Social development and play: How play helps children’s development

How play helps children’s development

Playing is a natural and enjoyable way for children to keep active, stay well and be happy. Freely chosen play helps children and young people’s healthy development. To have good physical and mental health and to learn life skills, they need various unstructured play opportunities from birth until they’re teenagers.

Freely chosen play

Freely chosen play is when a child decides and controls their play following their own instincts, imagination and interests.  They play without being led by adults.

There’s no right or wrong way to play. Freely chosen play improves children’s health, well-being and development. 

Why play is important

Play improves the cognitive, physical, social, and emotional well-being of children and young people.

Through play, children learn about the world and themselves.

They also learn skills they need for study, work and relationships such as:

• confidence
• self-esteem
• resilience
• interaction
• social skills
• independence
• curiosity
• coping with challenging situations

Developing physical health through play

Physical play such as running, skipping and riding a bicycle helps children develop:

• good physical fitness
• agility
• stamina
• co-ordination
• balance

Developing social skills through play

Playing can help children develop their social skills with others. By listening, paying attention and sharing play experiences, this helps a child:

• explore their feelings
• develop self-discipline
• learn how to express themselves
• work out emotional aspects of life

Playful parenting

Through play, parents can connect fully with their children and have fun.  

A parent or carer can support and take part in their child’s play activities but they shouldn’t direct what happens.

It’s important they give their children time, freedom and choice to play. If an adult makes all the decisions about how, what and when their child plays, the child won’t enjoy their play experiences.

Play and challenge

Children often want to create challenge and uncertainty in their play. Through risky, challenging play, children test themselves and find out their own limits. They learn how to deal with risk through play and can use these same skills later in life.

Parents should encourage their children from birth to extend themselves. Teach them basic skills including:

• riding a bicycle
• swimming
• road safety

Explain that it’s important to learn from mistakes, to try again and to believe in themselves.  Help them understand their limits and their boundaries. Allow them to have fun in their play.

Play and digital technology

To make sure children have time for unstructured, freely chosen play every day, parents should limit screen time. The younger the child, the less time they should be using digital devices.

Keep certain times and areas in the home technology-free zones such as:

• meals
• when outdoors
• before bed
• bedrooms

Don’t use digital devices to distract your children or keep them quiet. Talk to your children, play games or look at a book together. Join in your children’s screen time and talk about their online activity.

Show your children good example by limiting your own screen time.

More useful links

• Give your child a helping hand
• Play matters

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Games for the social development of the child

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5 socialization games for preschoolers

• Draw the picture game
• Role play
• Mirror Game
• Game “Guess the emotion”
• Improvisation game

The social development of a child is one of the most important tasks not only for teachers from the early development center, but also for parents. After all, it is in the family that the baby receives the first communication lessons, learns to interact with adults and peers, and receives behavior patterns that he will use in the future. We offer great games and ideas for a home toy library that will develop communication skills in a preschooler.

Draw the picture game

This simple game comes from children’s art therapy. The first participant draws some kind of squiggle or figure on the sheet, the second one completes the drawing with one detail, the third one also draws something and so on in a circle. You can play together, it will also be interesting. This game helps the child learn to work in a team and shows how something new is created as a result of joint activity.

Role play

From the age of two, kids can play role-playing games, and by the age of 3-4, this becomes the main activity of children. Games help the child explore the world, try on role models seen in the family or kindergarten. That is why early childhood development centers and toddler development centers often use such games to develop social skills. But in a home toy library for children, it is also useful to play with a child. Play with dolls, cars or plush animals situations that cause difficulties for the child, and teach him to interact with others correctly.

Mirror Game

Two participants stand opposite each other. One – the leader – begins to make movements. The other – “reflection” – repeats them synchronously. This exercise comes from children’s choreography and acting, but it is used in leadership schools for children. It teaches you to feel a partner, work effectively in pairs and develop communication skills.

Guess the emotion game

Choose a book and start reading it with your child. It is important to choose books by age, their list will probably be given by a teacher from the child development center. Ask the child to guess the character’s emotion. Try not to say the name of the emotion out loud. For example, if it says “he got angry,” change it to “he frowned and stamped his foot.” Ask your child why the character is experiencing this particular emotion? What does he feel now? Is he good or bad? How could you help him cope with feelings and is it necessary?

