Children and play are inseparable entities. To be educators of children, one should understand the important role of play in each child’s life. If well understood, play could be used as an important tool in the learning process.

Definitions of Play

• Play is a child’s work (Montessori).
• Play is what we enjoy while we are doing it.  Work is what we enjoy when we have accomplished it (Dewey).
• An activity with or without materials in which bodily movement is an end in itself (Buhler).
• Play is intrinsically motivated, concerned with means rather than ends, is child-directed, nonliteral, free from externally dictated rule structures, rules that do exist can be modified by players, and requires active engagement of players (Rubin, Fein, and Vandenberg).
• A current definition of play supplied by Johnson and Ershler proves to have particular merit for preschool teachers.  They point out that “Play may be defined as behavior that is intrinsically motivated, freely chosen, process-oriented, and pleasurable.”
• From this definition, we can derive the different characteristics of Play: (more…)