Theories

of
Play
Group 3- Module 1 Lesson 4

Members
*Lovely Rose P. Cantarona
*Lheng Sanchez
*Tyson Catalla
 Everyone knows that children’s play is
fun and exciting. The smiles and laughter
accompany play attest to its enjoyable
nature. Less obvious, how ever, is whether
play is educational, as well as pleasurable.
There are sharp differences of opinion on
this issue. Some adults consider play trivial
and nonessential, while others believe that
play makes important contributions to all
aspects of child development.
Importance
of
PLAY
Add a Slide Title - 3
Two important types of Play

1. Sociodramatic play
2. Constructive play
Sociodramatic Play- occurs when two or more
children adopt rules and act out a make-believe
situation or story, as we saw in the preceding scenario.

Constructive Play- involves using materials such as

blocks or tinker toys to build something, as in the
following scenario
Theories of Play
The theories described in this section attempt to explain
and in, some cases, predict play behavior. They help
define what play is what causes it. We have divided play
theories into two groups:

1. Classical theories, which originated in the nineteenth

and early twentieth centuries
2. Modern theories, which were developed after 1920
Classical Theories
originated on World War II
Classical Theories
Surplus-Energy Theory
-Friedrich Schiller 1873& Herbert Spencer1875.
-According to this theory, each living thing generates a certain amount of
energy to meet survival need.
- play which is viewed as otherwise purposeless behavior.
- Energy finds its release in the aimless exuberant activities of play.
-Play is the result of surplus energy that exists because the young are freed
from the business of self-preservation through the activities of their parents
Recreation theory

- Mitchell and Mason, 1948

- in direct opposition to the surplus energy theory,
- Play restores energy and provides more benefit to
the body than idleness
- Play as a way to recuperate from fatigue
experienced from hard work
Recapitulation Theory

- G’Stanley Hall 1906

- “Play as the result of biological inheritance.”
- the purpose of play is to rid children of primitive
instincts that are no longer needed in modern adult
life.
Practice Theory
- Karl Groos
- play serves to strengthen instincts needed for
the future.
- play offers a safe means for the young of a
species to practice and perfect these vital skills.
Relaxation Theory
- Lazarus 1883 Patrick 1916
- Play is seen as a mode of dissipating the
inhibitions built up from-fatigue due to tasks that are
relatively new to the organism.

-To play is to RELAX

Instinct Theory
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau

- Play is inherited and that the child will engage in

behaviors and activities instinctively.

- Play is INSTINCTIVE
Pre-Exercise Theory

- Groos 1898
- Play is the necessary practice for behaviors that
are essential to later survival. The playful fighting
of animals or the rough and tumble play of children
are essentially the practice of skills that will later
aid their survival.
Growth Theories
- Appleton 1919

- Play is a response to a generalized drive for growth

In the organism.

- Play serves to facilitate the mastery of skills

necessary to the function of adult behaviors.
Ego-Expanding Theories
- Lange 1902 Claparde 1911

- Play is nature's way of completing the ego

an expressive exercising of the ego and the rest
of the personality; an exercising that develops
cognitive skills and aids in the emergence of
additional skills
 Classical Theories of Play

Theory Originator Purpose of Play

Surplus Energy Schiller/Spencer Eliminate surplus

Energy
Recreation Lazarus Regenerate energy
expanded in work
Recapitulation Hall Eliminate ancient
instincts
Practice Groos Perfect instincts
needed for adult life.
Modern Theories
or
Current Theories
Psychodynamic Theory
- Sigmund Freud, founder of psychoanalytic therapy and
psychodynamic theory.
- He believed that play has an important role in children’s
emotional development.
- Freud (1961) play can have “cathartic effects”, allowing children
to rid themselves negative feelings associated with traumatic
event
- Play represents an attempt to partially satisfy drives or to resolve
conflicts when the child really doesn’t have the means to do so.
When a child works through a drive through play he has at least
temporarily resolved it.
Cognitive Theory

