August 29
Story written by Success By 6 Steering Committee member, Mary Jane Eisenhauer, Ed.D.Assistant Professor of Early Childhood Education at Purdue University North Central.
“Houston, we have a problem.” This line from the movie Apollo 13 signifies a decisive moment in this historical operation. When a crisis developed on the 1970 space mission, the astronauts and everyone in Mission Control were forced to get creative. The flight-saving solution came in the form of duct tape, the flight plan cover and a sock!
This unconventional answer to a very serious problem can be attributed to the scientists’ ability to play. Yes, play. As we prepare for back-to-school, let’s not forget that play is a crucial component for learning – at any age. The NASA workers’ determination and conviction to play allowed for a happy ending to this scenario.
Play is an enjoyable activity, and it also fulfills a developmental need. Through play, we connect with other people and learn about the world. Through play, we create relationships. Through play, we develop new skills. And through play, we explore intricate ideas.
The most wonderful thing about play is that there is no “right” way to play. There is poetic license, a freedom, in play. You can be anyone, anything. You can ask questions. You have to listen to others. Play can take place anywhere and it comes from inside of you. And as you grow older and develop higher levels of thinking and reasoning, play becomes more elaborate and sophisticated. No more sticks and rocks and sing-songy rhymes, but abstract concepts.
Lev Vygotsky, a Russian psychologist said: "In play, a child is always above his average age, above his daily behavior; in play, it is as though he were a head taller than himself." In other words, play allows us to stretch for unconstrained possibilities.
Play evolves and changes as we grow. In the early years, play involves things: blocks, puzzles, trucks. The toddler who repeatedly dumps the sand from the bucket only to refill it is a future engineer. The preschooler who scribbles wavy lines and reads her “story” with confidence is a budding journalist. They are certainly a head taller in their play, reaching beyond what they already can do.
Children learn the subtle complexities of playing with others. Watch a group of children negotiate the rules for playing house: Who gets to be the mommy? Who decides when it’s time for bed? This requires persistence, ingenuity and resourcefulness and great diplomacy!
As children get older, play focuses on ideas: hypotheses and what-if questions. In high school and beyond, we develop new skills through this complicated play – setting up a chemistry experiment, critiquing classic literature, expressing oneself in a foreign language. Puzzling over a geometry proof, writing a poem or meeting new classmates involves perseverance and imagination. Thinking of it as play lets children take risks, be messy and try out novel ways of doing things, just as the NASA scientists conjured up a filter using duct tape and a sock.
Let’s remember to support our children and their teachers when they play this school year. The newest technologies, the solution to poverty, the cure for cancer, the cap for a leaking oil well will be discovered by those who have learned to play and learned through play.
For more information on Success By 6 visit our website at www.UWSuccessBy6.org.
