When looking at the everyday life of a pre-school child, it seems to boil down to one significant word: PLAY. This is perhaps because, as a researcher of play, I have the kind of glasses on my head that allow me to see the playfulness, fun, and creative activities of play in children’s activities. <\/p>\n\n
As a mother of five children and a grandmother of seven grandchildren, when I look at the matter after the Christmas holidays spent together, the usual adult perspective also comes to mind. As adults, we often hear the loudness of play and see a messy space filled with things, where it is sometimes difficult to find a place for our own thoughts and steps. The adult’s task is often to limit the play, and we do this by referring to general rules and children’s safety, without stopping to think about the matter further from the child’s perspective. <\/p>\n\n
One important dimension of play in a child’s life is trying new things and breaking rules and boundaries that have been created together. Through new experiences and doing things differently, a child learns the skills to adapt their own actions, which are a basic prerequisite for independent activity. But when does breaking boundaries cross the permissible limit? <\/p>\n\n
To quote Jari Sinkkonen, \u201cchildren always use power when the opportunity presents itself.\u201d This is sometimes true even in the midst of play. Play is not always harmonious and sometimes requires adult intervention. <\/p>\n\n
I often wonder where the line should be drawn between the rules of the adult world and restricting a child’s creativity. It is perhaps a line drawn in water and flexible depending on the situation in which play appears. Perhaps it is more about how and why we limit play, based on our own desire for comfort or in order to learn cultural and social skills and frameworks. A child belongs and wants to belong to their own family, circle of friends and local community. The feeling of belonging is built through socially approved activities. Play also trains the skills needed to become part of this social environment. Children themselves determine the rules with their friends to advance the play and break them to make it fun and advance the play. They seek their boundaries and build a shared reality. Children often know the limit of fun and bullying and are able to regulate their own actions in skillful play. A child’s skills are not always sufficient for such complex activities that require consideration. <\/p>\n\n
Children need boundaries set by adults and friends for their activities. The approval of friends influences the child’s choices of activities, and sometimes approval is sought by breaking the boundaries and rules set by adults. Play and friendship skills can be practiced together under the guidance of an adult. A skilled educator uses the environment to limit or enrich the child’s play and to direct attention to activities that advance the play. The child can be given play cues, both verbal and nonverbal, and thus attract them to activities that develop skills and their own problem-solving instead of prohibitions. <\/p>\n\n
Awareness skills are a buzzword in the adult world today. They can be practiced together with children. In fact, children practice awareness by playing everyday life into reality and by transforming the events of the game, they evaluate how their own actions affect the environment. The feedback received from the action builds the child’s experience of themselves as an actor, hopefully in a positive direction. <\/p>\n\n
Tiina Lautamo<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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