By Judy Rolke, Associate Director, School Literacy and Culture
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Children rise above their average behavior in play, says Vivian Paley. She, Vygotsky, and so many others believe that play is one of the richest and most natural ways for children to learn. Play encourages children to develop their oral language and listening skills, to take risks with something new, to practice problem solving skills, and to develop a sense of community, of friendship. In a well planned and supervised environment children can take the active roles of readers and writers, beginning their growth toward a fully literate adulthood.
Considering all these benefits, it’s important to study play carefully. As defined by Davidson, “Pretend play and dramatic play involve the use of props, actions and/or language to represent realistic or imaginary experiences.” It’s as simple as a two year old picking up her mother’s purse and saying, “I’m going shopping.” Or it can be as complex as a group of five year olds, as a part of a continuing story, swinging imaginary swords to keep a snarling dragon in a jungle gym dungeon. It’s the great opportunity to say, what if. What if you be the fireman, or what if I’m the teacher, or what if you come to my restaurant and I write down what you want to eat or…..
“Which comments of ours supported the play and extended the conversation? Which of our interventions dampened the spirit and spoiled the drama? What could we learn about fantasy play that had been unknown to us before?” These are the questions Vivian Paley, the McArthur Genius award recipient, asks herself. When we, teachers, ask ourselves these questions and the additional ones that develop as we study play, we can develop the art of our teaching. When teachers share with each other their questions, their inquiry into play, that community of teachers and their school become more effective for children.
To begin the discussion of play let’s start with the book Tools of the Mind. In this book Bedrova and Leong have studied play and come up with a list of 8 ways to enrich play. They are: 1) provide uninterrupted time for play, 2) help children plan play, 3) monitor play activity, 4) provide props and toys, 5) provide broad themes, 6) coach children who need help, 7) model thematic play behavior, and 8) model problem solving. In implementing and reflecting on Bedrova and Leong’s points, it’s obvious that one leads into another and that they are interconnected.
Begin thinking about (1) uninterrupted time for play and it leads you to other points. The ability to play in a sustained manner over a block of time makes sense to children and permits them to be open to new and more complex ideas. It gives the teacher time to listen, to watch, to talk with the children, and to be curious about their make-believe stories. A listening teacher then can ask the children questions that can extend their play.
For example, a teacher might ask a child pretending to be a horse, “Are you a wild horse or a tame horse.” As the child plays out his answer, his understanding of the vocabulary will be enriched. A watching teacher might observe that one child is always silent. That would lead to the question, why. Depending on the answer, that child might simply need some (6) coaching. The teacher might role play with that child how to ask, “Can I play?” (Many children can profit from a little coaching.) As a curious teacher learns about fantasy play, her understanding of the thinking of children grows.
Again according to Bodrova and Leong, (2) helping children plan their play can enrich their play. For example, if a teacher sets up a garden shop in the dramatic play center, she may go into the center with groups of children and role play the appropriate jobs. She could ask a child to call and ask for flowers to be delivered. The teacher would (7) model the phone conversation, the writing down of the order, the giving it to the gardener to cut the flowers, etc. The teacher is showing the children how to give their garden play some structure.
It’s important for the teacher to continue to (3) monitor the play activity. Children, as all of us, get stuck now and then and need a little help and encouragement. A teacher should be ready to model and/or role play problem solving. Initially the teacher would model the problem solving, but over time she would hand off more and more of the words and actions in (8) problem solving to the children as they develop this vital skill.
For example if children were having difficulty sharing a center prop, a fireman’s hat for example, the teacher could show the children how to make a job list for the station house. The children could write their names (or for younger ones place name cards) in sequence. Later she might simply have to make a suggestion about a list and the children would construct one for themselves. Additionally with a suggestion or two, the teacher may be able to encourage more sophisticated play.
A teacher can bring to the classroom all sorts of (4) props and toys to promote play. Allowing student input and spending a couple of days planning a theme can help the children feel ownership of the theme activities. Enjoy deviations and unexpected uses of equipment as creative suggestions come up from children or teachers or parents. Possible themes could be ice cream shop, hair salon, emergency room, farm, market, dinosaur dig, camping, igloo, African village, office, rodeo, flower shop, garden, space station, rainforest, fantasy castle, or Chinese New Year.
Being more specific if the theme is a construction zone there could be cardboard façade of a house front, paper bricks/shingles with glue sticks, “Do not enter” signs plus blank signs, hard hats, Styrofoam ‘boards’ with golf tees and toy hammer, levels, toy saws, measuring tapes, safety goggles, graph paper clipboard, stencils, stencils, pencils, Home Depot ads, etc. Brainstorm ideas with the children, other teachers and parents.
When considering the use of props Pellegrini found that less skilled players needed more concrete props for successful play. For example, for play on a beauty shop theme a teacher might bring in a hair dryer, used shampoo bottles, curlers, combs, magazines, plastic scissors (with the cutting edge removed) etc.
The props give vocabulary and structure to the play. This is particularly important for second language learners. Communication is easier for them when there’s a context for the words they are learning. As children develop in the knowledge of play they can use objects more symbolically, such as using a cylinder block as a pretend hair dryer.
Besides props, teachers can provide (5) broad themes for the children’s’ play, such as change (good for spring), power, night time, etc. These broad themes are more all encompassing and longer lasting than the center themes such as the garden shop mentioned earlier. They give a larger context for the play and help children make connections between varieties of activities.
Ideas for themes, whether center or broad, can come from the children, from a teacher interest, from brainstorming with colleagues, or from books and curricular materials. A good source of ideas for play themes can be found in the book MAKING MAKE-BELIEVE Fun Props, Costumes and Creative Play Ideas by Maryann F. Kohl. Wherever a teacher finds her ideas, it’s important to listen to the children’s play so she can adapt the materials and activities to the lives of the children. That helps children connect words and phrases from their worlds to new ideas.
When a teacher takes the care to provide time and structure for children’s play, the children will become actively and joyfully involved in their learning. The teacher will both find a smile on her face and also find new questions in her mind. The art of teaching will be enhanced.
Judy Rolke is a teacher who works with teachers on understanding children’s stories and early literacy development. She is the Literacy Co-Director of the School Literacy and Culture Project at the Center for Education at Rice University.
Rolke, Judy. (August 2005). Play, the profession of children. HAAEYC Advocate, 26(1), 12-13.
