Core Media Literacy Skills

     Play is a very important part in a child's development. "Play as Psychologists and anthropologists have long recognized, is key in shaping children's relationship to their bodies, tools, communities, surroundings, and knowledge, most of children's earliest learning comes through playing with materials at hand," (22). When children play games they are engaged in what they are doing and have to acquire skills and knowledge to be able to move on to the next level and complete the game. Children are having fun while playing, but they are also learning and problem solving, which helps them in the real world. Stimulations are also a way for children to learn and understand what they are doing. Other forms of play are performance and role play. Performance can be a great tool for learning because children have to act out what they have learned and have fun doing it. It is easier for some children to show what they have learned through performing than writing about it. Role play can help children learn about a specific culture or person. When a child dresses up as a person from another era they are not just playing, but learning about the style of clothing that was worn during that time and about the culture.

 

      I think that play is important for children and it can help them in their everyday lives. Playing isn't just for fun, it is a way for children learn and show what they have learned. I think that games, performance, role playing and stimulations should be used more in the classroom. I think that children would better understand a topic if it was in the form of a game because it is something that they are familiar with and comfortable doing. If children are having fun and playing while they are learning they will be more willing to try and not focused on being graded and the consequences of getting a question wrong.