INTRODUCTION

Play in every land. Play in every culture. Play in every language. Play everywhere. The children of the world play. Expert have defined play as intrinsically motivated, freely chosen, process-oriented as opposed to goal-oriented, enjoyable, ordered, just pretend behavior. This activity of play is a function of the entire human race. Is it purely entertainment? Is it valueless? Is it unimportant? Or, does it serve a multitude of roles in the development of children?

For educators, play is increasingly seen as a fertile field where a broad range of learning can thrive and flourish. And its values are continually being assessed, defined, and affirmed.

Play is real. It is vital. It helps children learn about their world naturally. Children use play to test ideas, discover relationships, abstract information, express their feelings and ideas, define themselves, and develop peer relationship. Active "players" develop and accumulate their own knowledge about their world and their place in it.

Piaget states that "children should be able to do their own experimenting and their own research. Teachers, of course, can guide them by providing appropriate materials, but the essential thing is that in order for a child to understand something, he must construct it himself, he must re-invent it. Every time we teach a child something, we keep him from re-inventing it for himself. On the other hand, that which we allow him to discover by himself will remain with him visibly.

"For all the rest of his life" is a powerful statement. Through play, we see a child becoming who he or she is and will be. The play processes children use give them "ownership" of them selves and their world. In play, the key word is "engaged." Children are actively involved in play. They internalize their discoveries, discoveries that belong to the individual child for the rest of his or her life.

For educators, who are child-centered in approach, it is essential that play be an important component of the educational process. Unfortunately, play is often taken out of the curriculum for young children when learning is defined in terms of only the academic. Play has been undervalued as a curricular tool by educators and by parents because society has defined the goals of learning, especially school learning, very narrowly, which allows children to choose their learning focus and which fosters a broad range of developmental goals, should be included as an essential learning element.

For young children, curriculum should be child centered with open ended learning experiences and a broad range of developmental goals. A structured, narrowly defined program can only inhibit a child’s educational development. A less structured program will put more emphasis on intrinsic motivation, learning by discovery, cognitive process, and the well being of the child from a whole child perspective. A program with a focus on play provides these important ingredients.

Play education affords teachers the opportunity to go with the "natural flow of learning." Consider, for example, a father and his young son who venture into a river in a canoe. The father and son wish to take the river to a designated spot. The father knows how the river circles about, twisting and turning, meeting itself from time to time. He knows he may choose to reach his destination by going up rivers against the flow or down river with the flow. Wisely, the father chooses to go with the flow knowing he will reach his destination faster and with less stress.

Wise teachers see a river of knowledge. When the young child enters the river, the teacher may direct him or her to "go with the flow" by providing play experiences, or "against the flow" by providing a structured, regimented academic program. Play affords children the freedom to learn without stress. And with this freedom comes the joy of learning that can last a lifetime.