| INTRODUCTION TO CHILDS PLAY. link -THE CHILDS RIGHT TO PLAY
link to CHARTER FOR KIDS PLAY
CHHILDHOOD DREAMS
Locked in their world of close circuit TV reality life and crude imagery far away from the streets of their play liberty the jingles they play and the media tells lies whilst their childhood is lost in their sadness and smiles the thunder it roared and the prophets foretold of days yet to be when childhood grew old there were limbs on the trees and fields left to roam but the candle was dimmed and their visions where closed their masters and kinfolk guided their dreams with take away foods and horrific loud screams there was food on the table and news on the spree where doctrines and war crimes paraded for thee the masters of visions crafted their dreams with false words and logic no room for ice cream the songs and the rhymes were lost in the maze of corrupted lost childhoods in the latest whizz craze the songsters were singing the same dulcet tones with bleached hair and promises wrapped up in gold the streets they were quiet no sounds of child's play another dream over at the end of the day whilst a comic gave rant and a poet he prayed for a childhood forsaken and a vision waylaid.
Why play is so good for kids
By DR AMANDA GUMMER
Published: 29 Jun 2010
This week the British Toy and Hobby Association and Play England released research revealing that children today are getting less play time than ever before at just one hour a day. Play is important - it's how children make sense of their world and learn how to live in it with everyone else. By understanding its importance in a child's development, parents and other adults can fit the different types of play into a child's life in ways that benefit the whole family. The best thing for a child is to have a healthy play diet with a mixture of these:
1) Active play helps physical development, coordination and cardio fitness. Playing outside with a bucket of water, a paintbrush and a wall or fence will develop muscles needed for holding the arm still enough to learn to write.
2) Playing with friends helps develop skills such as communication, cooperation, negotiation and promotes attachment (a preventative factor against mental health problems in later life).
Negotiation, self-reliance, cooperation and communication skills are all developed effectively through peer interactions in a way that doesn't happen when adults are involved.
3) Free play encourages imagination and creativity which develop skills such as problem solving and innovation. Children have to follow a lot of rules, being in charge of their own play helps boost self-esteem and develops a sense of self.
4) Playing games with rules helps children learn to live within boundaries. Children need to learn which rules are flexible and games are a good way of reinforcing the different types of boundaries.
Parents often prefer playing games with rules and this can be a great time for adult-child interaction. This provides children with an opportunity to learn from those adults by modelling their behaviour, as well as giving children access to activities that they would not be able to do alone.
5) Learning a new game helps develop confidence and teaches new skills.
Perseverance is very difficult to teach a young child, but by giving them the opportunity to learn easy-to-master skills, trick or games, children will enjoy the feeling of success and be more likely to stick at something they find challenging.
Young children have lots of energy and they need to play actively to get rid of it and stay healthy. A visit to the park, a walk in the country, or a trip to the beach will all get children running around and playing energetically.
If kids are active, they eat well; if they eat well, they are more likely to sleep well and if they sleep well, they'll have energy and be able to cope with the day ahead. It's a win-win situation.
As children get older they don't need as much close supervision and hanging out with friends is what they like doing.
When their friends are over encourage creativity through arts and crafts such as face painting, potato printing and sewing. Parents will know that their child is having fun and also get the benefit of a return play date.
With the long summer holidays approaching parents may be too busy or struggle to constantly think up new ways that their children can play.
A new campaign, 'Make Time to Play', launched by The British Toy and Hobby Association and Play England, invites parents to share their hints and tips on play ideas as well as pledging time in their children's day for them to play.
Visit www.facebook.com/maketimetoplay
and look out for Play Day events near you to take your child to.
The most famous illustrator of Children at Play was EILEEN SOPER
Here are just a few of her works.
For a delightfull day out vist the the Illustrated Worlds of Eileen.Soper at
WHEN CHILDREN PLAY.
