Imaginative and creative play are often undervalued but the positive impact they have on the cognitive development of children has been well documented.
The relationship between imagination and creativity in play has been studied in depth, probably most notably by Lev Vygotsky. In 1990, he theorised that the imagination serves as the crucial aspect of all human creative activity and that imagination is a function that is essential to life. He denotes that this creative behaviour “makes the human being a creature-oriented toward the future, creating the future and thus altering his own present”(Vygotsky, 1990).
Imagination and creativity in play have been linked in many studies over time, for example in 1999 Russ et al. set out to investigate …show more content…
Lev Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory is very influential in that he states that role play and socio-dramatic play is essential to early years education. He believes that children, whilst in a make believe scenario follow set rules they create, learn to control their impulses and recognise the expected way to behave within their environment. Piaget, who was the first psychologist to perform a systematic study of cognitive development, gave us the concept of schemas, which helps to assist in learning through scaffolding (Bruner, …show more content…
She created six types of social play participation in young children: unoccupied behaviour, solitary independent play, onlooker behaviour, parallel play, associative play and co-operative play. These categories are still being used by teachers today. Parten discovered that, as children developed they would play more socially, with older preschool children being involved with co-operative play more often. Many studies have shown that play is an essential part of a child’s cognitive development and in addition to this, has a positive impact on their language, social, emotional and physical development (Ginsburg, 2007; Fromberg, 2002; Roskos & Christie, 2000; Zigler, Singer, & Bishop-Josef, 2004). One limitation to the rise of importance of the role of play in childhood learning is in the definition of play itself (Moyles,1989). Moyles notes the way in which play can be seen as a trivial act by the lack of a precise and conclusive definition. In spite of this, play continues to be an area of great importance to learning and behaviour theorists and
The relationship between imagination and creativity in play has been studied in depth, probably most notably by Lev Vygotsky. In 1990, he theorised that the imagination serves as the crucial aspect of all human creative activity and that imagination is a function that is essential to life. He denotes that this creative behaviour “makes the human being a creature-oriented toward the future, creating the future and thus altering his own present”(Vygotsky, 1990).
Imagination and creativity in play have been linked in many studies over time, for example in 1999 Russ et al. set out to investigate …show more content…
Lev Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory is very influential in that he states that role play and socio-dramatic play is essential to early years education. He believes that children, whilst in a make believe scenario follow set rules they create, learn to control their impulses and recognise the expected way to behave within their environment. Piaget, who was the first psychologist to perform a systematic study of cognitive development, gave us the concept of schemas, which helps to assist in learning through scaffolding (Bruner, …show more content…
She created six types of social play participation in young children: unoccupied behaviour, solitary independent play, onlooker behaviour, parallel play, associative play and co-operative play. These categories are still being used by teachers today. Parten discovered that, as children developed they would play more socially, with older preschool children being involved with co-operative play more often. Many studies have shown that play is an essential part of a child’s cognitive development and in addition to this, has a positive impact on their language, social, emotional and physical development (Ginsburg, 2007; Fromberg, 2002; Roskos & Christie, 2000; Zigler, Singer, & Bishop-Josef, 2004). One limitation to the rise of importance of the role of play in childhood learning is in the definition of play itself (Moyles,1989). Moyles notes the way in which play can be seen as a trivial act by the lack of a precise and conclusive definition. In spite of this, play continues to be an area of great importance to learning and behaviour theorists and