Introduction
A child’s early years are among the most informative and complex years of her life and are vital for healthy development in the future. In her book Your Child’s Growing Mind, Healy (2004) describes the brain as a “black box” (p. 20) which we are just beginning to open and explore. We now know that brain development is rapid during these years, and environmental factors and interpersonal experience in early life both play a large role in the trajectory of neuro- and psychological development (Healy, 2004). During this time, the child takes huge strides in her social, emotional, and cognitive development as she separates from her primary attachment figure and cultivates her sense of self and other. A child’s play allows her to explore the world around her and her place within it—it is the ultimate learning experience. In this essay, I will first consider the purpose of play in child development. Then I will examine one child’s play scenario from multiple perspectives using the theories of Jean Piaget, Erik Erikson, and Lev Vygotsky. Finally, I will discuss the relationship between caregivers and play, and the ideas of which caregivers should be aware to enhance their child’s play.
In her essay entitled “Play as a Growth Process,” Barbara Biber (1951) describes play as an activity in which children utilize their hands to gain knowledge about the world around them. Play serves two important purposes that I will address in a child’s life, although certainly it is not limited to these functions. One purpose is to allow children to learn about and better comprehend the world around them while finding their place within it. As a vehicle through which children can explore the world, symbolic play offers opportunities for children to consolidate their sense of self. Children of all ages, abilities, races, ethnicities, socioeconomic backgrounds, and family structures all engage in play. It is a vital component in the development of children’s symbolic capacity as children engage in social communication (Klein, Wirth, & Linas, 2003).
A second purpose is to allow children space to process complex events or conflicting emotions that language alone perhaps cannot resolve while further refining a sense of other (Biber, 1951). In younger children first beginning to develop language, the language that accompanies play allows them to further refine their sense of self (Piaget, 1950). In symbolic play, children use objects as symbols, much like they use words as symbols in language, to represent different aspects of their life. Symbolic play offers children an avenue for coping with emotions such as fear and anxiety. Children often use play and fantasy to recreate and work through their emotions and anxieties and achieve a sense of mastery over them, overcome fears, and feel in control of internal or external circumstances (Klein, Wirth, & Linas, 33). By playing out their fears, children can rework and begin to metabolize them. Such play involves an ability to imagine a world outside of our own, where children can roleplay or reenact events to master difficult or overwhelming emotions, such as fear. This sort of play allows children to cross-identify with people and realize that they can understand and be understood by others. Children may try on or experiment with different roles, such as caregiver, sibling, or another member of their life. Pretend play brings fantasy into the world of here and now. It allows children the opportunity to embrace the power of the grown-up through an act of the child: play[1].
The Leaving Game, or I’ll Play You and You Play Me, as described by First (1994) ultimately gives children permission to live a life of their own and feel confident in their ability to do so. The Leaving Game consists first of reversal of activity, where the child plays herself but takes on an activity typically performed by someone else. Next children may exhibit proto-drama, in which the child plays the role of a character similar but not identical to herself. The final stage of the Leaving Game is role reversal, in which the child plays the role of an ‘other’ and the caregiver plays the role of the child (First, 1994). Through such role reversal the child realizes she has a different set of needs, interests, and desires in mind than those around her. She can also overcome fears of abandonment, being forgotten or misunderstood, or not being cared for by her caregiver by adopting the role of the ‘other’ to make the ‘other’ act in a way that suits her own desires or simply in a way with which she finds comfort. One variation of the Leaving Game can be seen in one young boy’s symbolic play with his nanny.
Context
I observed Ben[2] while babysitting at his home overlooking the Hudson River in the West Village. At first glance, Ben appears large for a three-year old. He is the white, Jewish son of two upper class fathers and the much younger brother of a rising freshman at NYU. On the day I observed him, like most days, Ben wore his father’s black baseball cap—for him, a transition object—sliding sideways on his straight blonde hair. He is shy at first but quick to warm up to new people and settings. I know Ben from working with him at the Barnard Toddler Center for the 2018-2019 school year. During my observation, Ben played with Claire, the family’s nanny of 18 years.