Now the beauty of the thing when children play is the terrible wonderfull length of the day is up you jumps and out into the sun and you fancy the day will never be done and your chasing the bum bees bumming so cross in the hot sweet air amongst the goss or gathering bluebells or looking for eggs or petting the ducks with their yellow legs or a shouting for devilment after the gulls or a thining of nothing but down at the tide singing out for the happy inside and when you look back its all in a puff happy and over and short enough.
T. E. BROWN.
 THE FLYAWAY HORSE
 And the flyaway horse seeks those far away lands, You little ones dream of at night- Where candy trees grow and honey brooks flow, And the corn- fields with pop -corn are white. To children who visit them there, What glory astride of a lion to ride, Or to wrestle around with a bear. Come let us play, As they frisk in the coconut trees, Whilst the parrots that cling, To the pea nuts vines sing, Or converse with comparative ease. By EUGENE FIELDS.
Modern day children need the excitement and challenge of the play experience as much as they need food, shelter and love. Through play children learn to develop social skills and are able to interact well with their peers. They are able to grow in self awareness and gain independence at an early age. A good play experience enriches the Childs life. All experts in child development recognise the value of the play experience and the need for all children of all ages to have access to good quality play opportunities. PAGES OF CHILDHOOD.
 Flickering through pages of a bye gone age looking through the pictures memories i have saved childhood reflections drifting through time words of remembrance in this world of mine newts and tadpoles caught dreams and wonders that could not be bought trains that bellowed steam twisting trails of countryside scenic views serene many years ago summers were long then winters freezing snow bonfires touched the sky Catherine wheels that spun my world right up to the sky candy floss at fairs flowers on the heath then apples and sweet pears haystacks and dens to build river banks and swans toffee apples licked and dreams yet to be fulfilled strangers were not known crickets in the meadows nights i played alone durdle door and fun sandcastles to build races for to run trips to London town happy days of holidays leaves of golden brown blackberry picking ponies for to ride days out to the picture shows watch the evening tide painted in my book grandmas pudding recipes Xmas puds to cook another for your thoughts all of these precious memories can never o'er be bought.
Childs play study 1977.
LATEST GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES
THE LAND OF STORY BOOKS
At evening when the lamp is lit, Around the fire my parents sit, They sit at home and talk and sing, And do not play at anything.
ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON. The Benefits of creative and imaginative play.
Organizing play for kids has never seemed like more work. But researchers Adele Diamond and Deborah Leong have good news: The best kind of play costs nothing and really only has one main requirement — imagination.
Self-regulation is a critical skill for kids.
Unfortunately, most kids today spend a lot of time doing three things: watching television, playing video games and taking lessons. None of these activities promote self-regulation.
Deborah Leong, professor of psychology at Metropolitan State College of Denver, Elena Bodrova, senior researcher with Mid-Continent Research for Education and Learning, and Laura Berk, professor of psychology at Illinois State University recommend the following.
Simon Says: Simon Says is a game that requires children to inhibit themselves. You have to think and not do something, which helps to build self-regulation.
Complex Imaginative Play: This is play where your child plans scenarios and enacts those scenarios for a fair amount of time, a half-hour at a minimum, though longer is better.
Sustained play that last for hours is best. Realistic props are good for very young children, but otherwise encourage kids to use symbolic props that they create and make through their imaginations. For example, a stick becomes a sword.
Activities That Require Planning:
Games with directions, patterns for construction, recipes for cooking, for instance.
Joint Storybook Reading:
"Reading storybooks with preschoolers promotes self-regulation, not just because it fosters language development, but because children's stories are filled with characters who model effective self-regulatory strategies," says researcher Laura Berk.
She cites the classic example of Watty Piper's The Little Engine That Could, in which a little blue engine pulling a train of toys and food over a mountain breaks down and must find a way to complete its journey. The engine chants, "I think I can. I think I can. I think I can," and with persistence and effort, surmounts the challenge.
