News From Your School Psychologist
MAY EDITION: PLAY
RETURN OF PLAY
Dr. Stuart Brown says we need to clearly define what play is. He's head of a nonprofit called the National Institute for Play.
"Play is something done for its own sake," he explains. "It's voluntary, it's pleasurable, it offers a sense of engagement, it takes you out of time. And the act itself is more important than the outcome."
Huge Finding on how doll play has neuroscientific benefits for kids (even when playing alone)
Typically, when parents think about valuable learning toys, they may think of apps on the Ipad or STEM toys that involve predefined problems and solutions. Many think that STEM- focused toys are the most educational and toys that don’t directly involve science or mathematics are “just for fun,” lacking the same benefits. However, research is pointing some evidence-based benefits for children who play with dolls.
A study published by Dr. Sarah Gerson of Cardiff University studied the effects on children's brains when they played with dolls vs. a tablet and also differences when they played alone and with others. The article is linked in red below. But here is a summary:
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The study found that doll play activates a brain region (pSTS) associated with social information processing such as empathy, showing doll play enables children to rehearse, use and perform these skills even when playing on their own1.
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The study also showed that solo doll play allows children to develop empathy and social processing skills more so thansolo tablet play.Activation of the social processing brain region (pSTS)2 is greater during solo doll play vs. solo tablet play.
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The findings were consistent across boys and girls and children of different ages (between 4 and 8 years).
Take Aways?
As parents of small children, we worry so much about how the pandemic may have impacted our kids socially. I don't know about you, but when my daughter asks to play Barbies, I usually don't say yes, as it always seems to be when I am doing 5 other things. And truth be told, I don't enjoy playing Barbie:) If your child has been playing alone with dolls, rest assured that even playing by themselves has let them practice social situations and helped their brain to grow. In fact, this is the first finding to provide evidence at the level of the brain to support the idea that pretend play has social benefits when children play by themselves.
Why is this good news for us as parents? When your child is playing with dolls, they can practice how they might interact with a friend even when playing alone. This play allows them to think about how their friend could be feeling (perhaps sad they can’t see each other) and how they might react (comforting that friend). Allowing your child to pre-experience and rehearse these interactions can help foster their reciprocal interaction skills with others.
SUMMARY:
Unstructured Outdoor Play
Several experimental studies show that school kids pay more attention to academics after they’ve had a recess--an unstructured break in which kids are free to play without direction from adults (see Pellegrini and Holmes 2006 for a review).
Note that physical education classes are not effective substitutes for free playtime (Bjorkland and Pellegrini 2000).
Physical exersise has important cognitive benefits in its own right. But physical education classes don't deliver the same benefits as recess.
Researchers suspect that's because PE classes are too structured and rely too much on adult-imposed rules. To reap all the benefits of play, a play break must be truly playful.
How long should recess be?
No one knows for sure, but there is some evidence for recesses between 10 and 30 minutes. In a small study of 4-5 year olds, researchers found that recesses of 10 or 20 minutes enhanced classroom attention. Recesses as long as 30 minutes had the opposite effect (Pelligrini and Holmes 2006).
TRUE OR FALSE
Golden Rules of Play
Play for Adults
Kinder "Garten"
Got nothing to Do Saturday night?
Types of Play
Rough-and-Tumble Play
Rough-and-tumble play is a great learning medium for all of us. Diving, batting, tug-of-war, capture the flag, scavenger hunts, kickball, and dodge ball are all ways to play actively. According to Dr. Brown, through this form of play we develop emotional regulation as well as cognitive, emotional, and physical mastery.
Ritual Play
Chess, board games, and activities or sports with set rules and structures all fall into the world of ritual play. It is in ritual play that we can create, strategize, design, and engage in activities that bring people together for a common purpose or goal.
Imaginative Play
Remember when you were a child and had so much fun living out your fantasies and letting your imagination run wild? This is what imaginative play is all about! Coloring, storytelling, painting, drawing, crafting, and acting, as well as comedy and improv classes all foster our imaginations through play.
Body Play
Brown defines body play as a spontaneous desire to get ourselves out of gravity—how much fun is this form of play! Yoga, Pilates, hiking, whitewater rafting, riding roller coasters, mountain climbing, surfing, and snorkeling all fit the mold of body play.
Object Play
This form of play will really bring us back to our childhoods as object play can encompass building with Legos, playing with Jenga blocks, building fortresses, and can even having snowball fights. Manipulation of objects, building, and designing all fall into the object play category.
What is flow?
Info from Verywell Mind/Kendra Cherry
Flow is a state of mind in which a person becomes fully immersed in an activity. Positive psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Cdescribes flow as a state of complete immersion in an activity.
"The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz. Your whole being is involved, and you're using your skills to the utmost," Csíkszentmihályi said in an interview with Wired magazine.
Flow experiences can occur in different ways for different people. It usually happebs when you are doing something that you enjoy and in which you are quite skilled.
This state is often associated with the creative arts such as painting, drawing, or writing. However, it can also occur while engaging in a sport, such as skiing, tennis, soccer, dancing, or running.
Consider what task or activity makes you feel this way. Have a discussion with your child about it. Then try to do it as much as you can:)
BOOK CORNER
"A fascinating blend of cutting-edge neuroscience, biology, psychology, social science, and inspiring human stories of the transformative power of play, this book proves why play just might be the most important work we can ever do."
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