This game very well develops emotional intelligence – a necessary component of the complex development of the child. Such children feel the interlocutor better, make contact easier and communicate more effectively.

Improvisation game

If your child attends a children’s theater studio, he is probably familiar with this exercise. If not, it’s time to get to know each other. Write topics on pieces of paper and put everything in an opaque bag. Invite the child to pull out one piece of paper. Read the topic. Invite the child to talk about it for 1-2 minutes. Such a game teaches the child not to be afraid of new topics and not to avoid communication in the company.

Here are some examples of topics for discussion:

• My favorite toy;
• My friends;
• The children’s center that I go to;
• What will I be when I grow up;
• My favorite creative activity;
• Why you need to go to school;
• Where did I go in the summer.

Topics should be selected in accordance with the age and development of the child. However, it is also useful to offer reasoning topics, for example, “Why it snows in winter” – this develops creativity and speed of thinking.

The Imena Production Children’s Development Center invites your children to study. The Child Development Center is a great place to improve your child’s communication skills, no matter how shy or humble they are. There is an acting school for children in our center, where pupils are taught not only acting techniques, but also the ability to hold their own in public, the ability to improvise and not get lost in any situation. And in the business school for children, the child learns the life hacks of business communication, the correct behavior in disputes and conflicts, and the ability to negotiate. This is also important in the framework of comprehensive development and will be beneficial in everyday life.

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04/23/2021.

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Card file of games aimed at the social development of the child’s personality | File cabinet:

Card file of games aimed at the social development of the child’s personality

Abstract: This system of games and exercises is aimed at the social development of the personality of a preschool child, in particular, at the development and correction of the social development of the personality of older preschoolers.

Games to overcome anxiety and increase self-esteem of preschoolers.

1. Balloon game
Purpose: relieve tension, calm children.
All players stand or sit in a circle. The host gives instructions: “Imagine that now we will inflate balloons. Inhale the air, bring an imaginary balloon to your lips and, puffing out your cheeks, slowly inflate it through parted lips. Follow with your eyes how your ball is getting bigger and bigger, how the patterns on it increase, grow. Represented? I also introduced your huge balls. Blow carefully so that the balloon does not burst. Now show them to each other.”
The exercise can be repeated 3 times.
2. Game “Portrait”
Purpose: to teach a child to recognize emotions, relieve psychomuscular tension.
The child sits opposite the adult. Adult – as an artist. “Now I will draw your portrait. But for this I need your help. I will name the parts of the face, and you will tell me how to draw them. For example, what size to draw a face? Bigger or smaller than yours? The child answers. What will be the eyes – large or small, or will we leave the ones that are? In this case, the adult outlines the contour of the eyes in the figure. “What color will they be?” The child calls. Then the nose, cheeks, ears, hair are drawn in the same order. Eyebrows and lips expressing various emotions: joy, sadness, anger. Next, the child is asked to decide what mood this portrait will have. If the child identifies himself with the portrait, then he will reflect his mood. If he does not reflect his true mood, it means that it has either moved from negative to positive, or the child is dissatisfied with himself and wants to change.
3. Fight exercise
Purpose: to relax the muscles of the lower part of the face and hands.
“You’ve quarreled with a friend. A fight is about to begin. Inhale deeply, tightly clench your jaws. Lock your fingers in your fists, press your fingers into your palms until it hurts. Hold your breath for a few seconds. Think: maybe you shouldn’t fight? Exhale and relax. Hooray! The trouble is over!” This exercise is useful not only with anxious, but also with aggressive children. [6]
4. Pump and ball game
Purpose: to relax the maximum number of muscles in the body.
“Guys, split into pairs. One of you is a big inflatable ball, the other is inflating this ball with a pump. The ball stands with its whole body limp, on half-bent legs, arms, neck relaxed. The body is tilted slightly forward, the head is lowered (the ball is not filled with air). The comrade begins to inflate the ball, accompanying the movement of the hands (they pump air) with the sound “s”. With each air supply, the ball inflates more and more. Hearing the first sound “s”, he inhales a portion of air, while straightening his legs at the knees, after the second “s” the torso straightened, after the third – the head of the ball rises, after the fourth – the cheeks puffed out and even the arms moved away from the sides. The ball is inflated. The pump has stopped pumping. The comrade pulls the pump hose out of the ball … Air comes out of the ball with force with the sound “sh”. The body went limp again, returned to its original position. Then the players change roles. [4]
5. The game “Hares and Elephants”
Purpose: to enable children to feel strong and courageous, to promote self-esteem.
“Guys, I want to offer you a game called Bunnies and Elephants. First, we will be cowardly bunnies. Tell me, when a hare feels danger, what does he do? That’s right, it shakes. Show how he trembles. He presses his ears, shrinks all over, tries to become small and inconspicuous, his tail and paws are shaking, ”etc. The children show.
“Show me what bunnies do when they hear human footsteps?” Children scatter around the group, class, hide, etc. “What do bunnies do if they see a wolf? ..” The teacher plays with the children for several minutes.
“And now you and I will be elephants, big, strong, brave. Show how calmly, measuredly, majestically and fearlessly elephants walk. And what do elephants do when they see a person? Are they afraid of him? No. They are friends with him and, when they see him, they calmly continue on their way. Show how. Show what elephants do when they see a tiger . .. “Children pretend to be a fearless elephant for several minutes.
After the exercise, the guys sit in a circle and discuss who they liked to be and why.
6. The game “Magic Chair”
Purpose: to help increase the child’s self-esteem, improve relationships between children.
This game can be played with a group of children for a long time. Previously, an adult must find out the “story” of the name of each child – its origin, what it means. In addition, it is necessary to make a crown and a “Magic Chair” – it must be necessarily high. The adult conducts a short introductory conversation about the origin of the names, and then says that he will talk about the names of all the children in the group (the group should not be more than 6 people), and the names of anxious children are best called in the middle of the game. The one whose name is told becomes the king. Throughout the story of his name, he sits on a throne wearing a crown. At the end of the game, you can invite the children to come up with different versions of his name (gentle, affectionate). You can also take turns saying something nice about the king. [7]
7. Game “Blind dance”
Purpose: development of trust in each other, removal of excessive muscle tension.
“Pair up. One of you gets a blindfold, he will be “blind”. The other will remain “sighted” and will be able to drive the “blind”. Now hold hands and dance with each other to light music (1-2 minutes). Now switch roles. Help your partner tie the bandage.”
As a preparatory step, children can be seated in pairs and asked to hold hands. The one who sees moves his hands to the music, and the blindfolded child tries to repeat these movements without releasing his hands, 1-2 minutes “Then the children change roles. If the anxious child refuses to close his eyes, calm him down and do not insist. Let him dance with his eyes open.

