Children Need to Play for Healthy Development.
BACK TO PLAY PAGE I
Fun Learning Games - play's the thing: research shows learn the importance of laughter and play to avoid teenage depression and burn out
the classic anthology of nursery rhymes--over 500 rhymes, songs, nonsense jingles, and lullabies traditionally handed down to young children. Included are all of your favorites, ranging from "Yankee Doodle Came to Town" and "A Frog He Would A-Wooing Go" to "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep," Jack and Jill" and "Old Mother Hubbard." And complementing the rhymes are nearly a hundred illustrations, including reproductions of early art found in ballad sheets and music books, which highlight the development of children's illustrations over the last two centuries.
With each piece, Iona and Peter Opie introduced a wealth of information, noting the earliest known publications of the rhyme, describing how it originated, illustrating changes in wording over time, and indicating variations and parallels in other languages. Moreover, in the general introduction, the Opies discuss the different types of rhyme and the earliest published collections, and they address such questions as who was Mother Goose and whether or not individual rhymes originally portrayed real people.
People in the PlayGround: Children's Laureate Michael Rosen explores life in the playground today.
Fifty years ago, Iona and Peter Opie began their ground-breaking research on the games and songs, jokes and riddles, fights and friendships which fill the break-time of children up and down the country. Even in the 1950s, there were mounting anxieties about the lives of children and the effects of consumerism and the media. These anxieties have now grown to become one of the greatest concerns of modern British life. Michael Rosen has been presenting "A series of five programmes on children's play in school playgrounds, as part of an exploration of the work of Peter and Iona Opie." Experts include Georgina Boyes. Anyone interested in playground rhymes, clapping and skipping games.
Folklore: Playground rhymes on BBC Radio 4 there was a follow-up article in the Observer newspaper: People in the Playground Revisited
Alliance for Childhood discusses the benefits of play, as children really do need to run, jump and allow their active imaginations to run wild. Decades of research demonstrates that play is more than just fun and games because it boosts healthy development across a broad spectrum of critical areas (intellectual, social, emotional and physical). Yet in spite of this, more and more children are not engaging in the right sort of play. This doesn't seem to be the case in Germany, as each weekday, rain or shine, a group of children, ages three to six, walk into a forest outside Frankfurt to sing songs, build fires and roll around in the mud. To relax, they kick back on a giant "sofa" made of tree stumps and twigs, reports Mike Esterl for the Wall Street Journal (second link). Germany has about 700 "Waldkindergarten," or forest kindergartens,' in which children spend their days outdoors no matter the weather or what the calendar says. The schools are a throwback to the ideas of Friedrich Frobel, who opened the fist kindergarten more than 150 years ago. Frobel counseled that young children should play in nature, and be cordoned off from too many numbers and letters. Academic studies of the impact of these schools are still in their infancy, but some researchers believe Waldkindergarten kids exercise their imaginations more and are better at concentrating and communicating. However other studies indicate their writing skills are less developed and they are less adept at distinguishing colors, forms and sizes. Still, even though they mess around in the muck and the mud, the children appear to be sick less often. PLAY FACT SHEET PDF
STUDENT HAPPINESS
Is unhappiness a key to academic success? No credible learning or management theory suggests that fearful, unhappy or insecure people are more productive. Common sense and countless studies demonstrate that love is a better master than duty. For example, one popular yet wrong view of education suggests that school is a child's "job." This reduces learners to forced unpaid workers, as they do piecework in the name of higher standards, competitiveness and accountability. No learning theory suggests that fearful or insecure people are more productive, writes Gary Stager in the new issue of District Administration. Paradoxically, the same adults who destroyed the timeless liberal arts tradition in schools sacrificed many of those "standards" at the altar of accountability and unhappiness. If schools are failing, each school employee who advances such nonsense weakens support for public education and advances the pernicious curriculum of misery and helplessness.
LEARN THE BASICS OF HEALTHY CHILDREN
The Hidden Life of Girls: Games of Stance, Status, and Exclusion.
By Marjorie Harness Goodwin.
This book's author, Marjorie Goodwin, sets out to challenge a cluster of assumptions about how girls interact with one another, using empirical data drawn from close observation of girls at lunch and at
play on school playgrounds, settings where they achieve "a local social order" (6) and exercise "children's agency" (245). The stereotypes she addresses have both a popular and scholarly currency,
and hold that boys are assertive and girls are nurturing, that boys are concerned with justice and girls with harmony, that boys use direct means and girls indirect means to advance their purposes. By
listening to what the girls have to say to one another, Goodwin finds ample evidence to question these assumptions. The girls she observes exercise female assertiveness, not only in managing their same-sex activities but also in their interaction with boys who attempt to join their games. In one celebrated instance, the girls triumph over the boys in an effort to redefine access to the playground soccer field.
