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“Children need the freedom and time to play. Play is not a luxury. Play is a necessity.” -Kay Redfield Jamison

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“Children need the freedom and time to play. Play is not a luxury. Play is a necessity.” -Kay Redfield Jamison

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Rationale for Inclusion of Play in the Early Childhood Curriculum 

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Rationale for Inclusion of Play in the Early Childhood Curriculum 

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Play allows children to use their creativity while developing their imagination, dexterity, and physical, cognitive, and emotional strength. Play is important to healthy brain development. It is through play that children at a very early age engage and interact in the world around them.

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Play and families and playing together is one of the most effective tools for building strong relationships with your child too. Play adds joy, vitality, and resilience to relationships. It can heal resentments, disagreements, and hurt. Through play, children learn to trust others and feel safe.

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All children benefit from unstructured playtime with other children, including their siblings, and even playing by themselves. But there are special benefits that come from playing with a parent or other loving adults.
1. Play helps children develop all kinds of skills.
Playing with your child is one way to help him or her develop social skills and self-control. Children's minds are like little sponges. They soak up everything around them. As they interact with parents and others, they learn how people behave in social settings. They also learn what's acceptable by taking their cues from you.

In addition, research has linked parent-child pretend and physical play to the development of specific skills including:

Moreover, while kids develop many of the above skills playing with their siblings, parents offer a child more mature and varied forms of play. Because adults know more about the world, playing with the adults in their lives widens children's imaginations in ways that playing with other children, even older siblings, does not.

For example, child development studies show infants and preschoolers often use behaviors that require a partner when playing with parents, but are less likely to do so when playing with a sibling. This makes sense. Your child craves interaction with you. Playing with other children is fun, but nothing compares to the joy and satisfaction of getting one's parent to enter your special world of make-believe. It's the stuff of memories!
2. Play helps build strong relationships.
Playing together is one of the most effective tools for building strong relationships with your child too. Play adds joy, vitality, and resilience to relationships. It can heal resentments, disagreements, and hurt. Through play, children learn to trust others and feel safe.

By making a conscious effort to incorporate humor and play into your daily interactions with your children, you can improve the quality of your relationships and connect on a deeper level. Play and laughter perform an essential role in building strong, healthy parent-child relationships by bringing you closer together, creating a positive bond, and resolving conflict.
3. Play is good for mom and dad's health too.
It's important to play with your child for your child's sake. But, as an added bonus, you receive benefits from playing with your child too. The hormone oxytocin, which plays a role in parent-infant bonding, is released whenever mothers and fathers engage in affectionate play with their children of any age.

So, the next time you feel too exhausted to play with your child, you might try reframing the situation. Think of it as a relaxing massage for your mind that you don't have to pay for!
How to Play with Your Child.
If you're not sure how to play with your child, don't worry! Lots of parents feel a bit awkward or silly, at first, playing pretend or engaging in childlike physical behavior. All you really need to do to be a good playmate for your child, though, is actively observe, listen to her stories, support her chosen mode of play, and engage in conversation.

Be sure to provide mutual interaction without continually intervening or controlling the conversation. Allow your child to explore his environment and sensations. Let him draw you in. Then be engaged and collaborate, which will teach your child to do the same in his future interactions.

Looking for some new ideas for playing with your child? take a look at these tips from the Women and Children's Health Network:

Sorting toys: learning about numbers, shapes, and grouping objects.

Puzzles: learning about shapes, sizes, numbers.

Pretend play and dress up: social and emotional development.

Storytelling: learning about and developing language skills.

Throwing and catching: motor skills, physical development.

Enjoy this one-on-one time as you help your little one develop the skills that she will soon be ready to apply on her own.
And might we suggest...
If you're looking for a great way to get out and play as a family while supporting EFC, Pinwheels Family Fun Day is coming up on April 15th! Each spring the Exchange Family Center partners with Wheels Fun Park bringing families, friends, and the community together for this amazing event. Bring the whole family and enjoy batting cages, mini golf, mazes, roller skating, fun gym access, and go kart rides!

