ultures
Children’s role play in pretend and make-believe situations is often referred to as a socio-dramatic play (Bragg, Kehily 61). It is a reflection of the social values and the cultural environment they live in. Although it varies in different cultures, and changes over time as society develops, it is a universal children’s culture through which children make sense of the adult world and develop their social identities. How children play is directly affected by how play is valued socially and culturally (Bragg, Kehily, 61). In the following I am going to explore how children play in different cultures which reflect the values of the adult world they live in. However, I would like to discuss why children’s play is unavoidably influenced …show more content…
The children are in frequent contact with adults and their activities. Their play, often imitative of adult subsistence activities, can be interpreted as training for adult life and as a substitute for formal education For example, Baka hunter-gatherer children, living in the African tropical forest, predominantly play at hunting, collecting, house, and music and dance. Boys make guns from the stem of a papaya, attack animals with stones, shoot plants and inanimate objects with bows and arrows, mimic the forest spirits with songs, and play a flute made of a papaya stem. Girls play with dolls, play “aita” (a guitar with seven strings), play with a miniature bunch of bananas, etc. (Smith 90). Children also imitate the festivities of the community in play. !Ko children (Smith 90) and !Kung children Smith 90) have been observed playing trance dance. Mehináku Indian children represent the daily scenes of the community with a profusion of details, such as marriages, betrayals, gift-exchanging between tribes, and the healing of the sick (Smith …show more content…
Children at play reproduce and also recreate the specificities of their cultural environment.” (Cronin, Jones) It is obvious that children 's play reflects the culture in which they live since playing is often an imitation of the adult world. However, what are the ways children learn to imitate their adults? David Lancy has studied children 's play in Liberia and found that children learn the behavior patterns of adults in four ways: by watching the adults work, by imitating the activities of adults in their play, by helping the adults, and by direct instruction. What is interesting in her studies is that children imitate what they have no access to do for real in particular! For example, in the imitating play, children learn the motor and cognitive aspects of those activities to which they have no access in reality. Interestingly, observations in cultures where from an early age children are set to do housework, show that these children do not imitate housework in their play. There is no reason to play what you can do for real
Children’s role play in pretend and make-believe situations is often referred to as a socio-dramatic play (Bragg, Kehily 61). It is a reflection of the social values and the cultural environment they live in. Although it varies in different cultures, and changes over time as society develops, it is a universal children’s culture through which children make sense of the adult world and develop their social identities. How children play is directly affected by how play is valued socially and culturally (Bragg, Kehily, 61). In the following I am going to explore how children play in different cultures which reflect the values of the adult world they live in. However, I would like to discuss why children’s play is unavoidably influenced …show more content…
The children are in frequent contact with adults and their activities. Their play, often imitative of adult subsistence activities, can be interpreted as training for adult life and as a substitute for formal education For example, Baka hunter-gatherer children, living in the African tropical forest, predominantly play at hunting, collecting, house, and music and dance. Boys make guns from the stem of a papaya, attack animals with stones, shoot plants and inanimate objects with bows and arrows, mimic the forest spirits with songs, and play a flute made of a papaya stem. Girls play with dolls, play “aita” (a guitar with seven strings), play with a miniature bunch of bananas, etc. (Smith 90). Children also imitate the festivities of the community in play. !Ko children (Smith 90) and !Kung children Smith 90) have been observed playing trance dance. Mehináku Indian children represent the daily scenes of the community with a profusion of details, such as marriages, betrayals, gift-exchanging between tribes, and the healing of the sick (Smith …show more content…
Children at play reproduce and also recreate the specificities of their cultural environment.” (Cronin, Jones) It is obvious that children 's play reflects the culture in which they live since playing is often an imitation of the adult world. However, what are the ways children learn to imitate their adults? David Lancy has studied children 's play in Liberia and found that children learn the behavior patterns of adults in four ways: by watching the adults work, by imitating the activities of adults in their play, by helping the adults, and by direct instruction. What is interesting in her studies is that children imitate what they have no access to do for real in particular! For example, in the imitating play, children learn the motor and cognitive aspects of those activities to which they have no access in reality. Interestingly, observations in cultures where from an early age children are set to do housework, show that these children do not imitate housework in their play. There is no reason to play what you can do for real