Hey guys, my name is Caroline, and just like you, I love learning about child behavior and finding out how certain aspects of a child's life can greatly impact their development. I am a psychology major and a human development minor, therefore I am uber interested in why people do what they do and the impact of development on specifically children. I’m going to walk all of you human development majors through some things I have learned from observing children playing at parks; and hopefully inform you all on how important playing in parks can be in a child’s development into adulthood including developing their social functions.
Child play is detrimental in the proper development of a kid’s social functions, after a 2-hour observation at a park, I have observed and analyzed three situations that highlight the importance of bringing children to parks. There were a couple boys playing a game on the playground in which half of them were knights and the other half were the bad guys. All of the boys were enjoying themselves, running around, screaming and laughing. A new boy walked up close to them, seeming very interested in joining. However, he just watched from the sidelines and looked very apprehensive. He looked over his shoulder at his mom and she gestured with her hand for him to go and gave him a warm smile. The little boy then walked closer to the boys, still seeming a little apprehensive. It looked like he was saying something under his breath, “can I play?” One of the boys heard and yelled “yeah! You can help me catch them”, the boy stood there nervously until the other boy started to talk to him and showed him what to do. Soon all of the boys were back to screaming and laughing together. This situation depicts how they are all improving development by using their imagination, which is critical for children to build and use. It also illustrates how they are improving social functions by helping them learn to play with others, including strangers, which is imperative for them to learn for future schooling and the workplace. In addition, it teaches them how to be social and introduce themselves to others on their own in a safe environment without the assistance of a parent or guardian as stated in Chiesura’s paper “The role of urban parks for the sustainable city.”
As you will hear next, sometimes when you let children deal with problems on their own before intervening, you can help improve their development. I observed a girl swinging alone, minding her own business, as two boys were chasing each other around her. They started getting closer and closer to her until one accidentally bumped into her legs and she fell off of the swing. The girl then began to cry and whine while the two boys just stood there looking at each other; they were confused on what to do and did not have any adults around them for assistance. Eventually, the one boy placed his hand on her shoulder and it seemed as though he apologized to her because she stopped crying soon after. Following the apology, a parent walked over to see what happened and the two boys turned around and ran back towards the playground to continue playing. This is a prime example of how playing at parks can improve and develop social functions. These kids were put in a situation in which there was no guidance from a parent or guardian about how to respond appropriately to the situation, meaning the little boy had to figure out a response on his own. This demonstrates him improving social functions in a safe controlled environment, which will help him in the future if he ever finds himself alone in an unfamiliar situation.
I don't know about you guys, but my next observation brought back some vivid childhood memories from when I used to play with my friends. A few girls were playing with mulch and, in what I gathered, they were pretending that it was food, and serving it to each other. One girl yells, “please get water for the food!” and another girl responds, “okay! I will in a second!” to which the first girl responds, “thank you”. This is another example of how play encourages the use of a child’s imagination. This also illustrates how these girls are strengthening and gaining social functions. By practicing cooperation between each other, this allows them to grow developmentally and interact with other children. Thus, laying foundations for success in school and the workforce stated by Sherer.
I want to thank all of you for joining me today, I have loved getting to share my observations and perspectives with you all! I hope that after listening you have become more informed about the importance of allowing children to play at parks in order to help improve their social functions as they begin development. I encourage you all to continue looking into child play and the benefits its provides towards a child’s development, research like this will provide parents to be with knowledge that they can use to help their children flourish and develop into the young adults they will become.