Proceeds from Pinwheels go toward programs, like the Family Support Program that helped Ms. Smith and Ashley in the story below. These programs generate awareness about supporting families and teachers in helping teach children to be resilient.
How Does EFC help families?
Ms. Smith agreed to participate in the Family Support Program because she had significant concerns about her 3-year-old daughter Ashley's challenging behavior.

Ms. Smith shared that Ashley often had difficulty controlling her emotions and acted aggressively toward her siblings and her mother. Ashley struggled to follow directions and had frequent, intense tantrums that included banging her head against the wall and scratching and biting herself.

During the initial assessment, Ms. Smith was visibly upset and overwhelmed. She cried throughout the session and described feeling "hopeless" about how to support Ashley and manage her behavior.

Since starting Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), Ms. Smith has learned a set of therapeutic play skills to help enhance her relationship with Ashley and improve Ashley's overall behavior. Ms. Smith has implemented daily, special play time with Ashley and has met regularly with EFC's Parenting Coach & Family Therapist to address questions and practice her skills.

Although she is still early in the program, Ms. Smith shared that by learning about the relationship between positive attention and behavior and making the skills part of her daily life, she has seen significant changes in Ashley's demeanor. Ms. Smith described Ashley as "a different child" and said that she has significantly reduced the frequency and intensity of her challenging behaviors. Ms. Smith is looking forward to completing the program and said, "I never thought therapy could make such a big change!"
Ms. Smith and Ashley learned firsthand how special parent-child play time can strengthen the bond and teach social and emotional skills. We love to support kids like Ashley and help families like the Smiths!
You can support local families too and experience the wonders of play with your own family. Pinwheels Family Fun Day is a win for families and the whole community! Won't you join us? Everything you need to know, including a link to purchase tickets, is available here.

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Connecting With Your Child Through Play: The Surprising Benefits of Parent-Child Playtime - Exchange Family Center

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All children benefit from unstructured playtime with other children, including their siblings, and even playing by themselves. But there are special benefits that come from playing with a parent or other loving adults. 1. Play helps children develop all kinds of skills.

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Science
Technology
Reading/Writing
Engineering
Art
Math

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1. Engineering
2. Language Arts

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Standard for Building Houses: AL.3.2. A1: Applying Knowledge- use and connect materials/strategies in uncommon ways to create something new to solve problems (Category: Creativity)

View Standards - SAS (pdesas.org)

Rationale: we chose this lesson because it allows students to collaborate, read, and express new ideas through creativity

Materials/Procedures Building a House:

Pin: https://www.fantasticfunandlearning.com/three-little-pigs-activity-wind-science-experiment.html?utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Three+Little+Pigs+Science+Freebie&utm_campaign=Three+Little+Pigs+Science+Freebie

Objective- Students will be able to read a story and apply the knowledge from the story to engineer their own house. They will use a variety of materials to make the sturdiest house.

Materials- Book, Paper, Blocks, Popsicle Sticks, Straws, Fan, Hair Dryer, Worksheet

Steps:

1. Students will read The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs.

2. Students will gather 3 different types of materials with varying weights. (Blocks, Tissues, Straws).

3. Students will write down their predictions of what materials will hold and what will fall.

4. The students will build a house with a single material at whatever height, shape, and way that they choose.

5. The students will test the sturdiness of their house by blowing a fan, their breath, and a hair dryer.

6. The students will record their findings on a worksheet and share their findings with the class.

Assessment: Worksheet where students can write their predictions down, draw their house, and write their conclusion.

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Other worksheets for Building (Lesson 1)

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Other worksheets for Building (Lesson 1)

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Standard for Fractured Tale: CC.1.4.2.M - Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events (English Language Arts – Writing)

Rationale -   we chose this because it gives the students the chance to be creative and write anything they want about anything they want. Kids seem to be more  excited to do things when they have the freedom to create what they want.

Objective -  students will be able to write their own fractured fairytale.

Materials - activity worksheet and a book

Steps:

1.  reread the story

2.  complete the worksheet down below

3. make a rough draft of your own story
4. have teacher review what you wrote
5. make any necessary changes and complete your final draft
6. share with the class!

Assessment:  Students will complete the worksheets about what they chose to write about. There is also other worksheets they can do about the three little pigs to get them started.

