Play is not simply about keeping children busy while their parents work, but enriches their ability to learn and to build bonds with their peers and parents, as well as develop their identity.
Play is not simply about keeping children busy while their parents work, but enriches their ability to learn and to build bonds with their peers and parents, as well as develop their identity.
Play also teaches them to solve problems, make choices, manipulate material and direct activities to achieve a certain goal.
It's on this basis that the Centre for Social Development at Rhodes University has been operating a toy library for young children in Extension 7 for the past two years.
In addition to hosting workshops for parents on how important play is in a child's cognitive and physical development, the Extension 7 toy library provides a central venue for them to meet and share experiences, particularly those who keep their children at home. It's also a meeting place for older children to socialise and play.
Heidi van Niekerk, CSD community development manager says the importance of play cannot be underestimated in a child’s development.
The basic principle is that a toy is not just a toy; it can teach a child about numeracy, colours, shapes, size and interpretation of concepts, said Van Niekerk.
The difference is made when the person working with a child knows how to bring out the different elements of the toy.
“This is where the parent workshops play a crucial role in teaching parents about how toys and games can be used at home,” said Van Niekerk, explaining that fine and gross motor skills were also developed through play.
The type of play activities that promote development must be appropriate to the child’s age, as this will enable them to grow and reach their developmental milestones, Van Niekerk said.
So when your little toddler scribbles on the wall by accident, resist the urge to reprimand them because she/he is actually learning fine motor and manipulation skills.
Singing, learning rhymes and engaging with other children their own age will teach a child about different languages, cultures and ways of living, while at the same time having fun. Self-confidence and self-reliance are skills children develop by expressing their emotions when they play with their peers.
So how can we as adults promote and encourage play?
* Always make sure that the play areas and toys/equipment are safe and age-appropriate.
* Encourage your child to play and explore and praise them often when they have achieved a goal, no matter how small it may seem.
* Stimulate your child by exposing them to a variety of play activities, including movement and music, especially in the gestation period.
* Once a while, get down on the floor and get involved in the activity, making sure that you keep to the instructions of the child. This will enhance their confidence and lets them take pride in their efforts, so they want to play more.
A growing need
A toy library is an educational resource tool that can be used by children, educators, parents and communities to impart valuable social and life skills. It can form part of a formal library, be a container in a community or simply a collection of resource bags which can be taken out to groups of people.
The benefits of attending a toy library can be far reaching in some communities.
The current container housing the Extension 7 Toy Library is becoming too small and another container would allow for the expansion of the CSD toy library with space for more toys, books and games.
“It will also enable us to offer more workshops with bigger groups of parents that could attend,” CSD community development manager Heidi van Niekerk said.
A learning community
Communities must involve themselves in children's education, says Deputy Minister of Basic Education Enver Surty.
Affirming the government’s commitment to the Early Childhood Development (ECD) sector, Surty said the government's focus with regard to education was increasingly on young children.
“We recognise that the first 1 000 days of a child’s life is the most important time for educational development and we applaud all those involved in the ECD sector. However, the foundation could not be laid by educators alone.
Families and communities must also become involved, because the child cannot be raised in isolation.”
Surty was speaking at the opening of the Active Learning Libraries (ALL-SA) conference held in Pretoria recently. The conference was attended by delegates from as far afield as Lesotho and Windhoek and participants described how effective toy libraries can be in the ECD sector, particularly in rural areas that have no access to formal pre-schools.
Ending his address, Surty noted that “education is very important for the leaders of the future but there is still a long road ahead with several challenges and it would need the support of all South Africans to make it a success.”
