I have been in the wonderful world of Early
Childhood Education for 10 years now and although advances in research and
technology have come to change our understanding of childhood development, one
thing has not changed: Play.

By nature, humans are born to play. Playing
is instinctive and fundamental to our existence. Research indicates that
children learn best in an environment that allows them to explore, discover and
play. Play is crucial to the development of cognitive, socio-emotional and
physical behaviours and development.

For Early Childhood Educators, there are
two leading schools of thought where play is concerned, that of Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky. 

Piaget defined play as assimilation, or the
child’s effort to make environmental stimuli match his/her own concepts.  His theory is this: Play is just for the
purpose of pleasure, and while it allows children the opportunity to practice
what they have previously learned, it does not necessarily result in the
learning of new things.

Vygotsky on the other hand, suggests that
play actually facilitates cognitive development. In other words, children not
only practice what they already know, they also learn new things in the
process.

For example:

A child rocks his/her baby doll back and
forth singing a lullaby. This is perhaps something he/she has learned by
watching mum with a younger sibling and therefore, supports Piaget’s theory.

Or, a child is painting a picture and mixes
the blue and yellow paint together. All of a sudden he has discovered that yellow and blue make green, supporting Vygotsky’s theory.

The next time your children are at play,
watch them. Pay close attention. What do you think?