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Chapter 11. Play And Intelligence

Play is serious business to children. It is the principal means by which young children learn and develop, and thus has a direct relationship with intelligence. Many of the skills and a good deal of the knowledge that are measured by I Q tests are developed and acquired through play.

Many obvious examples of this can be culled from the test samples listed in Chapter VIII:,

place three blocks into holes
point to toys named
build a four-cube tower
point to parts of a doll
manipulate toys
make a bead chain.

Obviously the skills and knowledge involved in these subtests are largely developed through play. What is not so obvious is that much of what is tested in the remaining subtests also can be and often is developed through play.

Consider a child's play with blocks, which are among the most common and widely used toys. Some children begin playing with blocks during their first year and may continue to do so until well into their elementary-school years. Play with blocks develops a great variety of skills. The child who simply handles blocks has tactile and manipulative experiences which develop his ability to sense and feel with his hands and his muscular ability to grasp, hold, carry, and place blocks and similar objects. As he continues to play with blocks and begins to build with them, these skills are further refined and new ones developed. Concepts of space, shape, weight, and dimension are learned through experiment and use. The child learns to relate these concepts to function as he builds houses, bridges, and the like. Through exploration and trial and error the child learns to analyze problems encountered in such construction: he learns to plan; he learns to concentrate. In addition to the problem-solving skills, he develops his imaginative and creative abilities.

It might seem that, since almost all children play with blocks at one time or another, all will develop the same skills. But there are vast differences in the nature of each child's play. These differences spring from many sources. One of the most important of these is his parents' role in and attitude toward his play.

Too many parents consider play as simply a means of diverting and distracting their children. Playthings are seen as a means of keeping children happy, rewarding them, keeping them out of mischief, and giving parents free time. Not often enough do parents think of play and toys as fundamental aspects of a child's education, as a means through which children learn to understand the world around them, as the primary method by which children acquire many basic skills.

Parents can help make their children's play stimulating by doing three things. First, they can adopt an attitude of conscious, deliberate planning in which play is regarded as one of the most important aspects of their children's environment. Second, they can see to it that their children are provided with the kinds of toys and playthings that will help develop the widest possible varieties of skills and abilities. Third, they can assume a direct, participating role in their children's play.

Planning a child's play does not mean planning each activity for every moment of the child's playtime. On the contrary, children should have maximum independence in choosing their own activities. And, within the limits of the daily routine of the home, a child should also choose the time for his activities, as well as the duration of each. Rather, good planning makes sure that play is as varied and stimulating as possible.

A child should play, at different times, with friends, with parents, and by himself. This play should include, within a period of about a month, all or most of the following types of activities, each geared to the age level of the child:

games
arts and crafts
construction play
projective play
hobbies

Games are perhaps the most basic of all forms of play. From peek-a-boo to chess, from pat-a-cake to baseball, games occupy a central role in the lives of most children from infancy to adolescence. Games may be physical or mental. In general they involve the development of skills, although some lead to the acquisition of information.

Arts and crafts give children many opportunities to express their desire to make things. Crayons, paints, clay, construction paper, scissors and paste, wood, leather, felt, and cardboard are among the materials that help children develop their creative imaginative, and esthetic abilities. Arts and crafts also develop skills in manipulation, perception, and analysis.

Construction play involves assembling objects from what are usually prefabricated parts. It is less creative than arts and crafts, but is also useful in developing many skills. Putting together a set of railroad tracks and trains is a form of construction play, as is play with erector sets, Tinker toys, blocks and the like.

Protective play is play in which a child adds dramatic and emotional meaning to activities with representative toys-dolls, trucks, soldiers, homemaking sets, and doctor kits. Its great value lies in the role playing done by the child rather than in the development of specific skills.

Hobbies which cannot be otherwise classified will generally fall under the heading of collecting activities. Collecting stamps, coins, rocks and minerals, butterflies and insects, sea shells, and leaves are all common and popular hobbies. While some help in the development of certain skills, their greatest value is in the considerable knowledge a child can acquire in pursuing them.

Most play can be classified in one of these five groups, and, ideally, play should include all of these types. Also, as skills develop, the activities should move to a higher, more mature level.

However, a child does not automatically vary his play or develop in it. This is where the parent's planning comes in-continually making the child aware of the broad opportunities available to him in play; initiating certain activities during playtime; making suggestions when the child needs and wants them; buying toys that will, in themselves, lead to new pursuits; stimulating new interests and ideas in any of a variety of ways. The parent should not manage the child's play, but should try to nudge it in the right directions.

To provide children with suitable toys and playthings, a parent must analyze what each toy will contribute to the child's growth and how it will fit into the child's play. Aside from toys used in pro-jective play, the toys a child plays with should require him to use his analytical abilities and inventiveness. Many toys tend to leave little to the child's imagination and initiative and thus are of limited value: games in which the progress and outcome depend upon the throw of dice, the spin of an indicator or some other mechanical device; picture books and painting, kits in which the outlines of pictures need only to be colored; craft sets that provide the child with ready-made parts that need only be put together; construction toys in which prefabricated parts can be assembled in only a few ways. All of these generally fail to stimulate or challenge the child.

So in buying toys for their children, parents should ask themselves a number of questions. Does the toy help develop any skills? Does it permit the child to explore and experiment? Can it be put to several different uses? Is it geared to the level of the child's ability? Does it tend to develop new skills and interests? Is it well made, so that it will last when used in the proper way? Is it attractive and engaging?

Parents are frequently disappointed by the failure of a new toy to arouse the enthusiasm of the child.