The remedy for the sway of misguided conceptions about what little girls are made of is attending closely to actual sequences of talk among girls at play. Goodwin draws on her field research in several settings, including long-term study of African American working-class girls in Philadelphia, second-generation Spanish/English-speaking Central American and Mexican girls in downtown Los Angeles, and "a group of children of various ethnicities and social classes in a private, progressive school in southern California" (211). Goodwin has previously written up her Philadelphia research in her much-acclaimed 1990 study, He-Said-She-Said: Talk as Social Organization among Black Children. Data from all three field sites enter this study, but its primary source is the more recent California research, drawn from some eighty hours of video and audio taping of talk as Goodwin followed a clique of popular girls from the third through the sixth grade. Goodwin's perspective on these sessions of talk is shaped by the concerns and techniques of ethnomethodology (yes, Sachs, Garfinkel, Schegloff, and Jefferson ride again!), sociolinguistics, and
conversation analysis mated with field ethnography, which she sees as "a powerful methodology for investigating how children ... become competent social actors by learning how to use language appropriately" (245). Inspired by Erving Goffman's uncanny feel for social life and focusing on "naturally occurring talk in context," Goodwin assesses "how positions or stances with respect to appropriate behavior are produced in the midst of particular activities (such as games, assessments, and stories)," "how claims to social positions are negotiated," and "how behavior of those who are felt to violate the local norms of the group is sanctioned" (5). The basic quest here is a search for how social values are constituted through talk, and how the moves in play activities both reflect and constitute a social system. The method is to present selected talk sequences and closely inspect them for evidence of social process.
Although The Hidden Life of Girls cannot be said to be a tract on children's folklore, it does hold much of interest for the folklorist, both for the performance genres it addresses--hand clapping, jumping rope, hopscotch, songs, ritual insults, "gossip dramas," pretend play, joking, and storytelling -- and for the way
these play forms are theorized as arenas where peer-group social organization is accomplished. There is an appendix with the texts of several jump rope rhymes, but this book views the genres of children's folklore as resources for social interaction rather than as items of traditional culture. Folklorists will find that this approach offers many valuable insights as tokens of these familiar genres emerge in the crucible of social interaction. Moreover, our genres have consequence since they are seen to play a vital role in the development of moral judgment, the negotiation of social status, the marking of social boundaries, and the pursuit of social justice.
Let me briefly portray some of the riches folklorists can mine from the pages of this book. In reference to games like jumping rope and hopscotch, Goodwin observes a tension between the way players
"treated the rules as resources" (36) and the way the witnesses to play served as judges, keeping close track of rule violations. She documents a deep concern with codes of fairness and justice and a propensity to engage in conflict behavior in order to enforce these codes, quite contrary to the claims of the reigning stereotype. Goodwin reminds us that the playground is "a place where social relationships based on power and status are played out" (250). As her sample for the hopscotch segment includes mostly Hispanic girls, she argues that her evidence defies "the essentialized stereotypes of Latinas as the hapless victims of a patriarchal culture" (72).
An examination of turn-taking in jumping rope illustrates that girls are quite capable of using direct commands as they sort out status relationships in the course of their play. When boys seek to join in
the play, they are subject to the commands of female players until they acquire comparable expertise in the game. Goodwin concludes from this that "rather than being sex-linked, features of language use may
be closely related to one's achieved position in a specific context" (155). She notes in storytelling, "the most ubiquitous of all speech events" (161), a use of topic management, participation control, and
critical assessment, all geared to rendering and enforcing status hierarchies among the girls. In the realm of topic, for example, it matters if you can refer to up-scale stores and labels, and trips to exotic places. Even pretend play offers opportunities "to organize and orchestrate social roles" (186) in accordance with status hierarchies. Goodwin notes that the progressive school in southern California, ironically, is "a site where middle and upper class children teach one another how to put children of the working class in their place" (249). But a balance must be struck here, for Goodwin's research indicates that there is a price to pay for "putting on airs."
With regard to gossip, Goodwin notes that "negative talk about absent parties provides for vivid and varied forms of involvement" (209). But she finds in these sessions "processes through which girls come
to construct notions of normative value and articulate their notions of cultural appropriateness and moral personhood" (209). Goodwin touches on themes with policy implications, such as the need for free
play at recess and how to deal with bullying. A nice detail along the way is how the girls incorporate into their personal and ritual insults the vocabulary of their school's social justice curriculum and mimic the voice of the school psychologist in taunting an excluded playmate. In closing, I take note of a couple of uncertainties in the midst of this book's many valuable contributions.
