Kids Just Want

to Have Fun:
The Benefits of Play
in the Classroom

Heather White, Cameron Brillhart, and Patricia Mounzer

 Goal
Our presentation goal is for
you to leave here knowing
there are many various
opportunities for play to be
incorporated into your
classroom activities which
will be very beneficial for
your students.
“Play is the highest form of
research.”

—Albert Einstein
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 Table of Contents
Play
1 The meaning of play and
the benefits of play in the
classroom
Different types of
3 play
Explanation of each type of
play and how they are each
used in the classroom
Theories of play
2
Here you could describe
the topic of the section
How play supports student
4 development in pre-k, first
grade and fourth grade
Here you could describe the topic
of the section
 1

Play
What play is and what the
benefits are.
 What is Play?

1. Play is voluntary and intrinsically motivated.

2. Play is symbolic, meaningful, and transformational.

3. Play is active.

4. Play is rule-bound.

5. Play is pleasurable.
 Benefits of Play

- Enables children to make sense of their world

- Provides opportunities for decision-making, problem
solving, self-regulation, and the ability to follow rules
- Develop social and cultural understanding
- Allows children to express their thoughts and feelings
- Fosters flexible and divergent thinking
- Develops language and literacy skills and concepts
- Promotes motor skills through physical exercise
 Developmental Benefits
1 2
Emotional
- Allows children to express their
thoughts and feelings
- Enables children to make sense of their
world
- Builds self confidence
Such as:
- Creates an imaginary character, plot,
or setting to match their feelings
- Compensating for situations by adding
forbidden acts to pretend play
- Controlling emotions by repeatedly
reenacting unpleasant or frightening
experiences.
Social
- Develops language and literacy skills
and concepts
Such as:
- Practicing both verbal and non verbal
communication skills
- Responding to their peers’ feelings
while waiting for their turn and sharing
materials
- Experimenting with roles of the people
in their home, school, and community
- Experiencing others points of views by
working through conflicts about space,
materials, rules or responsibilities
positively
 Developmental Benefits
3 4
Physical
- Contributes to children's health
and well being
- Fine motor: learning to use writing
tools, such as a marker.
- Gross motor: such as hopping,
skipping that eventually increase
to games such as hopscotch.
Cognitive
- Stimulates brain activity
that contributes to
children's learning and
readiness to learn.
- Math: blocks
- Science: sand/water table
and other experiments
- ELA: readers theater
- Social Studies: skits
 2

Theories of Play
Breakdown of different
theories of play and how they
are applied in the classroom.
 Classical Theories
Surplus-energy theory(Schiller and Spencer):
● Suggests that humans use some energy for survival, and the energy not used for
survival is spent on play.
● When children have limited opportunities to move around, they seem to have bursts of
energy that relieve stress and tension

Practice theory(Groos):
● Suggests that play prepares children for the future roles and responsibilities needed
to survive in their culture.
● For ex: board games help elementary school aged children practice essential life skills
as strategic thinking, reasoning and self-regulation.

Recapitulation theory (Hall):

● Focuses on instincts and says that play allows children to revisit developmental stages
observed in their ancestors and shave any negative behaviors.
 Modern Theory
Psychoanalytic theory:

● this theory helps students “master unpleasant experiences” (Jalongo and Isenberg 48).
● This type of play encourages an emotional release for children.
● It helps build their esteem and a sense of agency.
● It gives children a way to gain control of otherwise overwhelming situations in a safe environment.
● It is beneficial for adults because it helps give insight into how the children are thinking and feeling about certain events.

Cognitive-developmental theory:

● This theory delves into the idea that play is a mirror of child’s mental development.
● Children begin creating ideas and knowledge about the world around them through the way they interact with the individuals and
materials in the environment around them.
● They use things they know to learn things they are unfamiliar.
● Play allows children to do this in a stress free environment when they may not even recognize they are doing it.
● This can be achieved through symbolic play, functional play, and games with rules.

Sociocultural theory:

● He believes that children, when playing, will most often perform at or above their normal abilities.
● This could be because of the lack of pressure within a play environment versus that of a normal academic setting, or that children first
begin compiling knowledge in a social setting.
● In the latter, play acts as a sort of scaffold for children to “think through and solve problems in new ways” (Jalongo and Isenberg 47).
 3

Types of Play
Breakdown of the three
different types of play and
how they can be applied in
the classroom.
 1. Functional play

- Exercise play
- Repeats movements when learning new skills with or without objects.
- Helps students learn new skills or gain mastery of a physical or
mental skill.
- Helps children develop coordinated motor skills and begin to feel
empowered with their bodies
- Examples:
● Repeating a pattern on a pegboard
● Incessantly repeats “i'm the king of the castle”
● Practicing bicycling skills at every available minute
● Variations on jump rope movements
Video
 2. Symbolic play

● This type of play involves using imagination and role-play to satisfy needs.
● This type of play can also be called pretend play, dramatic play, sociodramatic play, or
make-believe play.
● When engaging in symbolic play, it involves props, plot, and roles.
● It is used to plan actions, assume roles, and transform objects or actions. Generally used to
express feelings.
● Symbolic play extends through the ages. It looks different at different ages; younger children
will use one prop and transform it into another or act as if they are someone they are familiar
with. Older children’s symbolic play is more age-appropriate- they are more likely to be
playing games that involve secret codes and riddles. This is because at this age, children
want to participate in things they cannot do in real life.
Video
 3. Constructive Play

● Constructive Play is a pivotal part of an early learning environment.

● An organized form of play that is goal oriented in many ways and thoughtful
● Involves open-ended materials and allows children to think about the functions of the
materials they are using.
● Allows children to learn about the attributes of different materials, engage their curiosity
and imagination, as well as experiment with applying concepts and seeking out new ways
to use the materials.
● When children are actively involved in this way, they recall the information they have
gathered better than when they are given the information.
Video
 4. Games with rules

- Engages in activities with predetermined rules that are

often competitive with one or more individuals.
- Guides acceptable play behavior such as turn-taking
- Enhances children's physical coordination, refines
their social and language skills, build concepts, and
increases understanding of cooperation and
competition
- Examples:
● Preschoolers and kindergartners playing
pat-a-cake with an adult
● School-age children playing board games, card
games, outdoor games, and computer games.
Video
 Discussion targeted amongst grade levels

Pre-Kindergarten First grade Fourth Grade

Heather Cami Patricia

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 4

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