Sometimes the child is not ready for the toy, in which case it should be stored out of sight and re-introduced to him at a later date. Often, however, the child does not know how to use and enjoy a new plaything. He needs only to be taught. Whenever a child is given a new toy, he should be shown how to use it properly.

In adition to ready-made toys, there are countless objects found in the home that can serve as valuable playthings for children. These are appended to the list of toys and playthings at the end of this chapter.

Finally, and perhaps most important of all, is the parents' participation in the child's play. Parents should set a specific time for daily play with their very young children. Naturally this time should comfortably fit in with the family's daily schedule. Once the time is set, it should be adhered to regularly. It need not be the only time during which parents play with their children; but it should be the absolute minimum.

The activities engaged in should be left to the choice of the child. The parent should participate on the child's level and should never forget that the play is for the benefit of the child's development. The parent must not permit his superior skills, his greater knowledge, or his wider experience to change the level of the play. Only when the child has no particular choice of activity or is in obvious need of guidance from the parent, should suggestions be made and activities initiated by the parent.

Naturally, not all play need be aimed at developing skills. A good deal of the play between parents and children, especially younger children, may be simply a random and informal means of expressing feelings of closeness. The parent must rely on common sense judging when to initiate the more educational activities.

One should always keep in mind the child's limited attention span. The average two-year-old has an at-tention span of about six or seven minutes while at ay. For a five-year-old this is approximately doubled, and the span increases slightly as the child grows. These are averages; variations from child to child are considerable. Also, they are based on play under the best possible conditions. Parents should expect children to lose interest in much play after relatively short intervals. Frequent changes of activity, sometimes initiated by the parent, can often help the child deal with the problem of how to terminate play he has tired of and how to begin something new.

Older children may not need or want a specific play time with their parents. Indeed, a healthy growth of initiative and independence will lead them away from such arrangements. But they will still welcome their parents' interest and participation in many of their activities. Stimulation and challenge for them may more easily grow out of experiences and verbal communication with their parents, rather than out of parents' actual participation.

Toys And Playthings

The following list is intended as a general guide for parents. The ages given at the beginnings of paragraphs, are only an approximate indication of the ages at which children will begin to play with these toys. It is important to remember that each individual develops differently and that the range of what is "normal" is extremely wide. Also, some playthings will be used for a relatively short period (rattles, pull-toys), while others will continue to be used for years (assorted blocks, dolls).

At all times, common sense about the child's interests and abilities, as well as an evaluation of the variety of his play, should guide the parents' choice. Of course, safety and cleanliness should always be considered.

No child should have all of the toys on this list. An overabundance of toys often has a very negative effect upon the child's ability to choose and properly utilize playthings.

Many of the items on the list of outdoor play equipment can be found in local parks and recreation centers and are not necessarily listed as equipment for the home.

Indoor

Before age 2: Rattles; bright hanging objects; bright bits of ribbon; rubber animals; large wooden beads; teething ring; cradle gym; small balls; rubber blocks; nesting blocks; wooden blocks; pyramid of wooden rings on a peg; water toys; push-pull toys; wooden animals; cloth animals; cloth dolls.

Ages 2-3: Picture books; mallet and pegs; interlocking blocks; dolls; small metal airplanes, cars, and trucks; peg board; house play materials-beds, bedclothes, chairs, tables, unbreakable dishes, wash-tub, iron, ironing board, broom, dustpan; clay or plasticine.

Ages 3-fy: Easel; easel paper or newsprint; poster paints; large brushes; large crayons; blunt scissors; paste; scrapbook; musical instruments; colored cubes; telephone; beads and string with a metal tip; fire engine; dumptruck; airplane; finger paint.

Ages 4-5: Wooden workbench; hammer and nails; screwdriver; soap-bubble pipe; wooden puzzles; bean-bag; tinker toy; picture lotto.

Ages 5-6: Phonograph and records; assorted building blocks; costumes; vise; saw; toy collection of farm and community life; blackboard; families of dolls; representative figures for dramatic play.

Ages 6-7: Play store material; doctor and nurse kits; knitting spool; costume box; ring toss; cardboard houses and communities; puzzle maps; serving materials.

Ages 7-8: Construction kits-airplanes, boats; playhouse; doll house and furnishings; weaving loom; tops; globes.

Ages 8-12: Dominoes; Chinese checkers; erector sets; anagrams; parchesi; lotto; checkers.

Ages 12 and up: Electric trains; chemistry sets; printing set; stamp book; microscope; typewriter; telescope; tools.

Outdoor

Before age 2: Sand box; sand toys-pail, shovel, spoons, cookie cutter, funnel, salt shaker, other discarded kitchen utensils; kiddie car with pedals; slide; jungle gym; swing; balls-large and small; push-pull toys; blocks; shovels.

Ages 2-k: Doll and carriage; wheelbarrow; wagon; steam-shovel; dumptruck; tricycle.

Ages 4-6: Parallel bars; see-saw; garden tools; sled; animal houses.

Ages 6-8: Jump rope; marbles; baseball and bat; baseball mitts; roller skates; bicycle.

Ages 8 and up: Football; tennis racket; kite; ice skates.

Discarded household objects make wonderful raw materials for children's play. The following is a sam-ple list of the kind or things that can be given to children, observing, of course, consideration of safety and cleanliness: Buttons; beads; corks; clothespins; bits of string; empty spools; rubber bands; thimble; empty pillboxes; jar tops; empty boxes; old clocks and watches; large packing boxes; boards; mailing tubes; paper clips; film spools; broom handles; bits of cloth; pots and pans; empty kegs and barrels; hoops; wheels; rubber tire; inner tubes.

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