The Importance of Play in Child Development

Play is any activity indulged in for the pleasure it gives and not for some end result. The person plays for play’s own sake. Play differs from work, which a person engages in because he wants the end result which it can achieve.

Play is so great a part of child life that people often overlook its important role in child development. Play is important in several ways:

• Physically, play helps develop a child’s growing muscles. It also lets out nervous energy which if not expressed makes children tense and irritable.

• Socially, play leads children to behave in a social manner. Without it, the child becomes selfish and domineering. From his play with others, he learns to share, to co-operate, and to make friends.

• Educationally, play teaches young children to perceive shapes, colours, sizes, and textures.

The play of little children passes from simple motor activities with toys to socialized play with other little children, and then to dramatic and constructive play. The fifteen-month-old child, for instance, likes to put objects into receptacles. The two-year-old likes to play beside but not with another child. The three-year-old will play with few other children in co-operative projects like building bridges and buildings out of blocks. The four-year-old prefers playing with other children in complex dramatic play. The five-year-old will work on projects that last more than a day, and likes to go on excursions with his friends.

Source: Sperling, A. P. & Martin, K. (ed), Psychology Made Simple (London: W. H. Allen).