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Worksheet 2

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https://youtu.be/F1BMoG6d_W0

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THE TRUE STORY OF THE 3 LITTLE PIGS!, READ ALOUD BY MS. CECE

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Speech and Language ideas: Help your child tell their story

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Speech and Language ideas: Help your child tell their story

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Speech and Language ideas: Help your child tell their story

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Bookshelf - Books like Three Little Pigs 

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Bookshelf - Books like Three Little Pigs 

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Main Idea 1: Students that do not want to use a hair dryer or fan because of the loud noises can use pieces of paper instead. Another adaption for special needs is that students can orally speak their predication instead of writing them out. This lesson can also be adapted by assisting students in building their houses. Some students may have a difficult time building their houses on their own. The student can select the materials that they would like to use, and the teacher can assist them in putting them together to make a house. The teacher may also provide an example for students to use as a reference point when building their houses.

Main Idea 2: This lesson can be adapted by providing the student with a guided fractured fairytale worksheet (See Picture). This allows the student to still create a fractured fairytale by filling in the blanks on the worksheet. It allows them to choose their characters, setting, and other creative aspects. Another adaptation could be doing interactive writing with the student. The student will tell the teacher what they want to have written down and the teacher will write down what they are saying. This allows the student to have full control over their story.

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This collaborative endeavor was quite challenging in general. I believe it was stressful since neither I nor any of my group members knew how to utilize Padlet. One thing that did assist me was knowing how to put out a lesson plan, such as ensuring what resources were needed for the assignments or what academic areas the courses were in. But I did contribute to this endeavor by assisting in the selection of activities for the lesson plans. Setting up the Padlet and finding books for the bookshelf are also on the agenda. Finally, I wrote the adaptations for main idea #1.

With this lesson, I was able to use what I had learned in previous courses, such as the STREAM project. And, as a result of that undertaking, it was simple for me to categorize my primary concepts. In addition, I used my past understanding of why play should be an important component of a child's education and how it allows youngsters to be creative in their own manner. In this assignment, I was able to use my understanding of art development levels/stages such as scribbling, preschematic, schematic stage, gang stage, and stage of reasoning for our primary concept with designing their ultimate house for their forecasts.

Overall, this project taught me a lot, especially working with my classmates. I learned how to cooperate on lesson ideas by utilizing a book to help us design our activities. In addition, I learned how to use Padlet so that I may include it into my future classroom and the remainder of my college career. And I learnt how to modify lesson plans for children with unique needs in order to assist all students achieve. Finally, I realized that it is critical to have creative expression in the classroom at all times!

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worksheets/ Rationale(play)- Sophia DeVito 

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worksheets/ Rationale(play)- Sophia DeVito 

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In this specific assignment I feel as though I learned a lot. I didn't realize how much that "play" contributes to all areas of the learning process. I also didn't know how important it is for families. Play is a big part of everything and help kids show who they are and what they know. It also helps them learn from watching others.

In this project I contributed in 2 ways. The first is, I found the worksheets for our first lesson. Those worksheets really connect back with the book and help the kids further understand exactly what to do and the meaning behind the book. I also thinks it's a fun way to get the kids point of view from the book by letting them pick who they would side with and even predict what would happen next.

The second way was in lesson 2. I did all the steps, materials, assessment, and rationale. I think this is a fun lesson that lets the students to show their creative side and come up with any story they want. being able to share it with their friends at the end will also get them very excited to do it.

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I found this collaborative project both challenging and resourceful. Most of the challenge came from being unfamiliar with the use of Padlet and not fully understanding what exactly was expected of us. I do feel like I learned a lot through this project. I was unaware of how much play can be integrated into all areas of learning and how it can be such an important contribution. Play is important because it allows students to take control and be creative. I learned that play is a great way for students to learn and interact with the world around them. Students are able to learn through engaging with others, building relationships, and learning by observing others.