Encourage Children to Talk to Themselves:
"Like adults, children spontaneously speak to themselves to guide and manage their own behavior,"
Laura Berk says.
"In fact, children often use self-guiding comments recently picked up from their interactions with adults, signaling that they are beginning to apply those strategies to themselves. "Permitting and encouraging children to be verbally active — to speak to themselves while engaged in challenging tasks — fosters concentration, effort, problem-solving, and task success." — Alix Spiegel CHILDHOOD DAYS Childhood tears and grazed young knees games of chase and girls to tease summer days on farmers lands many wishes holding hands kisses chased and tumbling fun there besides the rabbits run
conker trees and minnow nets river banks and summer guests seaside antics in the sand listen to the weymouth band rocks of white and seagull flights kites to fly and wars to fight
cowboys indians and robin hood dogs to chase and always told to be good sweets to savor and gum to chew chase a girl tissue tissue castles tall and rainbow skies daisy chains and lullaby's
trains to ride and seeds to sow cows in pasture n rodeo whips to crack and stones to throw geese to chase and falling snow hills to climb and dens to build brothers and sisterhoods
soccer games in banter play school is out for holiday flick card fun and darts to throw childhood pleasures long ago.
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http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/play/
http://www.pond5.com/stock-video-footage/children-play.html| During my early days in Childs Play.  I was prepared for anything in the beginning, being responsible for projects with very little funding and no staff support. At that time I would have done the work for nothing, for I was so keen to work in the new field of play leadership. This was of course before the period when the field of play leadership was to gradually becoming more recognised as a profession, with its own career structure.
The story of organised play provision begins with developments of junk playgrounds in Emdrupt (Copenhagen) and the marked effect this had on an English lady who was to campaign for child's play in England, during and after the war years. The story then continues alongside the growth of play provision within the cities of the UK, that subsequently spread to the new developed towns by the 70's and subsequently throughout the UK. Through such pioneering times, I became well acquainted with many of the play people, characters, MP's, community leaders, specialists and reformers, who were actively involved in the development of play provision nationally. Although it was a sad fact that many who entered the field of play were lost after just operating projects for a short time, the demands of the job were causing burn out within the profession.
In London the average working life of a play leader in the early days was just 3 months; leaders during this period were only employed on a casual sessional basis. I was involved in the establishment of the very first play leaders body which was based at Play Field House, as well as such short lived groups like the London based Adventure Playground Workers Association. As I moved around the country in various play leadership positions, I became actively involved with local, regional and national play campaigns and organisations. Campaigns such as the (Mary Bruce) lollypop Brigade for improving nursery education, Safety on Playgrounds, the tragic case of Maria Coldwell and the childrens Ombudsman Campaign and the Rev. Trevor Huddlestons Fair Play for Children campaign. Along with involvement in a the special N.P.F.A film that focused on Child's Play, entitled `Children Waiting.' I was also involved as a founder member (Fellow) with the short-lived Institute of Play Leadership, as well as a Fellow of the National Association of Recreation Leaders and the campaign for the Social Integration of the Handicapped.
I helped to establish the first Free School in Birmingham in old Balsall Heath as well as being responsible for the first adventure playground that incorporated specifically designed facilities for disabled children at Pin Green Stevenage in 1973. With Dr. Ron Faulkener I helped to establish one of the first Toy Libraries in the U.K. This was based at Bowes Lyon House community centre Stevenage. By raising money through organising a Play Carnival for the children of the town.
The work was radical, yet in many areas this process was conservative with support from the establishment; numerous government bodies were involved in liaison. I was frequently invited to give talks to schools regularly on the philosophy of play leadership and to open events for playgroups. As well as playing Father Christmas in full attire to hundreds of toddlers at Stevenage. I also witnessed my playground win first prize in a town carnival at Rogerstone Newport, Gwent. A great deal of the work was achieved working alongside active parents, thus forming community support groups and local play associations. As well as raising funds and scrounging materials for children's play projects, with the active help of such parent associations, steering committees and Community Play Associations.
