Is your child getting addicted to watching only Rhymes, cartoons, and YouTube during screen time?

Then it still might not be too late to make him stop watching it. Watching cartoons and poems all day only causes disturbance in your child’s development and growth like delayed speeches, zero socializing and creativity, communication gaps, etc. Instead of completely cutting your child off from the screen, you can switch his engagement somewhere productive where he can learn and grow. 

Have you ever thought that you can make your child learn new things and develop many skills through fun and games? Well yeah, that’s true! Children learn, explore, and experience many new things through games. And this is the reason why the importance of play in early childhood education can’t be overstated.

In this blog, we’ll discuss how valuable play is for a child’s development, and how you can make your child grow smarter and more efficient by utilizing the power of games.

Plus, there’s more! If you are looking for effective ways to make a child with special needs learn. Read more to know how WonderTree games help children with special needs learn and shine like a bright star!

Understanding the Importance of Play in Early Childhood Education: 

Whether it’s physical fitness or the mental well-being of a child, play is as important as other activities like sleeping and eating to raise a mentally and physically fit child. We might consider play as just a source of entertainment for them, but it’s not. It helps them grow into a smarter human being, with physical, mental, and emotional strength. Here are the skills that play develops in a child, highlighting the value of play in early childhood education.  

• Development of Cognitive Skills: 

Play helps in the development of cognitive skills like problem-solving, decision-making, and creativity in a child. Play allows children to observe their environment, explore and experience new things, and learn new ideas. This exploration and experience enhance their focus and concentration and help them learn in a fun and interactive way, showing the importance of play in early childhood education.

• Social and Emotional Growth:

   

Another important benefit of play in a child’s development is how it helps in social and emotional growth. Through play, children learn to interact, communicate, and socialize with others. Play also teaches children to develop different concepts like winning, losing, and teamwork, allowing them to learn valuable life skills.  This social growth and interaction is important for a child to learn empathy and emotional sensitivity and boosts self-confidence which benefits them in the long run.

• Enhanced Motor Skills and Physical Strength:

   

When it comes to the development of motor skills and physical strength, the importance of play in early childhood education can’t be ignored. Through play, children get to explore their physical fitness and capabilities, and more controlled movements that enhance their motor skills( including both; gross and fine motor skills) and physical strength. Good motor skills and physical strength help them throughout their life.

These are the skills that develop in a child through play, highlighting the value of play in early childhood education. Not only play keep a child engaged in a fun and interactive activity, but helps them learn and grow in a fun and open environment.

Importance of Play Published by The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP):

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), published a report earlier, focusing particularly on the value of play in early childhood education. The report stated that for a child, whether an infant or a toddler, play is important to make them learn and interact with the environment. Play is more than just a game or activity for kids, but is an important aspect of a child’s development.

Here are the benefits of play in a child’s development that the report stated:

• Cognitive Growth:

Play allows children to think criticially, solve problems by themselves, and reflect creativity, developing a child’s cognitive abilities.

• Physical Health: 

Children tend to stay more physically active and fit through play as it develops their motor skills, movements, and coordination, promoting physical well-being.

• Social and Emotional Skills: 

As children interact with other children through play, it teaches them to share, communicate, cooperate, and teamwork, while also helping them to express their feelings and understand emotions. 

• Mental Health: 

Play is a natural way to cheer up children’s moods, reduce stress, enhancing their overall mental health. 

So these are the benefits that show the importance of play in early childhood stated by the AAP. According to the report, play is not only important for fun purposes but also plays a major role in learning and skill development. 

Importance of Play for Children with Special Needs:

Children with special needs often need effective learning strategies or engaging ways that will help them learn better and faster. And for that, the importance of play in early childhood education can’t be ignored. Here is how games and play help boost the learning abilities of children with special needs: 

• Development of Skills: Play helps to develop various skills in children with special needs like building motor and cognitive skills, social interactions, and promoting physical and mental well-being.
• Enhanced Emotional Regulation: Children with special needs tend to express their feelings and emotions more through play as it helps them reduce stress, and enjoy, enhancing emotional regulation.
•  Builds Self-Confidence and Independence: Interactive games and play allow children with special needs to learn various cognitive skills like critical thinking, decision-making, and problem thinking, that add to their overall confidence and personality, making them more independent and self-confident.

Psychologists’ Theories on How Play Encourages Learning:

What is the importance of play in early childhood education?

