3. Secondary research
3.1. Literature on play & toys Toy and play are essential to a child’s growth as the child uses them to learn about the world around him/her. The child uses toys and play to discover their identity, help their bodies grow strong, learn cause and effect, explore relationships and practice skills they will need as adults. (Suresh Gupta, 2015)
Play Play is a spontaneous, voluntary, pleasurable and flexible activity involving a combination of body, object, symbol use and relationships. Although it is an important arena in children’s life associated with immediate, short-term and long-term benefits, there has been an ongoing reduction in favour of educational instructions, especially in modern and urban societies. Furthermore, parental concerns about safety sometimes limit children’s opportunities to engage in playful and creative activities. Along the same lines, the increase of commercial toys and technological developments by the toy industry has fostered more sedentary and less healthy play behaviours in children. Play is important because children nowadays live in a time of busy schedules and high expectations for achievement. Hence, it becomes even more important for children to be able to get the time and space to discover the joy and benefits of free play.[1]
Benefits of play 1. 2. 3. 4.
Knowing what to do when no one is directing you Problem-solving Creativity and imagination Interacting with others- Provides opportunities to socialise with peers of the same age, and to learn to understand others, to communicate and to negotiate 5. Resilience - recover quickly from failure 6. Flexibility and adaptability 7. Willingness to take risks and try new things 8. Processing emotions- Gives children the opportunity to express troubling aspects of their daily life, including stresses, trauma, family conflicts and other dilemmas. 9. Understanding social situations 10. Discovering interests 11. Building confidence 22
