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ISLAS ARTICAS
+ de 12 meses |
There are things that it is not worth it to
argue about; one of them is that children "must fully enjoy
themselves through games and leisure, which should orientated towards
the goals that education tries to achieve"(Universal Declaration
of Child Rights)
Very seldom, except for games, are the conditions
required by real didactic activity fulfilled. Play has been defined
as an "attractive and substitutive process of adaptation and
dominion". That is why it is very valuable as a learning tool,
since learning is understood as the fact of facing and dominating
different situations. The game is also substitutive because during
the first and second childhood it is an introduction to adult situations
(for example playing with dolls, role-plays, etc).
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FORMULA T-1
R/C
+ de 3 años |
Rejecting play is depriving education of one
of its most efficient instruments, according to Manjun, Föebel,
Montessori and Decroly. These people have created some of the most
important play materials for these ages. That does not mean, of
course, that other age groups have to be excluded from play; what
happens is that the game changes according to the general maturity
of a child and the evolution of his interests.
Play is a global activity; that is why teachers
should not try to separate games and work at the nursery schools,
because it is not true that games are fun and informal things while
work is a serious activity; at least not at these ages. There is
nothing more serious for a child than play. Thanks to it, children
develop their abilities. According to Götler "the more
numerous the energies a child uses when playing, the more valuable
a game is; and, on the other side, the less space it concedes to
inventiveness and dexterity, the less worthwhile it is". Play
is a creative resource in both senses: the physical one (sensory,
motor, muscular and psychomotor coordination development) and the
mental one, because the child uses all his inventiveness, originality,
intellectual capacity and imagination. Besides, games have a high
social value because they contribute to shape cooperation and help
habits in children and make them face problematic
and real situations and, as a consequence, they lead children to
a more realistic view of the world.
Finally, games are a mean of affective-evolving
expression, so they are a very useful projective technique for teachers
and psychologists when they want to learn about the problems affecting
children.
This is why we have prepared this guide, to orientate
educators and parents about how games and toys should be like. It
is based on the necessities a child has during his/her development,
from the point of view of modern programs for the development of
multiple intelligences. To prepare it we have been experimenting
and analysing different toys available in stores (toys that appear
in this guide can be found in any store in Spain). We are very grateful
to their respective firms for supplying samples to carry out this
study. |