- Piaget 1962
- Play is derived from the child's working out
of two fundamental characteristics of his mode
of experience and development. These are
accommodation and assimilation -- the
attempts to integrate new experiences into the
relatively limited number of motor and
cognitive skills available at each age.
-
Approximate Cognitive skills Dominant Type
age of Play

Birth -2 years Sensorimotor Practice Play

2- 6 years Preoperational Symbolic Play

6-11years Concrete Game with

operational rules
Vygotsky’s Theory
Lev Vygotsky (1976), Russian psychologist, believed that play has
a more direct role in cognitive development.
Vygotsky’s views a on play are “holistic”. He considered play to be
important to the social and emotional development of children.
He distinguished two levels of development:
*actual development- independent performance
*potential development- assisted performance. With the zone of
proximal development (ZPD) defined as the distance between two
levels of development.
Vygotsky’s analysis, play is a self-help tool.
Vygotsky saw play as a kind of magnifying glass
revealing potential new abilities before these same
abilities became actualized in other situations, especially
formal ones such as school lessons.
Bruner’s Theory
Other cognitive theories have emphasized how play promotes creativity and
flexibility.
 Jerome Bruner (1972) pointed out that in play, the means are important than
the end. When playing, children do not worry about accomplishing goals, so
they can experiment with new and unusual combinations of behavior they
never would have tried if they were under pressure to achieve goals. Once
children have explored these new behavioral combinations in play, they can use
these to solve real-life problems.
Furthermore, play provides opportunities for exploring different possibilities
in a buffered state that protects the child from experiencing real-world
consequences for behavior and from making premature commitments.
To Bruner, play is vitally linked to the narrative mode in how
humans represent knowledge in human intentionality and
consciousness.
Singer’s Theory
-Jerome Singer (1973) has proposed what he calls, constructive cognitive-
affective account of play, in contrast to what he views as the compensatory
theories of play propounded by Freud and by Piaget.
According to Singer, play and especially imaginative, play is a positive force in
development, not just a coping mechanism due to emotional immaturity (Freud)
or a means of assimilation due to defective logic (Piaget). Singer’s emphasis on
both cognition and emotion was influenced by work of Sylvan Tomkins (1962),
concerning the relation of emotions with cognition.
To Singer, play offers a way for a child to modulate the rate of incoming
stimulation, both from the external world and from the internal world of brain
activity (which is seen as constantly replaying and recording ). Through play, the
child can optimize the flow of internal and external situation, thereby
experiencing pleasurable emotions-unlike the startle response associated with
too much stimulation and the boredom response caused by too little stimulation
Other Theories
Arousal-Modulation Theory.
-Another theory that considers the relationship between stimulation and
play. It was developed by Brlyne (1960) and then modified by Ellis (1973).
-This theory focuses on the solitary player or explorer in relation to objects.
This theory contends that play is caused by need or drive to keep arousal at
an optimal level in our central nervous system. Ellis views play as
stimulus-seeking activity that can elevate arousal to its optimal level. Play
increases stimulation by using objects and actions in new and unusual
ways.
To Ellis, play is therefore a stimulation-producing activity caused by low
levels of arousal. This theory has important implications for the design and
the use of playgrounds and play materials.
Bateson’s Theory

-According to Bateson (1955)play is paradoxical. Actions performed during

play do not mean what they normally mean in real life. When children engage
in play fighting, the blows delivered denote something very different from
actual hitting. Before engaging is such play, children must establish a play
‘frame” or context to let others know that what is about happen is play, that its
not real. Children usually establish this frame by smiling and laughing.
 Theory Role Play in Child Development

Psychoanalytic Mastering traumatic experiences; coping with frustrations

Cognitive/ Piaget Practicing and consolidating previously learned skills and concepts.

Vygotsky Promoting abstract thought; learning within ZPD; self regulation

Bruner Generating flexibility in behavior and thinking; imagination and narration.

Singer Modulating the rate of internal and external stimulation

Arousal modulation Keeping arousal at optimal level by increasing stimulation.

Bateson Promoting an ability to comprehend multiple levels of meaning.

That’s all thank you for listening