PLAY EQUIPMENT AS A DETERMINANT OF CHILDREN’S ACQUISITION OF NUMERACY SKILLS (EDUCATION PROJECT TOPICS AND MATERIALS)
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
- BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
Learning through play is a term used in education and psychology to describe how children can learn to make sense of the world around them. Through play, children can develop social and cognitive skills, mature emotionally and gain the self confidence required to engage in new experiences and environments. Key ways that young children learn include playing, being with other people, being active, exploring new experiences, communication with others, meeting physical and mental challenges, being shown how to do new things, practicing and repeating skills and having fun.
According to proponents of the concepts, play enables children to make sense of the world. Children possess a natural curiosity to explore, and play acts as a medium to do so. The characteristics of play include the following:
- Play must be pleasurable and enjoyable
- Play must have no extrinsic goals, that is, there is no prescribed learning that must occur.
- Play is spontaneous and voluntary
- Play involves active engagement on the part of the player
- Play involves an element of make-believe
- Play is mostly a self-chosen activity by the child, rather than prescribed by a parent or a teacher.
According to Dietze and Kashin (1998) in order for an activity to be considered play, the experience must include a measure of inner control, ability to bend or invent reality and a strong internally based motivation for playing.
Play is not wasted time, but rather time spent building new knowledge from previous experience. It also reduces stress and strikes a balance between the body and mind. The way that children learn through play is culturally specifical as a result of differences in child rearing beliefs, values and practices.
Evidence from neuroscience shows that the early years of a children’s development from birth to age six set the basis for learning behaviour and health throughout life. The child’s neural pathways influence their development through exploration, thinking, problem solving and language expression which occur during play episodes.
Numeracy is the ability to reason and to apply simple numeral concepts. Basic numeracy skills consist of comprehending fundamental mathematics such as addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Learning occurs when children play with blocks, paint a picture or play make believe. During play, children try new things, solve problems, invent, create, test ideas and explore.
