The Best Experience - Facilitated Play in Preschool

How the Brain Responds to Facilitated Play

Many neuroscientists believe that in the first years of a child’s life, tens of thousands of synaptic connections are made each second in the brain, opening the door for increased learning capacity. This creates a window of opportunity for learning, especially for children to under- stand language at a higher level.

There is no technology yet to verify these ideas. But our work with autistic children has shown us that intensive early intervention that is specifically conducted during facilitated free play can result in considerable changes in behavior, which signify, and in our minds quantify, brain growth and enhanced development. For example, as we watch our patients during play therapy, we can see positive changes take place in their abilities. Not every child is a complete success story, but most of our patients don’t regress to their former behavior patterns; they move forward and change to become more in the mainstream.

Neuroscience backs up our findings. When we engage in social interactions, we know that specific patterns of activity are taking place in our brains that do not occur when we are alone. Brain activity gets imprinted over time, much as we experience muscle memory in our arms and legs. And like all other muscles in the body, the brain has a use-it-or-lose-it capacity. If we don’t activate the brain in every possible way, it won’t reach its full potential.

Furthermore, although it is believed that these brain changes may occur throughout life, research has suggested that brain changes are more likely and more easily obtained in the very young brain, which is considered to be more plastic than the older, adult brain, which is often referred to as “hard wired.” The effects of intensive early intervention and therapies support this contention.

Animal studies have begun to provide evidence for changes that occur in the brain as the result of intervention. For example, rodents provided with a physically stimulating environment will develop many more dendrites (nerve fibers), protoplasmic extensions (a colorless material comprising the living part of a cell including the nucleus) of their nerve cells, than other rodents that have been allowed to be more sedentary. Thus, at least physical intervention in the animal appears to improve the development and structure of nerve cells and their connections to each other. It seems likely that other types of interventions may play a similar role with similar outcomes, although we have little research so far to securely support this hypothesis.

These behavioral and developmental changes may reflect positive advances in the neurobiology of the human brain, but we really don’t know yet exactly how this relates to connectivity, neurochemical changes, more neurons, fewer neurons, or what else. But there’s another new scientific area of research, theory, and application.

Current research in face processing, which is the ability to under- stand and interpret the faces of those around us, has been a topic of considerable interest for neuroscientists. Much of the research has implicated the fusiform gyrus of the brain and its connections with the amygdala, a brain structure believed to be important for decoding emotion and behavior. Data from studies in young children have supported the role of experience in brain specialization, with the parts of the brain known to be involved in face processing beginning to come on line during the first year of life.5 Visual exposure and social environment are both believed to play a critical role, and that experience is crucial for the development of many perceptual and cognitive functions, and probably emotional and social interaction as well, has been documented. This research will begin to open up avenues for further study of social relatedness and how these skills develop in young children.

Until then, we can say only that it is clear that change can happen during this unique window of opportunity during the preschool years, and it seems that the most advanced children are taking advantage of this unique place in time.

How to Facilitate Free Play

All play doesn’t happen naturally. Children need to learn to engage in play that is productive and a happy event for everyone involved. This means that children benefit when an adult, whether a teacher or a parent, assists during play interactions. Sue Brendekamp, director of research at the Council on Professional Recognition in Washington, D.C., reports that if a teacher is frequently involved in “free play” as a coplayer in supporting children’s play by guiding, modeling, demonstrating, and elaborating on language in one-to-one conversations, children will not get stuck in immature, repetitive play. This is crucial for developing vocabulary, language skills, and interactions with other children. Children who are engaged in sociodramatic free play are better able to see the perspective of others. Research has found consistent links between free play during preschool and long-term language growth in the classrooms. Preschoolers with these skills will be better prepared for school and achieve greater academic success in the elementary school years with a higher vocabulary and more social competence.David Dickinson, chair and professor, Department of Teaching and Learning, Vanderbilt University’s Peabody’s College, found “consistent links between kindergarten measures and the total number of words and variety of words that children used during free play when they were in preschool as four year olds. The most effective teachers were those who were selective in choice of words, using relatively sophisticated words, and were reciprocal in conversation.”

Adults can take on many roles during facilitated play: observer, stage manager, or coplayer. Brendekamp believes that the observer determines when to intervene, the stage manager provides play themes and organizes the sequence of play, and the coplayer involves himself or herself in the play, scaffolds language, and helps the children extend the play.

At the same time, the adult has to be careful not to take over the child’s play or the child may resist. Parents and teachers need to be discrete, becoming one of the peers, and join their children in play so the instruction is subtle. You will be suggesting language or themes, helping them make the connections themselves. Then as the children begin to connect, you’ll need to fade back and let them learn from each other.

Try to incorporate facilitated play during each day. In this way, your child will achieve a higher set of complex language skills, along with the ability to understand abstract concepts and organize their thoughts into a logical sequence. Each of these goals will contribute to later academic achievement, as well as emotional adjustment, inde- pendence, and self-confidence.