Play is not just a source of entertainment for children, but a creative and effective way to make the kids learn difficult skills most naturally. Over the years, several psychologists have presented their theories, stating the value of play in early childhood education and how it helps with special, cognitive, and emotional learning. 

Here are the theories from different psychologists on how play encourages learning:

1. Jean Piaget’s Theory about Cognitive Development: 

Jean Piaget, a Swiss psychologist, in his theory about Cognitive Development, suggested that there 4 stages of a child’s learning. Those 4 stages are the Sensorimotor stage ( Birth to 2 years), the Preoperational stage ( 2 to 7 years), the Concrete operational stage ( 7 to 11 years), and the Formal Operational Stage ( Ages 12 and up).
Piaget claimed in his theory that play is the key for children to explore the world around them, experience different things, and learn new concepts, that help build the cognitive skills in them and encourages learning. 

2. Lev Vygotsky’s Theory about Social Learning:

Lev Vygotsky, a Russian psychologist, stated that a child’s social interaction influences the development of cognitive skills and learning abilities. He believed that children tend to learn language, problem-solving, cooperation, and sharing effectively and faster through social interaction with others. This social interaction through play helps build various skills and qualities in a child, highlighting the importance of play in early childhood education. 

3. Jerome Bruner’s theory about Discovery Learning:

Jerome Seymour Bruner, an American psychologist, in theory about discovery learning, stated that development is not a discrete process, but a continuous process.
He further claimed that play influences discovery learning in a child, where a child gets involved with his surroundings, explores and experiences new stuff, and makes sense of the world. Play allows them to be curious and creative, which further leads to various development of skills in a child. 

4. Sigmond Freud’s theory about Emotional Expressions: 

Sigmond Freud, a famous neurologist, and father of psychoanalysis, proposed in his theory that play is a natural way and source of entertainment for a child to express and manage their emotions and feelings. Play allows them to forget their stress and anxieties, and makes them learn in a safe and creative environment with improved mental and physical health. This shows the value of play in early childhood education for children, helping to make them learn and grow effectively. 

These are some of the major theories by famous psychologists that reflect the importance of play in a child’s development process, and how play encourages learning even in children with special needs. 

How WonderTree Games Help Children with Special Needs:

Making children with special needs learn and grow smartly is not as difficult as we think as it demands only the right, effective, and creative strategies to make them learn things faster.
Through games and play, children with special needs tend to learn more effectively and better than any other way. Engaging them in Interactive online games is a great way to develop different skills in them, and learn as effectively as any other kid.

WonderTree aims to make children with special needs smarter and more confident and is dedicated to making the learning process enjoyable for them. Our innovative games, designed specifically for children with special needs, are not only a source of enjoyment and fun but also encourage learning and skill development in several ways which contributes to the overall development of children with special needs.  

Here are the skills and abilities that WonderTree is developing in children with special needs through our games, with plans to expand and develop many more skill sets in the future.

• Cognitive skills
• Motor skills
• Hand-eye coordination
• Focus and attention
• Response time 
• Decision making 
• Visualization
• Object recognition
• Posture control
• Reflexes

These are the areas that get improved in children with special needs through our innovative and interactive online games. We want to make every child thrive and shine like a star! 

Try WonderTree Games For Free Now! 

Frequently Asked Questions:

What is the importance of role-play in early childhood development?

Role-play is quite important in early childhood as it helps develop skills like language skills, social understanding, and creativity. Children get to explore different perspectives through role-play, learn and practice problem-solving skills, and develop empathy that highlights the importance of role-play in early childhood development. 

What is the importance of play in early childhood education?

The importance of play in early childhood education is unignorable, as it helps develop cognitive and social skills in a child, and enhances emotional growth. Through play, children get to explore, learn, and experiment with many new things that contribute to their overall development.

What are the benefits of play-based learning in early childhood?

Play-based learning in early childhood has several benefits including the cognitive and problem-solving skills development, and enhanced creativity. Play-based learning also promotes social and emotional growth in children which helps them in their well-rounded development. 

What are the benefits of play-based learning in early childhood for children with special needs?

The value of play in early childhood education is quite crucial, especially for children with special needs as it provides a customized approach to fit their unique learning and developmental needs. Play-based learning helps improve many skills like motor and communication skills etc in children with special needs, helping them learn and grow smartly.