As the child gets rid of anxiety states, you can begin to play the game not sitting, but moving around the room.
8. Game “Trains”
Purpose of the game: development of communication skills, rallying children, increasing self-confidence, arbitrariness.
A group of children is divided into threes, in each three the children stand one behind the other, holding hands on the waist of the person in front. The first of them plays the role of a “locomotive” (his eyes are closed and his arms are stretched forward), the second is a “passenger”, the third is a “engine driver”. The task of the “engineer” is to control the engine, to avoid collisions. The “passenger” is the transmission link of the “driver” commands to the “engine”. One of the group of children plays the role of a “dispatcher”, he sets the rhythm of the movement of trains with claps, speeding up or slowing down their movement.
At the command of the leader, the trains begin to move, then after a while they stop at the command, and the children and the three change roles (the first becomes the third, etc.). It is important that all children experience three roles. After the game, it is advisable to discuss with the children which role they liked the most and why. [4]
9. The game “Mask Theater”
Purpose: to relax the muscles of the face, relieve muscle tension, fatigue.
“Guys! We will visit the “Mask Theater”. You will all be artists, and I will be a photographer. I will ask you to depict the facial expressions of various heroes. For example: show what the evil Baba Yaga looks like.” Children with the help of facial expressions and simple gestures or only with the help of facial expressions depict Baba Yaga. “Good! Great! And now freeze, I’m taking pictures. Well done! Some even became funny. You can laugh, but only after the frame is shot.
And now depict the Crow (from the fable “The Crow and the Fox”) at the moment when she squeezes the cheese in her beak. “Children tightly clench their jaws, simultaneously stretching their lips, depict a beak. “Attention! Freeze! I’m filming! Thank you! Well done!
And now show how scared the grandmother from the fairy tale “Little Red Riding Hood” was when she realized that she was talking not with her granddaughter, but with the Gray Wolf. “Children can open their eyes wide, raise their eyebrows, open their mouths. “Freeze! Thank you!
And how did the Fox smile slyly when she wanted to please the kolobok? Freeze! I’m filming! Well done! Good job!”
Further, the teacher or educator, at their discretion, can praise especially anxious children, for example, like this: “Everyone worked well, Vitya’s mask was especially scary, when I looked at Sasha, I got scared myself, and Mashenka looked very much like a cunning fox. Everyone did their best, well done!”
“The actor’s work day is over. We are tired. Let’s have a rest. Let’s sit like this in silence, relax and rest. Thank you all!” [5]
10. The game “Change of Rhythms”
Purpose: to help anxious children get involved in the general rhythm of work, relieve excessive muscle tension.
If the teacher wants to attract the attention of the children, he begins to clap his hands and loudly, in time with the clapping, count: one, two, three, four … The children join in and, too, all clapping their hands together, count in unison: one, two , three, four . .. Gradually, the teacher, and after him the children, claps less and less, counts quieter and slower.
11. Barbell Game
Purpose: to relax the muscles of the arms and back, to enable the child to feel successful.
“Let’s take the bar lighter and raise it above our heads. We took a breath, raised the bar, fixed this position so that the judges counted you a victory. It’s hard to stand like that, drop the bar, exhale. Relax. Hooray! You are all champions. You can bow to the audience. You Everyone clap, bow again like champions.” The exercise can be performed several times.
12. Game “Image of animals”
Purpose: to relax the muscles of the face, relieve muscle tension.
A cunning fox, a cowardly hare, a terrible tiger, a strong bear and, conversely, a cowardly bear, and a brave hare are depicted. [1]

