Nursery World - Check points

In this final feature on play types, Philip Waters looks at how planning, monitoring and evaluating can be achieved easily using play types as a starting point to ensure that a child-centred approach is adopted For many adults, the facilitation of play is about providing activities, themes, events and even designated play areas. Play, however, involves a far more complex set of processes than can be provided for by such simple measures. It requires an in-depth understanding of the human condition and an even deeper understanding of the interactions between players, environment and inanimate objects, and all this operating on psychological, social, cultural and interpersonal levels.

For many adults, the facilitation of play is about providing activities, themes, events and even designated play areas. Play, however, involves a far more complex set of processes than can be provided for by such simple measures. It requires an in-depth understanding of the human condition and an even deeper understanding of the interactions between players, environment and inanimate objects, and all this operating on psychological, social, cultural and interpersonal levels.

Play cannot be timetabled, artificially created or even assumed, not without enforcing a sense of educational value upon it and socially engineering any given 'play' situation to satisfy some outcome unattached to the child at play in the here and now. In addition, the processes involved feature best in environments established specifically for the purposes of play, such as schools, home or organised clubs.

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