PLAY:
What It Is and How to Use It to Support
Development and Learning
Karin Lifter, PhD
Northeastern University
Head Start Broadcast Call
April 6, 2011
K.Lifter@neu.edu
Project Play
Funded by:
• Institute of Education
Sciences (IES)
• National Center for Special
Education Research (NCSER)
• U.S. Department of
Education
Awarded to:
• Karin Lifter (Northeastern)
• Emanuel Mason (Northeastern)
• Takuya Minami (U. Wisconsin)
Objectives for Broadcast
• Present concerns about time for play
• Discuss why play is important
– Contributes to language, literacy, self-regulation
– --> School Readiness
• Describe:
– What play is
– What children learn in play
– How play contributes to language development
• Review what you can do to help children play
Learning Outcomes
• Increased knowledge of:
– Play
– The contribution of play to language, literacy, and
social/emotional development for young children
– --> importance of play to school readiness!
• Increased skills for:
– identifying play activities that support developments in
play, language, and literacy development
Current Concerns
APA Monitor: September 2009
APA Monitor
Lea Winerman
• Identifies
– Contemporary concerns:
• decreases in recess and free time
– Result of societal fears of “falling behind”
• Cites David Elkind and Kathy Hirsch-Pasek
– Play as important for creativity, critical
thinking, and ability to learn from failure
• Cites report from Alliance for Childhood
Alliance for Childhood
• Report: March 2009
• “Crisis in the Kindergarten: Why children need to
play in school”
• Based on research in NY and LA
– 2-3 hours per day of:
• literacy; math instruction; testing
– Less than 30 minutes per day
• for play or choice time
--> To reduce fears, let’s think about the
importance of play
Importance of Play
Zero to Three (2004)
Zigler, Singer, & Bishop-Josef (Eds.)
Importance of Play
Use of Sociodramatic Play to
Develop Literacy Skills in EC Settings
Banerjee & Horn (2005)
Importance of Play
NY Times Magazine: Sept. 27, 2009
NY Times Magazine: Sept. 27, 2009
Paul Tough
The Make-Believe Solution:
Can imaginary play teach
children to control their
impulses -- and be better
students?
Using “Tools of the Mind”
curriculum to encourage
executive function
Importance of Play
(Recent Research)
• Sharyn Matthews (2008):
– Sociodramatic play (especially the component
of verbal communication) predicted selfregulation in preschoolers
– Teachers accord great importance to selfregulation as a readiness skill
NAEYC 2009: Position Statement on
Developmentally Appropriate Practice
…Play promotes key abilities that enable children to
learn successfully. In high-level dramatic play …
the collaborative planning of roles and scenarios
and the impulse control required to stay within
the play’s constraints develop children’s selfregulation, symbolic thinking, memory, and
language -- capacities critical to later learning,
social competence, and school success.
Play is Important!
Contributes to School Readiness:
• Roots of reading
• Language development
• Self-regulation
Overview of
Literacy Development
Traditional pre-literacy activities
– Word play, phonological awareness
– Book reading, letter identification
– Dramatic play:
• development of symbol system
Contemporary ideas:
– foundation for literacy in early play (Zigler et al., 2004).
– Play contributes to social, emotional, cognitive, literacy
development
Foundations of Literacy
• Children need to learn the language
• Definition of language:
– “Language is a means for representing
information in messages …
– Language is a social act and is used to obtain,
maintain, and regulate contact with other
persons … language is learned in such
contexts” (Lahey, 1988, p.352).
Some Components of Literacy
• Language is a means for expressing
information
• Reading is a means for decoding and
interpreting information
• Writing is a means for encoding and
expressing information
Foundations of Language
• Language is about something (just like reading and
writing are about something)
– Language is used to express knowledge and feelings about
objects, people, and events
• In addition to learning the forms and uses of language …
• --> Children need to develop knowledge about objects,
people, and events that are represented in messages
How Do Children Learn?
• How do children develop knowledge about:
– objects, people, and events that are represented in
messages?
• Children need to develop knowledge so that they
have:
– something to talk about
– something to interact about
• --> Children develop knowledge in and through
play
Different Ways to Think about Play
We often think of play as a natural activity
• NAEYC: use of play to embed opportunities for learning
• DEC Recommended Practices
– (Wolery 2005)
Child focused interventions
in natural activities
Developmental
Domains
Play
(child’s work)
Language
Self-help
Cognitive
Social/Emotional
Motor
Play as an Activity
How Play Defined Here
Focus on play as something to be developed:
--> Play as a developmental domain
– Play as an activity to develop and express
knowledge about objects, people, and events
– This perspective lets us talk about play
separate from other domains
– We will focus on this perspective to begin with
Why Play as a Developmental Domain is
Important in Development
• Can think about play as a form of
expression
– Children will show you what they know and are
thinking about in their play
– --> we need to play attention to what children
are doing in their play to get an idea of what
they know
Why Play as a Developmental Domain is
Important in Development
• Also can think about play as a way to interpret
new information
– Children will use play activities to learn new
things about objects and events
– --> We need to pay attention to learning
opportunities that present themselves in
children’s play
Where Do These Ideas Come From?
