It is a well known fact that imagination and creative play help engage and strengthen the mind. It is also well known that children get much less of this type of play in today’s world. Our society lives on a world of spoiled children who must do very little in the area of creating their own entertainment.
Children are continuously being entertained by parents, teachers, and games. Most stuffed animals now make noise of move. Dolls speak, eat, and even go potty. The imagination part on the children is no longer required.
This has become a big concern for many people. With education taking more drastic steps toward higher level learning skills in earlier grades, schools are being forced to take much of the play time out of their schedules. With fewer school peer interacts and less imagination at home, when are children going to learn social skills and how to get along in a world of people?
One program has decided to take on such a task as to reform the way that play occurs. The program, Tools of the Mind, is being carried out in preschools.
In these preschools basically every moment of the day revolves around teaching children how to deal with and express their emotions and behaviors.
In one school that uses the program, Geraldyn O. Foster Early Childhood Center in New Jersey children have basic creative play items such as home center and stores. Where most children would take up play among themselves and likely get involved into an argument over who gets to do what, the children at this school must do some planning before play.
Before the children can engage in play, they must consult with their teacher. The children given in the school’s description want to play at a bookstore area. They tell their teacher and she helps them record this on a piece of paper. They then draw a picture of them playing at the store. The teacher reads the plan back to the children and makes sure that the children understand what their intentions are for the playtime.