Holicare Kids Party.
WHAT IS AN ADVENTURE PLAYGROUND?   
Over the years since its conception of the term from junk playground. The word Adventure Playground has been banded about by individuals and organisations so much so that now they can mean a vast variety of different things to different people. The term now includes a variety of examples ranging from unsupervised architectural designed play areas, commercially designed theme parks, play areas designed specifically for the disabled child, park play areas, neighberhood centres, to pet areas, farmland projects or activity centres. Whilst the true Adventure Playground is in fact none of these. They are areas of land set aside in a neighbourhood where local children have free access to play structures, play facilities indoors and out which are supervised by trained play staff. Within these sites the children are encouraged to take risks through play pursuits, aerial runways, slides, walkways, commando nets, etc.
They are able to be actively involved in construction work and use of tools and materials under guidance and supervision. Theses schemes are neighbourhood orientated with local parent’s management committees and fund raising initiatives. A variety of activities can be planned including outings; social activities play activities and community events. Each site can include possibilities such as gardening, pet’s areas, nursery areas and youth sections as well as barbecue areas etc. A true Adventure Playground is a Community of children and parents involved in sharing and enjoying the fruits of play.
See What An Extraordinary Adventure.
The work was very demanding, yet the fulfilment seemed to cloud all other negative feelings. Whether amongst the adventure playgrounds, play schemes or similar play projects.The children would be easily excitable, encouragingly noisy, yet these mixed with the sounds of laughter and cries of fun resounding across the neighbourhoods. All of such noises were the sounds and echoes of children happy absorbed at their play.
Children, who were always on the move, running around and excited by all that was happening, such free movement broken only by occasional squabbles, or the sharing of such fun filled moments amongst their peers. Questions were rife, with children constantly seeking answers to everything and endless games of mimickingadults; children moving constantly from one activity to another, or fully absorbed in their latest and most intense activity, or occupation. Children who were totally unaware of the time, or other distractions that may occur.
The Play Experience.
THE CUNNING THING.
When baby awakes of morning then its wake you people all for another day of song and play has come at our darlings call and till she gets her dinner she makes the welkin ring and she wont keep still till shes had her fill the cunning little thing when baby goes a walking oh how the paddies fly for thats the way the babys say to other folks bye bye when baby goes a rocking in her bed at close of day at hide and seek on her dainty cheek the dreams and the dimples play then its sleep in the tender kisses the guardian angels bring from the far above to my sweetest love you cunning little thing. EUGENE FIELD.
Often these were tiny, brittle children, only just coping with the techniques of walking and other small children working in-groups. All were so eager to learn and were forever asking challenging questions, but wanting immediate answers to such probing questions like, "how do I do this?" and most common of all "WHY NOT?" . Older children mothering little ones, others playing ball, building dens, or playing chase. Older gangs of boys and of girls, just looking on, chatting or involved in building relationships, creating their imaginative dens, or other robust activities. Always questioning the decisions of others, challenging, energetic, physical and most of all very involved. The noisy playtimes of happy children, who were totally absorbed in their activities, was to be the true success of the play leader. As a play leader, I was prepared to take part in all of their energetic activities, sharing the play experiences of the children and for myself to find pleasure from being involved, as well as watching their enjoyment of play. Whilst the girls were more prepared to accept the social rules associated with the playing of games, boys demanded the space to show off their boisterous energetic natures.