Observation
Ben hunched his shoulders and held his armpits open, so his arms hung frozen a few inches in front of his body. His back curved forward and his face was parallel with the ground. He took giant steps forward, swaying right to left, down the hallway. When he got to the end of the hallway, he whipped around and waddled quickly back down the hallway in the other direction. As he waddled, he jumped from tip-toe to tip-toe and his head bounced from right to left with his body. At the end of the hallway, he began running with his arms now swinging by his sides into Matthew’s room. He collided with the bed and stuck his arms out to stop his motion. As he walked around to the far-side of the bed, carefully stepping one foot in front of the other, toe-heel, toe-heel, he glided his arms along the top of the bed. He pushed himself up onto the bed with his arms and collapsed on his stomach with his feet hanging out over the edge.
Claire sat next to him on the bed with a giant whiteboard and marker. Ben pulled his knees up into a child’s pose and used his arms to push himself back onto his bottom. He crossed his legs in front of his body and reclined against the pillows behind him. Claire began writing numbers in big block print on the white board and showing them to Ben. Ben said, “I’m doing homework![3] I know that one!” He picked the eraser up in his right hand and windshield-wiped his arm in big sweeping motions across the board to erase the number. He dropped the eraser and then fell back forcefully against the pillows behind him. “I’m taking a nap from the math[4],” he said, as he closed his eyes and shifted his weight onto his right side in a fetal position. His fingers curled gently into his palms, and he held his hands close to his nose. He stretched his right hand in front of him and pulled a pillow over his head. “I cannot see when I’m hiding!” he exclaimed loudly from beneath the pillow. “I like Matthew,” he said as he exhaled, tucking his pelvis in and bringing his knees closer to his chest.
Commentary
In this scenario, Ben is playing the role of his 18-year-old brother, Matthew, who comes home from school, does his math homework on his bed with Claire, and then takes a nap afterwards. In his play, he identifies with his brother. His imitations may also contain a wish to be more like his brother—strong and grown-up. Ben’s symbolic play offers him an opportunity to engage in an act of a grown-up, which, through his eyes, is math homework. His play was imaginative, self-directed, and complex in its exploration of different social roles, all characteristic of typical preschool play (Rubin, 2001). Likewise, his gross motor skills as he traversed the hallway and climbed onto the bed, and his fine motor skills as he erased the white board, were also typical of preschool-age developmental milestones (Rubin, 2001). Piaget would classify Ben as a child in the preoperational stage, in which young children represent reality through the use of symbols (Mooney, 2000). According to Erikson’s theories on psychosocial development, Ben is in the second stage of development in which he is acquiring a sense of autonomy and independence while learning to manage feelings of shame or doubt (Mooney, 2000). Vygotsky would add that Ben is in the zone of proximal development to learn to self-regulate his emotions and behavior. Vygotsky’s theories emphasize that “make-believe play […] has positive effects on the development of self-regulation skills in young children” (Mooney, 2000, n.p.). His caregivers should provide scaffolding to help Ben self-regulate. Caregivers such as Claire, his fathers, or his teachers could encourage direct and open conversations, ensure that Ben has time for self-guided play, and observe Ben’s play, behavior, and conversation to offer appropriate ideas to enrich his learning experiences.
Ben’s play suggests a secure attachment to his caregivers. Bowlby proposes a theory of attachment in which the infant forms a hierarchy of attachment figures, with her primary caregiver—from whom she receives nourishment—as the primary attachment figure (Mooney, 2009). These early attachment relationships “set the tone for all later love relationships” (Mooney, 2009, p. 18). Howes and Spieker (2008) claim that attachment relationships develop in different contexts at different stages of development. This idea corroborates with Bronfenbrenner’s (1994) Developmental Ecology Model, which suggests that development takes place contextually: in order to understand one’s development, we must account for every setting of one’s life, from the individual level to the cultural level. In a secure attachment, and with a strong sense of self and other, the caregiver guides the child’s symbolic play, laying a foundation for healthy development throughout her life. Throughout my observation, I noticed Ben’s secure base behavior around Claire, whom he has known since birth: Ben explored away from Claire when she was present but sought her out when he lost sight of her. His play also reveals his attachment to his much-older brother, Matthew. I observed Ben’s flexible temperament throughout his interactions with Claire, which complements Claire’s own flexible temperament and likely deepens this attachment relationship.
