manner.
Maria Montessori, born in 1870, elaborated on this theory. She proposed that children
would be better off if they spent their play learning, or imagining, useful things. These
two theorists feel that "play is the child's work."
Lev Vygotsky, psychologist, also born in 1896. His play theory emphasizes social
development. He suggests that there is an ability level that children can reach but not
without help from adults, which he refers to as a zone of proximal development, or ZPD.
When children play, they give cues to adults about their readiness to learn new skills
with assistance.
Karl Groos, zoologist, born in 1861. He studied play first in animals, then in humans.
He explained that play was a way of preparing for survival in the adult world.
References:
http://www.ehow.com/about_5414530_types-playgroundequipment.html
http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com/earlychildhood/article_view.aspx?ArticleID=618
https://teachingedpsych.wikispaces.com/The+Role+of+the+Teacher+During+Children
%27s+Play