Traditional Theories of Play
Piaget (1962, p. 93)
• Happy display of known actions
Montessori (1967, p. 180)
• The child’s work
Vygotsky (in Rubin et al., 1983, p. 709)
• An adaptive mechanism promoting cognitive growth
Lifter & Bloom (1998, p. 164)
• “Actions in play display what the child already knows (i.e. expression)…
but also display what the child is currently thinking about in efforts to
make sense (i.e. interpretation) of ongoing events for advancing
knowledge.”
Implications for Development
• Children construct knowledge of objects, people, and
events through their play
• Children learn language to represent and share their
increasing knowledge
• This increasing knowledge is expressed in play and in
language, resulting in:
– correspondences between play and language (Bloom & Tinker,
2001; Lifter & Bloom, 1989; McCune, 1995)
Implications for Intervention
• Can use play to assess the expression of
knowledge in young children with language delays
– --> Assessment of play (Lifter, 2000)
• Can use play to support developments in
knowledge for young children with developmental
delays
– --> Interventions in play --> more knowledge, and
more knowledge to express in language and play;
engagement in social interactions (Lifter et al. 2005)
Focus on Play as Something to be Developed:
-> See Delays in Play in Many Children with Special Needs
• Children with autism/PDD
– Delays in developing pretend/symbolic play (McDonough et al., 1997)
– Less frequent spontaneous play (Libby et al., 1998)
– High frequency of repetitive play
– Limited imitation skills
– Limited cooperative play and turn-taking
• Children with Down syndrome
– Less exploratory behavior in solitary play than typically developing
children
– Tendency to elaborate on the same play themes repeatedly
– Significant correlation between symbolic play and mental age (Cunningham et
al., 1985)
Focus on Play as Something to be Developed:
-> See Delays in Play in Many Children with Special Needs
• Children of mothers who have abused substances
(Beckwith et al., 1994)
– Continued persistence of immature play strategies
– Delayed development of more complex play
• Children with visual impairments (Troster & Brambring, 1994)
– Limited exploration
– More solitary play
– Less symbolic play
Some Problems with Descriptions
• Use of general descriptions
– Symbolic play
– Complex play
• Mix social behaviors with an emphasis on what is
happening in play
– Solitary play
– Cooperative play
• Many descriptions are inconsistent
Need for descriptions that focus on play as a
domain
Examples of Descriptions of Play (Foundations):
Use of Categories, Developmental Sequences
Belsky &
Most (1981)
Fenson et al
(1976)
Simple
manipulation
Functional
relational
Lifter &
Bloom
(1989)
Watson &
Fisher (1977)
Separations
Rel simple/
Rel accom
Given;
Imposed gen’l
Enactive
naming
Presymbolic
Pretend self
Symbolic acts
Pretend other
Symbolic acts
Substitution
Nicolich
(1977)
McCune ‘95
Imposed
specific
Autosymbolic
Self as agent
Single scheme
symbolic
Passive other
agent
Passive subs
Descriptions of Play (from the Developmental Play Assessment:DPA)
Lifter (2000)
Level
Categories
Definitions
II
Discriminitive Actions
Differentiates among objects, preserving their physical
or conventional characteristics (rolls round objects)
III
Presentation
Combinations
Re-creates combinations of objects according to their
presentation configuration (puts puzzle pieces into
puzzle)
General Combinations
Creates combinations of objects that results in simple,
non-specific configurations such as container/contained
relationships (puts beads and puzzle pieces into a cup)
Pretend Self
Relates objects the self, indicating a pretend quality to
the action (brings empty cup to mouth to drink)
IV
Specific Physical
Preserves unique physical characteristics of objects in
configuration (strings beads)
V
Child as Agent
Extends familiar actions to doll figures, with child as the
agent of the activity (extends cup to doll’s mouth)
Specific Conventional
Preserves the unique conventional characteristics of
objects in the configuration (“fixes” car with wrench)
Single-scheme
sequences
Extends same familiar action to two or more figures
(extends cup to doll, to stuffed bear, to interactant)
Substitutions
Uses one object to stand in place for another (puts bowl
on head for hat)
VI
Descriptions of Play as a Domain
• Can focus on play
• Can describe play and its relationship to
other domains
– For example, language
Correspondences:
Prelinguistic Period
Play
• Explore, take hold of
objects, move from
place to place
– Treat all objects alike
• Mouthing, banging
– Take toys apart
– -> Developing
knowledge of objects
in relation to the self
Language
• Reciprocal gaze
• Joint attention
• Calling attention to
objects and events
• Taking turns
Take Apart Combinations of Toys:
To Take Hold of Them, To Mouth Them
Transition to First Words
Play
• Create relationships between
objects
– Perceptually based
• Puzzle piece into frame,
nesting cup into another
– General properties
• Objects in/out containers
– -> Developing knowledge of
objects in relationship to other
objects & people (underlies
object perm., cause-effect)
Language
• First words (emergence of
first conventional words)
– Mean: 13.8 mos
– Range = 10-18 mos
• Code meanings evident in
context
– (relations between objects,
object permanence,
location)
– /this/, /gone/, /more/, /up/
Put Toys Together Based on Perceptual
Properties (“go together”)
Move Various Objects
In and Out of Containers