Many games provided channels for such outlets, where physical contact and aggression were the essential ingredients of the game at hand, such as football kick-about and other similar physical team pursuits. The play leader has to be aware of such needs, to ensure that there were opportunities for expression in many forms within the group and during the activities of child's play. The primary concerns were of child safety, amongst not only the groups, but also of individuals who were continually monitored. Games like run out, chase and stuck in the mud, provided quality examples of how boys and girls could integrate positively within a group, particularly within a large sized activity. Robert Baden Powell. Lady Marjorie Allen. Drummond Abernethy. Published literature to date on the subject of child's play, has included views from numerous authors, theorists, child psychologists, architects, reforming teachers and radical thinkers to play workers. Free thinkers like A.S. Neil of Summerhill, Michael Duane of Risinghill, William Barnes of Dorset, Homer Lane of the Little Commonwealth/Dorset, Arvid Bengtson, Lady Marjorie Allen of Hurtwood and Drummond Abernethy of the N.P.F.A. All of these individuals played their own roles in the concept, that of the child's right to play, whilst it is apparent that earlier reformers and thinkers had influenced them. As well as the founders of organisations for children's activities, such as Lord Baden Powell, with his scout camps on Brownsea Island in Dorset. I was influenced to some extent by such local pioneers. Since the initial development of play leadership, many of these full time and holiday activity programmes are still functioning and have expanded rapidly, even since the time of my initial period of intervention. My contact with children and young people as young as 2 and youths as old as 20, has been exhilarating to say the least, as well as both rewarding and challenging. The numbers of children I have known has been countless, with full integration from all backgrounds, community settings, racial origins and interests. In my account of play see the section entitled."What An Extraordinary Adventure." You will pass through the periods in time when the physical and creative mind of children's organised play was planned, shaped and developed; all of which helped to shape the future of child's play.
Play work has changed enormously since those initial days, when leaders worked within a very small budget and usually very much alone and with very little managerial support. To work with children who were anxious and eager to play their games of pretence and fun, was for me, and still is an extraordinary adventure.
Recently there has been a marked increase, interest and public support for these new initiatives, particularly during recent years, with an emphasis on encouraging mothers to return to the workplace. Numerous new national and local initiatives have been encouraged to provide training for Play Workers with an emphasis on their attainment of a nationally recognised vocational qualification. Prior to operating and supervising these new play/work initiatives. However, there have over the years been many within the field of play/work are opposed to the N.V.Q avenue, as being of true value to the training of play worker's. However, my own view is that there is a need for the recognition of the value of all types of training initiatives for play people from a variety of backgrounds. Regardless of the professional training methods used to determine the student's suitability and attainments. Children's play needs must not be neglected through petty squabbles over methods, but all areas of play provision should be encouraged to meet the demands of the modern era. I believe that any training should be secondary to these basic essentials, providing knowledge and understanding of all aspects of child's play development. Including health and safety issues, psychology, supervisory or management skills, games and activity programmes co ordination.plus community and welfare knowledge. |
nurseries, as well as junior youth clubs within Youth Centres, or community, or leisure centres. As well as such facilities, within outdoor activity centres, theme parks or holiday clubs. All of which are accessible avenues for children to enjoy their playtimes. | QUOTES SAYINGS AND VERSE ON CHILDS PLAY.  Many famous writers philosophers poets and learned men have voiced their views over generations as to the importance and value of Childs Play.
Here I present just a few of these words of wisdom.
"Children have neither past nor future; they enjoy the present, which very few of us do". ~Jean de la Bruyere
"In every real man a child is hidden that wants to play".
"The children will soon have no place vor to play in, an if they do grow, they will have a mushroom face with their bodies so simple as dough".
"Soon there wont be a blade of grass, nor a field for the children to run free and their lungs and their limbs will grow weak."
WILLIAM BARNES , Dorset dialect poet and visionary. "You are worried about seeing him spend his early years in doing nothing. What! Is it nothing to be happy? Nothing to skip, play, and run around all day long? Never in his life will he be so busy again." Friedrich Nietzsch.
"You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation."
Plato "Play energizes us and enlivens us. It eases our burdens. It renews our natural sense of optimism and opens us up to new possibilities."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Life must be lived as play".
Plato
"In our play we reveal what kind of people we are".
Ovid
"Play is our brain's favorite way of learning".
Diane Ackerman
"Culture arises and unfolds in and as play".
