Guiding Play and Puppetry Experiences

1. Guiding Play and Puppetry Experiences

2. Types of Play • Dramatic play is a form of play in which a child imitates another person or acts a situation • Socio-dramatic play involves several children imitating others and acting out situations together • Most complex form of play in early childhood settings

3. Types of Play, cont’d • Puppetry is another type of play that allows a child to imitate others • Child places feelings and emotions he or she feels onto the puppet, which is known as projection

4. Stages of Play • Solitary play, or independent play, is exploratory in nature • Typical of infants • Parallel play is when children play beside each other but not with each other • Typical of two-year-olds • Cooperative play is play between two or more children • As kids grow socially and emotionally, they begin playing with peers for short periods of time

5. Observing Dramatic Play • Have you ever observed children playing and witnessed them talking to dolls or puppets? • This is called personification . . . giving human traits to nonliving objects Ex. While speaking to a doll, a child might say, “Mommy is going to feed you now.”

6. Stages of Material Use in Play • Children move through three stages of material use in their play; not all reach second or third stage • Stage 1: Manipulative Stage • Child handles props • Stage 2: Functional Stage • Child will use prop as is intended, i.e. bottle for feeding • Stage 3: Imaginative Stage • Child does not need real prop; can think of a substitute

7. Role-playing • Role-playing allows children to try out a variety of roles • Children engaged in role-playing often give specific instructions for roles • Examples: “You be the doctor and I’ll be the little girl” “I’ll play, but I have to be the bus driver.”

8. Benefits of Dramatic Play • Increases cognitive (intellectual) development – imagination let them act out what they cannot be in real life • Increases problem-solving skills – kids make decisions and choices as they play • Increases language concepts – learn new names for equipment and new ideas from other kids

9. Benefits of Dramatic Play, cont’d • Increases physical development – sweeping floors, dressing skills, building structures • Increases social and emotional development – kids try out different social roles, learn how to get along, and act out repressed emotions

10. Play Themes • Themes vary; often focus on everyday situations kids experience • May imitate fixing cars, cooking dinner, painting a house

11. Teacher’s Role • Acts as a resource person who provides materials and space • Need to coach, model, reinforce • Need to schedule play periods that are long enough for children to carry out ideas

12. Equipment & Set-up • Quality of dramatic play is promoted through plenty of age-appropriate materials stored in accessible areas • Classrooms often have costume corners, housekeeping areas, outdoor play areas, and prop boxes • Prop boxes – contain materials and equipment that encourage children to explore various roles; props often complement unit of study