The importance of play regards holistic development in the foundation phase.: 

They are able to develop holistically through engaging in meaningful activities.  They develop cognitively by developing problem-solving skills and learn about cause and effect and growing cognitively, classifying, identifying, observing and sequencing.  Learners develop skills to think outside the box and solve different problems.  By finding props they develop creativity and imagination.  When learners engage in play, they have to draw on prior knowledge and real-life experiences. 

 

Advantages of play in the classroom:  

1.  Children have a sense of belonging.  

2.  It creates individual discipline a playful environment, if the rules are broken, the game cannot               work.  

3.  Play facilitate imagination and is therapeutic.  

4.  Children develop performance competencies, singing, playing instruments, and dancing.  

5.  Skills are developed through play through the performance of rhythmic patterns, improvision and       immition.  

There are 7 elements of play: 

1.  It involves disposition.

2.  It contains elements of surprise and challenges.  

3.  It involves attitude and structure.  

4.  It is a voluntary and unifying forming part of the socializing process.  

5.  It involves aesthetic quality judgment by participants.  

6.  It creates informal space for socio-historical comment.  

7.  It reinforces societal roles.  

Bjorkvold identifies 3 types of play:  

1.  Tradition  -This form of play is fixed. 

2.  Open  -It indicates that there are rules and they can be changed. 

3.  Original-   Based on curiosity and it is creative. 

Children communicate, compete through play.  Play reflects attitudes towards life.  

Free play is when children have choices and they are free to play with any materials.  

Guided play refers to the teacher that chooses specific material to play with.  

Directed play involves the teacher instructing learners how to accomplish a given task by singing songs or dramatizing.  

Characteristics of play:

1.  It is active.

2.  It is non-literal.

3.  It has no extrinsic goals.  

4.  There is meaning in play.  

Levels of Social Play: 

1.  Solitary play

2.  Onlooker play

3.  Parallel play

4.  Associative play

5.  Cooperative play

Sociodramatic play:  

Involves a small group of participants playing defined roles that they have chosen, called fantasy play.  They may also play mandone parts.  Such as how to shop for groceries.  Paley believes that sociodramatic play is the foundation of early childhood education. 

 

Vygotsky believes that play is extremely important in a child's development in 3 ways:  

1.  It creates the child's zone of proximal development. m 

2.  It facilitates the separation of thought from actions and objects. 

3.  It facilitates the development of self-regulation. 

The value of play:   

1.  It involves dance, storytelling, structured movement and musical instruments.  

2. It's a fundamental way of learning.  

3.  It requires a state of certain willingness. 

4.  The educational aim of play is to teach children morals and values.

5.  Children are learning new things through play and exploration. 

6.  Through play learners develop emotional regulation and improve their vocabularies.  

6.  Play is important for holistic development.