Johan Huizinga
"Almost all creativity involves purposeful play".
Abraham Maslow
"Whoever wants to understand much must play much".
Gottfried Benn
"Play is the only way the highest intelligence of humankind can unfold".
Joseph Chilton Pearce
 "The true object of all human life is play". G. K. Chesterton "Play gives children a chance to practice what they are learning". Fred Rogers "A child loves his play, not because it’s easy, but because it’s hard". Benjamin Spock "Play fosters belonging and encourages cooperation". Stuart Brown, M.D. "Play has been man’s most useful preoccupation". Frank Caplan "To the art of working well a civilized race would add the art of playing well." George Santayana "People tend to forget that play is serious". David Hockney "Children need the freedom and time to play. Play is not a luxury. Play is a necessity". Kay Redfield Jamison
"Do not…keep children to their studies by compulsion but by play".
Plato
"Deep meaning lies often in childish play". Johann Friedrich von Schiller "Man is most nearly himself when he achieves the seriousness of a child at play". Heraclitus
"Surely all God’s people…like to play". John Muir
"Children at play are not playing about. Their games should be seen as their most serious minded activity". Michel de Montaigne
"Necessity may be the mother of invention, but play is certainly the father". Roger von Oech "Play keeps us fit physically and mentally". Stuart Brown, M.D.
"You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation". Plato
"The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct". Carl Jung
"In play a child always behaves beyond his average age, above his daily behavior. In play it is as though he were a head taller than himself".
Lev Vygotsky
"Creative people are curious, flexible, persistent, and independent with a tremendous spirit of adventure and a love of play".
Henri Matisse
"The opposite of play is not work. It’s depression".
Brian Sutton-Smith "Play is training for the unexpected".Marc Bekoff "Creative play is like a spring that bubbles up from deep within a child".
Joan Almon Gretchen Owocki ade by those who can make outrageous connections, and only a mind which knows how to play can do that."Nagle Jackson. "Men do not quit playing because they grow old; they grow old because they quit playing". ~Jean de la Bruyere "In every real man a child is hidden that wants to play". ~Friedrich Nietzsche QUOTES ON THE ATTRIBUTES OF ADVENTURE PLAY “The adventure playground is an attempt to give the city child a substitute for the play and development potential it has lost as the city has become a place where there is no space for the child’s imagination and play". "Access to all building sites is forbidden to unauthorized persons, there are no trees where the children can climb and play Tarzan". "The railway station grounds and the common, where they used to be able to fight great battles and have strange adventures, do not exist any more". “It is now not easy to be a child in the city when you feel the urge to be a caveman or a bushman”.
Bertelsen “It is like putting a magnifying glass on the community" - Francis McLennon / Leader of Angel Town Adventure Playground-London.
"It is a source of experience which the child can tap freely and at will, without compulsion, restriction or commitment, the child learns to live, work and pfree,friendly and in a self disciplined way" .- Tony Chilton, Leader of Blacon / Chester Adventure Playground. "To desire to experiment and to build, to find out for himself, it is natural and necessary to the twelve year old, as to the sand and water stage to the three year olds". "The adventure playground was conceived specifically for this, to provide for this kind of activity, it was to be the workshop of the child". - Joe Benjamin / Leader of London Adventure Playground.
"The ugliest, yet for me it is the best and most beautiful of all my works". J.H.SORENSON. (Leader and Architect) -When commenting on the first Adventure Playground at EMDRUPT. "Their primary function is to help to create an atmosphere which is child Centred; where there are no meaningless limitations or restrictions, apart from Precautions necessary against injury; where guidance and help is given " Tony Chilton writing about Play in Newcastle upon Tyne in the 80s comments about Adventure Playgrounds. |
| v What is Childs Play? In this section of the website I am going to look into the function of Children’s Play as defined by psychologists, writers and learned men throughout history.