Games aimed at rallying the group.

1. Game “Mirror”
The leader is chosen: this is a person, all the rest are mirrors. A person looks in mirrors, and they reflect him. Mirrors repeat all his movements, the actions of a person who, of course, grimaces from the heart. Here it is important to ensure that the mirrors reflect correctly: if a person raised his right hand, the mirrors should raise their left, etc. In this game, it is convenient to reward the most passive members of the group. [4]
2. Game “Give a Card”
An adult together with children draws cards with pictograms denoting various positive qualities. Discuss with the children what each pictogram means.
For example, a card with a picture of a smiling man can symbolize fun. Each child is given 5-8 cards. At the signal of the leader, the children fix all the cards on the back of their comrades (using adhesive tape). The child receives this or that card if his comrades believe that he has this quality. At a signal from an adult, children stop playing and usually take the “prey” off their backs with great impatience. At first, of course, it happens that not all players have a lot of cards, but when the game is repeated and after discussion, the situation changes. During the discussion, you can ask the children if it is pleasant to receive cards. Then you can find out what is more pleasant – to give good words to others or to receive them yourself. Most often, children say that they like both giving and receiving. Then the facilitator can draw their attention to those who received no cards at all or received very few of them. Usually these children admit that they were happy to give cards, but they would also like to receive such gifts. As a rule, when the game is repeated, there are no “outcast” children left.
3. Sculpture game
This game teaches children to control the muscles of the face, arms, legs and relieve muscle tension.
Children are divided into pairs. One of them is a sculptor, the other is a sculpture. On the instructions of an adult (or a leading child), the sculptor sculpts a sculpture from “clay”: a child who is not afraid of anything; a child who is happy with everything; a child who completed a difficult task, etc.
Topics for sculptures can be suggested by an adult, or by children themselves.
Players usually change roles. A variant of a group sculpture is possible.
After the game, it is advisable to discuss with the children what they felt in the role of a sculptor, a sculpture, which figure was pleasant to portray, which one was not. [5]
4. The game “Lavata”
The players stand in a circle, join hands and begin to move in a circle, singing loudly: “We dance, we dance, tra-ta-ta, tra-ta-ta, our merry dance This is Lavata. Then everyone stops and the leader says: “My elbows are good, but my neighbor’s is better” – everyone takes their neighbors by the elbows and starts moving humming again. The host can name the parts of the body that he wants (waist, shoulders, heels, legs, etc.), the main thing is to relieve tactile tension in children.
5. Toe-heel game (mini-training for approaching and relieving tactile tension)
Everyone stands in a very tight circle so that the toe rests on the heel of the person in front. When they got up as they should, everyone begins to slowly squat in this position – it turns out that everyone sits on the knees of the previous one. If you successfully sat down, you need to try to hold out a little.
6. Game “Triangle, square”
Everyone stands in a circle and holds hands. Then everyone closes their eyes. The host asks: “Guys! In complete silence, without words, build me a triangle … a square … a rhombus, etc. ” [1
7. The game “Beep”
The whole group, with the exception of the leader, sits in a circle on chairs or in armchairs. The driver, blindfolded, walks inside the circle, periodically sitting down on his knees. His task is to guess who he sat down with. Feeling with your hands is not allowed, you must sit with your back to the person sitting as if you are sitting on a chair. The seated person must say “Beep”, preferably “Not in his own voice”, so that he will not be recognized. If the driver guessed whose lap he is sitting on, then this child begins to drive, and the one who guesses sits in his place.