In this project I contributed in a variety of ways. The first way that I contributed to this project was I helped develop the ideas for each of our lesson activities. I also found the worksheets for our second lesson plan. These worksheets help students by giving them a basis for writing their own fractured fairy tale. The first worksheet allows them to organize their thoughts and map their story. The second worksheet allows them to have a space to convert their map into a fractured fairy tale. The third worksheet is a part of our adaptations that allows students who are struggling with this lesson, it gives them some guided support in writing their story. Another way that I contributed to the project was finding the “Book Read Aloud”. I think that this is a great resource for parents to use in order to have a better understanding on what their student is learning. The parents will have a better understanding of what the activities are and why we chose these activities with the help of listening to the story themselves. Finally, I developed the adaptions for our second lesson. These adaptations support students with special needs who may be in the classroom. This allows for the least restrictive environment for all children in the classroom.

Overall, I feel like this project has taught me a lot not only about integrating play into the classroom but also other resources that I would be able to use in my future classroom. I learned previously in the STREAM project different creative ideas that incorporate play into lesson plans. This was useful in when designing our own lesson plan based on our book. I was able to use a lot of prior knowledge I learned about children learning how to write when helping with project. I learned how to work with my teammates and use the learning standards when making a lesson plan. I learned how to modify my lessons in order to suit the needs of all students in my classroom. Lastly, I was able to learn new creative ways incorporate play in my classroom. I will take this knowledge with me in the rest of my school career as well as my professional career.

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Throughout this collaborative project, I found it to be both challenging and resourceful in many ways. Going into this project, I didn’t fully understand how much “play” is used in children's learning and the developmental benefits that come with that. I can now see and understand that play is important because play allows children to use their creativity while developing their imagination, dexterity, and physical, cognitive, and emotional strength. Play is important to healthy brain development. It is through play that children at a very early age engage and interact in the world around them.

Within this project I contributed to a variety of ways. I assisted in finding and grasping the correct steps, assessments, materials and rationale for each lesson activity we chose. The lesson idea we chose was a fun, creative and interactive way to engage students in creating story lines and having the opportunity to share with their peers.

Overall, this project has taught me a lot about the fundamentals of integrating play in children's learning development and incorporating it into the classroom. In combination with our prior STREAM project, this class overall was very resourceful and fun as I learned and gained so much more knowledge in the crucial elements and concepts that tie into early childhood learning development. I also learned how to include adaptations for all students and the importance of incorporating them into each lesson and or activity.

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"Making Predictions Student Worksheet". Teachers Pay Teachers, 2022, https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Making-Predictions-Student-Worksheet-788473.

Clare, Jayne et al. "25 Quotes About The Importance Of PLAY - Teachers With Apps". Teacherswithapps.Com, 2022, https://www.teacherswithapps.com/67552-2/#:~:text=%20%E2%80%9CCombinatory%20play%20seems%20to%20be%20the%20essential,is%20not%20a%20luxury.%20Play%20is...%20More%20?msclkid=5e35fdfbc70411eca5dcd8e71c94adc1.

Dees, Kayla. "Wind Science Experiment Three Little Pigs Activity". Fantastic Fun & Learning, 2022, https://www.fantasticfunandlearning.com/three-little-pigs-activity-wind-science-experiment.html?utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Three+Little+Pigs+Science+Freebie&utm_campaign=Three+Little+Pigs+Science+Freebie.

Rust, Bryony. 2022. Speech And Language Ideas: Help Your Child Tell Their Story. Video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ac2kr4QatPI.

THE TRUE STORY OF THE 3 LITTLE PIGS!, READ ALOUD BY MS. CECE. 2022. Image. THE TRUE STORY OF THE 3 LITTLE PIGS!, READ ALOUD BY MS. CECE

Google.com. N.p., 2022. Web. 3 May 2022.

exchangefamilycenter. N.p., 2022. Web. 3 May 2022.

"Fractured Fairytales: Three Little Pigs." En.islcollective.com. N.p., 2022. Web. 3 May 2022.

View, Fractured. "Fractured Fairy Tales View – Fun Fairy Tale Worksheets For 3Rd Grade – Jumpstart." Jumpstart.com. N.p., 2022. Web. 3 May 2022.

Walker, April, April Walker, and View profile. "Fractured Fairy Tales - Freebie Story Map." Ideabackpack.blogspot.com. N.p., 2022. Web. 3 May 2022.