Childhood and playSome of the earliest studies of play started in the 1890s with G. Stanley Hall, the father of the child study movement that sparked an interest in the developmental, mental and behavioral world of babies and children.Many of the most prominent researchers in the field of psychology (including Piaget,William James, Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung and Vygotsky have viewed play as endemic to the human species; indeed, the attributions projected upon an imaginary friend by children are key to understanding the construction of human spirituality and it pantheon(s) deinication and demonization. |
He declared that play activity, driven by surplus energy is directed towards activities which have a prominent role in the animal's/person's life. He emphasised a close relationship between art and play saying that "..art is but one kind of play."
The form that the play takes is dependent upon the level of development of the player, but he distinguished divisions of forms of play; as being,
Schiller (1875)
He believed that "play had no real purpose other than to use up excess energy".
Schillier said that "..play is the aimless expenditure of exuberant energy....children and young animals, not concerned with self preservation, have surplus energy which they expended through play."
Freud, Piaget and Vygotsky developed theories which relate play to the world of children and many others have restated the significance of play within a child's life.
Nature and Uses of Immaturity; identifies play of having various different functions, such as minimising the consequences of action, therefore learning in a less risky situation, and the opportunity to try combinations of behaviour that would not otherwise be tried. Others, have since taken on board the therapeutic nature and the ability of play to help identify problems.
Freud identified his theories of play as a repetition of symbolic games being the ego's attempt to repeat actively a traumatic event, previously experienced passively, thus allowing the child to gain mastery over the event. From this, a psychoanalytic approach to child analysis developed which used play to interpret the child's unconscious motivation.
Freud looked for the unconscious motivation behind imaginative play, drawings and paintings, dreams and daydreams. She emphasised the importance of the relationship between the therapist and the child, in particular, the initial stages, She pointed out that this relationship was problematic because the parents (the original love object) are still very much active in the child's life, thus leading to strong positive transference, but difficult negative transference and a transference neurosis does not develop
Klein believed that spontaneous play in a child was equal to free association of an adult.
This theory is problematic, because it relies on an adult interpretation of a child's actions -
"the child who runs towards a visitor and opens her purse, need not thereby as Melanie Klein thinks, have expressed symbolically its curiosity as to whether or not a new little sister is concealed within the body of its mother. It might be associating in its mind the experience of the previous day in which someone who had entered had brought in a small gift in a bag."
Others have taken the view that, contrary to the psychoanalytic approach which relies on the medium of play to indicate the source of problems, the play is the therapeutic process itself.
Non-directive play therapy looks at play as a healing process. It gives the child the opportunity to 'play out' feelings and problems and learns about themself in relation to the therapist.
Play in this model is not seen as stimulation for other kinds of therapy, rather as the therapeutic intervention itself. The focus of this theory is on the healing process of play.
Non-directive therapy allows for the acceptance of the child without judgement or pressure to change. Play is the child's natural medium for expression and in play therapy, the child can play out feelings of tension, frustration, insecurity, aggression, fear, bewilderment and confusion.
1) The therapist must develop a warm friendly relationship with the child, in which good rapport is established as soon as possible.
2) The therapist accepts the child exactly as she is.
3) The therapist establishes a feeling of permissiveness in the relationship so that the child feels free to express feelings completely.
4) The therapist is alert to recognise the feelings the child is expressing and reflects those feelings back in a manner that gives the child an insight into her behaviour.
5) The therapist maintains a deep respect for the child's ability to solve problems if given the opportunity. The responsibility to make changes and institute change is the child's.
6) The therapist does not attempt to direct the child's actions or conversations in any manner, the child leads the way; the therapist follows.
7) The therapist does not attempt to hurry the therapy along. It is a gradual process, recognised as such by the therapist.
8) The therapist establishes only those limitations necessary to anchor the therapy to the world of reality and to make the child aware of her responsibility in the relationship.
Axline also states that the above principles are interwoven and interdependent on the others.