8. The game “Bug”
The driver stands with his back to the group, putting his hand out from under his arm with an open palm. The children and the psychologist stand in line behind him. The right hand of everyone is clenched and raised to the level of the chest, the thumb of this hand is raised up. Someone from the line touches the open palm of the driver and quickly takes the starting position, and the driver must turn to the group and guess who touched him. The driver leads until he guesses correctly. Then the one you guessed starts to drive. The game reveals group relationships well. [5]
9. The game “Putanka”
The driver is selected. He leaves the room. The rest of the children join hands and form a circle. Without unclenching their hands, they begin to get confused – who knows how. When a confusion has formed, the driver enters the room and unravels it, also without opening the hands of those who have become entangled. The game supports group unity.
10. Game “Birthday”
Purpose: group cohesion and creation of favorable emotional comfort in the group.
Game progress: a birthday boy is chosen. Guests (children) are invited to come up with a congratulation and prepare a gift. The gift must be given with the help of gestures and facial expressions. One of the participants gives an imaginary “gift-image” to the birthday man, and everyone else must guess what was presented to him.
11. The game “Blind Man’s Bluff”
The game is aimed at group cohesion and initiation of tactile contacts, well disinhibits motorally inhibited children.
The whole group stands in a circle, one considers to choose the leader. The driver blindfolds himself, someone from the group twists him in place to make orientation difficult. You can circle with various funny sayings or comic dialogues. For example; “What are you standing on?” – “On the bridge.” – “What do you eat?” – “Sausage.” – “What do you drink?” – “Kvass” – “Look for mice, not us.” After that, everyone scatters, and the “blind man’s buff” should walk around the room and catch the children. Children run around the room, tease the blind man, touch her to distract, etc., and she must catch one of the guys and guess who it is by touch.
12. Game “Desert Island”
The game begins with sociometry – who will go with whom to a desert island. Then, when mutual and forced couples have formed, everyone goes to a desert island. Then the psychologists turn out to be natives on this island and attack couples of children thrown out by the waves, causing aggression on themselves, they manage to rally the group well and remove disappointment from sociometry. [4]
Thus, the proposed games are aimed at the full social development of preschool children. The first group of games is aimed at overcoming anxiety and increasing self-esteem of preschoolers. The second group of games is designed to rally and unite the children’s team.
The use of this system of games in remedial and developmental classes will be an effective means of social development of the personality of preschoolers, which in the future will serve as protection for the child from social and interpersonal confrontations.

Literature:
1. Correctional and developmental classes for children of senior preschool age. [Text] / E.A. Alyabyeva. – M.: “Academy”, 2003.
2. General psychology. Dictionary. [Text] / A. V. Petrovsky. – M.: Publishing house “PER SE”, 2005.
3. Rogov, E.I. Handbook of practical psychologist. In 2 books. [Text] / E.I. Rogov-Kn. 1. – 2nd ed., revised. and additional – M .: Humanit. ed. 4. Safin, V.F. Mental deviations in the development of children and methods of their psychocorrection. [Text] / V.F. Safin. – Ufa: Kitap, 1994. – 80 p.
center VLADOS, 1999.- 384p.: ill.
5. Vopel, K. How to teach children to cooperate? Psychological games and exercises. In 4 volumes. [Text] / K. Fopel, trans. with it.; T. 2. – M: Genesis, 1998. – 160 p.: ill.
6. Workshop on children’s correction: games, exercises, techniques. [Text] / O.N. Istratov. – Rostov N / D .: Phoenix, 2007. – 350s.
7. The practice of psychotherapy: a collection of fairy tales, games and therapeutic programs.