One of these is methodological. Goodwin insists that her video and audio taping allowed her "to acquire a record of naturally occurring interaction" (4). But one may wonder about the effect of microphone, camera, and ethnographer and her crew on the behavior of the children. Goodwin tells us that she was able to remain aloof and neutral for the most part, but her talk segments exhibit several instances when the girls make explicit reference to these intrusive elements. One feature that does not enter into Goodwin's calculations but should, arguably, is the tendency for children to play to the camera.
The other uncertainty has to do with Goodwin's core postulate that society is formed through social interaction. As productive as this thesis can be, it can seem to disregard the more persistent features
of social orders, the rules, regulations, and norms that shape social interaction. "Moral rules are emergent from local sequential contingencies of action" Goodwin tells us (190), and this assertion
has its validity. But it seems equally true that people are often "playing by the rules" that have come to them through formal and informal instruction.
"The Importance of Play in Promoting Healthy Child Development and Maintaining Strong Parent-Child Bonds" October 9, 2006 [1]
Hurried lifestyle and heavy academic, extracurricular load taking toll; balance is needed.
A new report from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) says free and unstructured play is healthy and - in fact - essential for helping children reach important social, emotional, and cognitive developmental milestones as well as helping them manage stress and become resilient.
The report, "The Importance of Play in Promoting Healthy Child Development and Maintaining Strong Parent-Child Bonds," is written in defense of play and in response to forces threatening free play and unscheduled time. These forces include changes in family structure, the increasingly competitive college admissions process, and federal education policies that have led to reduced recess and physical education in many schools.
Whereas play protects children's emotional development, a loss of free time in combination with a hurried lifestyle can be a source of stress, anxiety and may even contribute to depression for many children, the AAP report states.
The report reaffirms that the most valuable and useful character traits that will prepare children for success come not from extracurricular or academic commitments, but from a firm grounding in parental love, role modeling and guidance.
Still, many parents are afraid to slow their pace for fear their children will fall behind. They feel like they are running on a treadmill, but worry they will not be acting as proper parents if they do not participate in a hurried lifestyle.
The report suggests that reduced time for physical activity may be contributing to the academic differences between boys and girls, as schools with sedentary learning styles become more difficult settings for some boys to navigate successfully.
Among the specific guidelines, the report suggests:
- Emphasizing the benefits of "true toys", such as blocks and dolls, in which children use their imagination fully over passive toys that require limited imagination;
- Supporting an appropriately challenging academic schedule for each child with a balance of extracurricular activities. This should be based on each child's unique needs and not on competitive community standards or need to gain college admissions;
- Helping parents evaluate claims by marketers and advertisers about products or interventions designed to produce "super-children;"
- Encouraging parents to understand that each young person does not need to excel in multiple areas to be considered successful or prepared to compete in the real world; Suggesting families choose childcare and early education programs that meet children's social and emotional developmental needs as well as academic preparedness.
The report recognizes that academic enrichment opportunities are vital for some children's ability to succeed academically, and that participation in organized activities promotes healthy youth development. "The challenge for society, schools, and parents is to strike the balance that allows all children to reach their potential, without pushing them beyond their personal comfort limits, and while allowing them personal free time," the report states. To help parents and teens develop resiliency and understand the role of stress in life, the AAP has created a Resiliency Web site.
Marc Bekoff gives non-human evidence for the innateness hypothesis, particularly with regards to the coyotes he observed to apparently learn how to play "fairly". What seems to be innate is the propensity to learn the species-typical play rules and signals, which are virtually always used honestly. Below are notes from a book chapter by him that should give a flavor of his argument
(page numbers shown at left margin):
Bekoff, Marc (2004). Wild justice, cooperation, and fair play: Minding manners, being nice, and feeling good. In Sussman, R. W., & Chapman, A. R. (Eds.), The origins and nature of sociality (pp. 53-80). New York, NY: Aldine de Gruyter.
54 research shows humans more generous and fair than game-theory and other models predict - Taken together, cross-cultural data suggest that there may well be an innate drive to be fair. - but what of other animals?
55 Whether or not individuals lose various 'freedoms' when balanced against the benefits that accrue when they work for the 'good of the group' is unknown and needs to be studied more carefully in various species.
57 In my view, cooperation is not merely always a by-product of tempering aggressive and selfish tendencies [combating Richard Dawkins' (1976) selfish genes] and attempts at reconciliation. Rather, cooperation and fairness can evolve on their own because they are important in the formation
58 and maintenance of social relationships.
altruism is not always simply selfishness disguised.