Begin to Create New Combinations
Based on Physical Properties
Transition to the
Vocabulary Spurt
Play
• Create specific relationships
based on physical &
conventional properties of
objects
– Stacks nesting cups
– Feeds doll w/ spoon
– Uses tool to fix car
• See-then-act quality
• -> Developing mental
representations of
properties/relationships
Language (sharp increase in
the number of new words
used)
– Mean = 19.4 mos
– Range = 13-25 mos
• Code meanings
anticipated in context
– /baby/, as prepares to feed
doll with spoon
Continue to Create New Combinations
Based on Physical Properties:
Create New Combinations Based on What
Has Been Observed and Remembered:
Feed Doll with Spoon
Create New Combinations Based on What
Has Been Observed and Remembered:
Use Tools to Fix Car
Play During Early Sentences
Play
• Link activities into planned
events that represent cultural
practices
• Develops from “see-then-act”
to planned
– Multischeme sequences (Sees
baby, cup, blanket --> picks up
doll, cradles it, gives it a drink,
then lays it on blanket to
sleep)
• Begin to substitute one object
for another
Language
• Elaboration of form of
utterances
– From single words and
successive single words to
simple sentences
• Announcements of
actions
– /baby wants a drink/, then
enacts the scheme
– /this my baby/
– /night night baby/
Multi-Scheme Sequence: Pt.1
Multi-Scheme Sequence: Pt.2
Substitutions
Play During Preschool Years
Sociodramatic play
• Children take on roles
they have observed in
their everyday
experiences
– “Bakers” making pies
• Social components are
added in play with
peers
Play During Preschool Years
More sociodramatic
play
• Children take on roles
they have observed in
their everyday
experiences
– Playing “house”
• Social components are
added in play with peers
Implications for Young Children
with Special Needs
• Assessment in play
– Observe and quantify play activities
– Use a developmental sequence to determine which activities the
child knows well and which activities are just beginning to emerge
in the child’s play
• Interventions in play: provide contexts for
– Increasing child’s knowledge about objects, people, events
– Hearing language to describe what the child is learning and
attending to
– Engaging in caregiver-child joint attention
Translation to Practice:
Interventions in Play
• Identification of objectives for intervention
– Identification of objectives at the emerging level -->
the leading edge of development/learning
– Developmentally Specific (DevSp) objectives
• Use of child-directed teaching procedures
– Follow child’s lead (standard child-initiated)
• What the child is attending to
– We add -- targeting objectives at the child’s leading
edge of learning, yielding developmentally
responsive objectives
Intervention Strategies
• The service provider/teacher always describes the
ongoing actions in simple language (to describe
the emerging meanings)
– Describes the objects and relationships between
objects the child is in the process of learning
• /Hammer, you have the hammer/, as child picks up hammer
• /Zoom! There goes the truck/, as child rolls truck down ramp
• The language mapping of the activities also
provides social attention
Examples Supporting Developments in
Play and Language
• Here the child is taking
things out of the bus and
putting them back in
• The mom/teacher is
joining the child’s focus of
attention
• The mom/teacher can talk
about the objects and
events
• --> important activity for
learning play and
language
Examples Supporting Developments in
Play and Language
• Here the child is attaching
the block pieces
• The teacher/aide is
joining the child’s focus of
attention
• The teacher/aide can talk
about the objects and
events
• (e.g., now you’re
attaching the yellow
block)
Examples Supporting Developments in
Play/Language in Inclusive Settings
The girl has made a pretend
necklace for herself
Play/language goals of different
levels of complexity can be
supported in inclusive settings
Given attention to the toys:
• One child can focus on moving
beads in/out of the container
– General combinations
• Another child can focus on
attaching the beads
– Specific physical combinations
The teacher can talk about the
objects and the events (e.g.
“moving in/out,” “connecting”)
Examples Supporting Developments in
Play/Language in Inclusive Settings
The boy appears to be taking on the
role of “chef” and rolling out dough
for pies (namely, sociodramatic play)
The girl appears to have joined in
But, if we knew she had delays in play,
she could participate in simpler
ways:
• Stir with spoon in bowl
– Relationships based on conventional
practices
• Move food items in/out of bowl
– Relationships based on general
properties
The teacher/aide could describe these
activities as the children engaged in
them
Summary
Play is important in development and
learning
• Play contributes to language and literacy
• Play contributes to self-regulation
– --> Play is important for school readiness
• Play’s importance is derived from
• Research in:
– child development, EI/ECSE/EC
Needs for Future Research
• Increased regard for play as a developmental
domain
• Common language for describing play
• New descriptive studies of developments in
children’s play
– To verify sequences empirically
– To evaluate the distribution of play categories and
change over time
– To examine relationships between play and other
domains
– --> What we are doing in Project Play
References
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