Children in Play Therapy; talks about child-centred play therapy and defines the relationship needed to ensure that the therapy is a growth experience, particularly that the therapist needs to respect and accept the child.
He identifies four stages in the therapeutic process;
the child's emotions are diffused and feelings are generally negative.
the relationship develops and attitudes of hostility become more specific and anger is expressed against particular people/experiences. As the negative feelings are expressed and the therapist accepts them, they become less intense.
the child becomes less negative. S/he still has anger but is no longer ambivalent towards the peope in her/his life.
positive feelings emerge. The child sees her/himself, and the relationship with others in a more balanced way.
The levels of the process occur in individually varying sequences with some overlapping. The key elements in this method are the security of the child with the therapist.
The conditions necessary for 'self-actualisation' to occur through non-directive and child-centred therapy can be characterised by three elements or core conditions;
These three elements are
genuineness and authenticity - that is the capacity to be real, to be themselves as opposed to adopting a role or defensive posture with the client.
non-possessive warmth - an attitude of caring and engaged and friendly concern, without becoming overly emotionally involved or offering help for self-serving reasons.
accurate empathy - the ability to feel with those who are seeking help, and articulate these feelings.
So what about the actual therapy itself? What does it entail?
Sensory/embodiment Play
Different mediums have a different place with each child. Tactile materials such as gloop are used by children to represent a number of things, such as the world falling in on top of you, small creatures being buried under a mound of slime. Or it can be used to regress to babyhood and messy play, touching, smearing, throwing, or representing their own bodies through the material, where it becomes 'snot' or 'sick' or other body fluids etc.
The child explores and experiences the world through the senses, then begins to explore objects, materials and toys outside herself.
The child begins to discover the external world through the exploration of toys and objects external to herself. It can take a narrative form, making up stories around the objects, but sometimes takes the form of embodiment play where the objects are used as a form of sensory experience. So a child may make a monster out of play dough and structure a story about it, or take pleasure in playing with the material , smelling touching, hitting, poking; enjoying a bodily reaction to the material.
Children often represent their social world through symbolic play. Children signal that they are about to start, or change playing, by various methods such as saying "do you want to play with me,?" "now I'm a monster" and close the playing by negating the roles "I'm not dead any more" marking boundaries of when children enter and leave the play.
Symbolic play enables the experience of subjective realities in alternative environments, whilst also sharing this experience with others. The participants agree to create an alternative reality.
Abused children find symbols or metaphors to describe their pain, thus allowing them to to explore past relationships in a multi-dimensional way and make some meaning and resolution of their past.
Actual techniques of play therapy vary between schools of thought, and also between therapists within these schools. What is clear though, is that play is crucial to the development of children, and given that, it can be utilised to identify and resolve trauma that the child may have experienced in their lives.Play is explicitly recognized in Article 31 of The Conventions on the Rights of a Child (adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations. November 29, 1989). which states:
- Parties recognize the right of the child to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts.
- Parties shall respect and promote the right of the child to participate fully in cultural and artistic life and shall encourage the provision of appropriate and equal opportunities for cultural, artistic, recreational and leisure activities.
The American Society of Paediatricians (AAP) published a study in 2006 entitled: "The Importance of Play in Promoting Healthy Child Development and Maintaining Strong Parent-Child Bonds".
The report states: "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.”
Childhood 'play' is also seen by Sally Jenkinson (author of The Genius of Play) to be an intimate and integral part of childhood development.
"In giving primacy to adult knowledge, to our 'grown-up' ways of seeing the world, have we forgotten how to value other kinds of wisdom? Do we still care about the small secret corners of children's wisdom?"
Modern research in the field of 'affective neuroscience' has uncovered important links between role playing and neurogenesis in the brain. Sociologist Roger Callios coined the word "ilinx" to describe the momentary disruption of perception that comes from forms of physical play that disorient the senses, especially balance.
In addition evolutionary psychologists have begun to expound the phylogenetic relationship between higher intelligence in humans and its relationship to play.
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