A child’s play is equivalent to an adult’s work. As adults, we need to encourage children’s curiosity and wonder. Play is an important part of this process. Even such great thinkers as Albert Schweitzer and Ralph Waldo Emerson espoused the value of play in their writing.
I know of no other manner of dealing with great tasks, than as play.—Albert Schweitzer
It is a happy talent to know how to play.—Ralph Waldo Emerson
As children develop, their play becomes more organized and predetermined. They plan ahead and make goals about what they want to accomplish through their play. Early experiences with blocks, for example, tend to be a general manipulation of the blocks into piles or towers. In this exploration, children are noticing the characteristics of the shapes and which ones stack and which ones roll. Later experiences with blocks are preplanned with specific goals such as building a bridge, road, or a whole community. In these types of experiences that include geometric exploration and construction, the NCTM explains, “Students should use their notions of geometric ideas to become more proficient in describing, representing, and navigating their environment” (2004, p. 97). Social contexts are interwoven in children’s play as they relive and take on many different roles from their own life experiences.
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