58 cites Preston & de Waal (2002) that empathy more widespread in animals than previously recognized - hungry rhesus wouldn't take food if doing so subjected another to electric shock, rats can act similarly
59 seems possible that it feels good to be fair, cooperative, forgiving, as brain imaging shows pleasure centers activated when people cooperate
60 5 S's of play = spirit, symmetry, synchrony, sacredness, soulfulness (immersed)
6 F's of play = flexibility, freedom, friendship, frolic, fun, flow emotions associated with play are joy and happiness - dopamine (and maybe serotonin and NE) involved in regulation of play - rats show increase dopamine activity when anticipating play
62 play signals are honest, rarely used to deceive
individuals in play engage in role-reversing and self-handicapping to reduce asymmetries and maintain play
63 David Sloan Wilson's Darwins's Cathedral: Evolution, Religion, and the Nature of Society argues forgiveness is a complex biological adaptation - though his focus is on humans, can be extended to animals
64 during fun social play, individuals learn ground rules of what's acceptable to others (how hard can bite, etc.), how to negotiate agreement, how to resolve conflicts¦. transgressions/mistakes are forgiven and apologies accepted
65. All individuals need to play and there is a premium for playing fairly if one is to be able to play at all.
66. have found that coyote pups who do not play much are less tightly bonded to other members of their group and are more likely to strike out on their own (Bekoff 1977b). Life outside the group is much more risky than within it. In a seven-year study of coyotes living in the Grand Teton National Park outside Moose, Wyoming, we found that more than 55 percent of yearlings who drifted away from their social group died, whereas fewer than 20 percent of their stay-at-home peers did (Bekoff and Wells 1986).
67. levels of selection: believes closer scrutiny of social animals will show sense of fairness and morality benefits individuals and group as whole
71. long thought that wolf pack size regulated by food resources, e.g., one wolf can't take down elk or moose, or also need to defend food - but long-term research (Mech 1970) indicates social regulation: number of wolves who can live together in coordinated pack governed by number with whom can closely bond (social attraction factor) balanced against number with whom can tolerate competition (social competition factor) - codes of conduct and packs broke down when too many wolves
73. And the observation that play is rarely unfair or uncooperative is surely an indication that natural selection acts to weed out those who do not play by the rules.
The Brain's Funny Bone: Seinfeld, The Simpsons spark same nerve circuits
by John Travis Monday, November 18, 2002 From Science News, Vol. 162, No. 20, Nov. 16, 2002, p. 308.
Neuroscientists-normally a reserved group-were laughing at William M. Kelley's presentation. He wasn't upset, however. The researcher had just shown the scientists a clip from the sitcom Seinfeld to illustrate how his group investigates the brain's response to humor.
With the aid of Jerry Seinfeld and his friends, as well as the animated characters of the cartoon The Simpsons, Kelley and his colleagues have found that different brain regions spark with activity when a person gets a joke versus when he or she reacts to it.
"Humor is a significant part of what makes us unique as human beings," says Kelley, a neuroscientist at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H. He presented his group's brain-imaging data last week at the Society for Neuroscience meeting in Orlando, Fla.
Despite humor's appeal, few researchers have studied its neural basis. Last year, a British group described the brain activity of people listening to real jokes and puns and to nonsense versions.
Seeking a more natural study of humor, Kelley's group initially had a dozen or so self-professed fans of Seinfeld watch an episode-the one in which George seeks a baldness remedy from China. Meanwhile, a magnetic resonance imaging machine continuously scanned their brains for nerve-cell activity.
Ultimately, the scientists analyzed the data for the few seconds before and after each joke, as indicated by the show's laugh track.
As a participant viewed something funny, regions of the brain's left hemisphere-the posterior temporal cortex and inferior frontal cortex-initially crackled with activity. Neuroscientists have previously associated these regions with resolving ambiguities, says Kelley.
A few seconds later, presumably as the person responded to the humor, brain regions called the insula and amygdala became active across both hemispheres of the brain. The insula plays a role in emotional sensations, while researchers usually link the amygdala to memory processing. "You tend to recall the funny bits" of a sitcom, notes Kelley.
Studying the brain's response to humor is a challenge, and Kelley's effort is innovative, says Ralph Adolphs of the University of Iowa College of Medicine in Iowa City. "It seems that actually watching a full-length episode [of a sitcom] is going to elicit humor in a more realistic, intense fashion than if you just read or hear a punch line in a lab," says Adolphs.
Concerned that the laugh track on Seinfeld influenced study volunteers' reactions, Kelley and his colleagues repeated their experiment with an episode of The Simpsons, which doesn't use recorded laughs. "We observed a near-identical pattern of [brain] activation," says Kelley.
References:
Kelley, W.M., et al. 2002. The neural funny bone: Dissociating cognitive and affective components of humor. Society for Neuroscience 32nd Annual Meeting. Nov. 2-7. Orlando, Fla.
Further Readings:
Goel, V., and R.J. Dolan. 2001. The functional anatomy of humor: Segregating cognitive and affective components. Nature Neuroscience 4 (March):237-238. Abstract.
Sources:
Ralph Adolphs - University of Iowa College of Medicine - Department of Neurology
William M. Kelley - Dartmouth College - Department of Psychology and Brain Sciences