Reflection
Because the early years shape a child’s subsequent development, particularly as they influence a child’s emerging sense of self—her feelings of being valued and important—caregivers’ influence on and support for children can mediate the effects of an impoverished environment or circumstance, or a child’s special needs (The science of neglect, 2012). Caregivers should narrate children’s behavior both to let children know that caregivers see them and care about them, encouraging a strong sense of self in children, and to help children become aware of their surroundings, including their peers. This awareness can help children differentiate between ‘self’ and ‘other.’ Narration also increases children’s exposure to language, which may benefit their own ability to produce and comprehend language. Initially, caregivers might guide children’s play by asking non-leading questions or following children’s leads when directed to do so by children (Klein, Wirth, & Linas, 2003). Caregivers should provide spaces and materials for children to play, express their emotions, and master their experiences (Biber, 1951). Finally, caregivers should offer children language with which to understand their emotions. Children will internalize this language and give meaning to words which will ultimately help them as they begin to self-regulate their emotions.
Play experiences are important for all children, especially children with special needs. All children need responsive caregiving, appropriate play spaces and materials, ample time for self-guided play, interactions with other children, and opportunities for conversations and language-building with guidance from caregivers. It is important for caregivers “to view their job as working with families” (Mooney, 2009, p. 53), not just with children. Collaborating with families involves meeting families where they are, responding to their needs, and building trusting relationships with them. Caregivers might explain to families how play opportunities give children time to explore the world around them, make connections to what they already know, open them up to new ideas and interests, and offer them space to develop a passion for learning. A teacher or child life specialist’s perspectives on play have the power to grant children long-lasting love for discovery. It is vital that caregivers have the resources they need, including patience, devotion, and time, to offer children the play opportunities that will serve as their foundation for all future development.
Children’s worlds are complex, and their rapid growth and development can be difficult to interpret and tiring to guide. However, children’s worlds are also beautiful, and the intricacies between the different areas of child development are vital to the development of the self. Language, play, and emotion regulation in particular all depend on the development of a child’s symbolic capacity. In secure attachments, children can flourish in their cognitive, social, and emotional development. It is the role of the caregivers to ensure that children have the care, support, and guidance they need in order to thrive and encourage healthy development throughout their lives.
References
Biber, B. (2015). Play as a Growth Process (1951). The Bank Street Thinkers. Retrieved from http://educate.bankstreet.edu/thinkers/9
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1994). Ecological models of human development. Readings on the Development of Children, 2(1), 37-43.
First, E. (1994). The leaving game: The emergence of dramatic role play in 2 year olds. In A. Slade & D. P. Wolf (Eds.), Children at Play: Clinical and Developmental Approaches to Meaning and Representation, p. 111-132. NY: Oxford Univ. Press.
Five numbers to remember about early childhood development (n.d.). Center on the Developing Child. Harvard.
Healy, J. (2004). Your child’s growing mind. New York: Random House.
Howes, C. & Spieker, S. (2008). Attachment relationships in the context of multiple caregivers. J. Cassidy & P. Shaver (Eds.), (2008). Handbook of attachment: Theory, research and clinical applications. NY: Guildford Press.
Klein, T. P., Wirth, D., & Linas, K. (2003). Play: Children’s context for development. Young Children, 58(3), p. 28-34.
Mooney, C.G., (2000) An Introduction to Dewey, Montessori, Erikson, Piaget & Vygotsky. MN: Redleaf Press.
Mooney, C. G., (2009) Theories of attachment: An introduction to Bowlby, Ainsworth, Gerber, Brazelton, Kennell, and Klaus. MN: Redleaf Press.
Piaget, J. (1950), The growth of thought. In W. Kessen (Ed.), The Child, p. 274-282. New York: Wiley.
Rubin, K. (2001). The play observation scale. Retrieved from http://utsc.utoronto.ca/~marksch/psyc26/The%20Play%20Observation% 20Scale.pdf
The science of neglect: The persistent absence of responsive care disrupts the developing brain. (2012). Center on the Developing Child. Harvard.
Endnotes
[1] It could be argued that adult learning also occurs through play—insofar as trial and error and creativity serve as play activities—although this is a separate topic to be explored elsewhere.
[2] All names used here have been changed for confidentiality.
[3] Claire told me that Matthew uses this blackboard for his Calculus homework.
[4] Claire also told me that after Matthew does his Calculus, he always takes a nap.
Obi Taswell 