Discuss the importance of children making choices Essay

Issues that could be considered might be that the children are young and can’t make up their mind enough, even though it’s good to let children make choices the adults are to support the child helping and reassuring the child. Some children are more confident playing in a set activity; any child who is not as confident has to be helped and giving motivation to help their development. â€Å"Children like to feel the same as others; living with a medical condition may make a child feel different† Tassoni p, (2007) childcare and education 3rd edition page 60. When giving children the opportunities to make choices you make them feel in control and help to build up their self-esteem, children need to make choices to develop their understanding of the world and know how to handle their self, not encouraging them to make choices might lead them to misbehave or rebel. Choices enhance their imagination; play can consist of amusing or imaginative activity for independent play or with others. The rites of play are evident throughout nature; it helps in their social development. In a classroom it’s important for the children to choose what activities they would like to do, according to Piaget’s constructivist principles if they can make their own decision they will be self-motivated and they will not feel the need to break rules behind the teachers back. â€Å"Play often entertains props, tools, animals, or toys in the context of learning and recreation. Some play has clearly defined goals and when structured with rules is called a game. Whereas, some play exhibits no such goals, nor rules and is considered to be â€Å"unstructured† in the literature. † http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Play_(activity) A1 – Describe how practitioners can encourage children to direct their own play. â€Å"For play to be empowering children must be allowed to take control of their own play rather than follow what adults want them to do† Tassoni p, (2007) childcare and education 3rd edition pg. 318 Practitioners would have to provide activities that would encourage children to play independently, letting the children choose what activates and equipment they want to use can help. When the children are playing on equipment a practitioner could ask the child â€Å"how are you supposed to use it† this will make the child show you, it’s good for a quieter child, encouraging them to take part in the play. When laying out activities or equipment it’s important that you are aware of spaces around, the children will not be encourage to play when an activity is not appealing to them. Make sure that there is enough room for the children to play around it. When choosing the equipment get the children involved let them choose what they would like to play. A practitioner should intervene when the children are choosing numerous activities let one child at a time get a say then the practitioner can make the final decision making sure you explain to other children why they could not have done that activity then. Creative play D1 – describe the activity You will need; 2 medium sized containers 2 different coloured paints Paint brushes (different sizes) Pasta (different shapes) Different colour sting Scissors Coloured paper Beads Glue Pour the pasta into the separate containers. Allow the children to paint the pasta. Use the different colour paint for each container. When they have finished painting, leave the pasta to dry. When they have dried the children can choose whether to make jewellery or use the pasta to decorate their drawings. D2 – what is the purpose or aim of the activity? Include the age of the children. This activity is for children aged 3 or 4. It will help to develop their hand and eye co – ordination skills, whilst making their jewellery, threading the string through the pasta. It helps develop their fine motor skills. It helps with their social development because they are working with other children and learning how to take turns. â€Å"Children need to feel secure, valued and loved without this emotional support; they find it hard to show co – operative behaviour. Attention seeking behaviour can be assign that a child needs more support† Tassoni p, (2007) childcare education 3rd edition page 44 This activity will also support their language and communication skills because they are talking to other children, telling each other what they’re making and who they’re doing it for. D3 – describe how the activity is set up to promote the children the children’s interest. Get the children’s attention firstly and tell them to come and help you set up the activity. When you’re choosing the paint ask the children what colours they want to use. Choose a child to pour the pasta into the containers, give all the children paint brushes to paint the pasta, supervise them to make sure they are all playing together and encourage all the children to take part in the activity. Once all the pasta has been painted take the trays and put them away to dry, explaining to them the next step of the activity. When the pasta has dried put them onto a table, (still in the containers) get out any beads that may be around and ask the children† who wants to make a necklace or bracelet†. You give the children the choice of what they want to make, while they are doing so interact with them, ask them questions about what they are making, keeping an eye out for the children that are struggling. â€Å"Play may also serve as a pretext, allowing people to explore reactions of others by engaging in playful interaction. † http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Play_(activity) D4 – health and safety considerations Consider any skin allergies of the children. They may not be able to use the paint. Make sure the children are supervised at all times when making the jewellery because the small beads are choking hazards. D5 – the adult’s role in stimulating play in this activity. During this activity the practitioner will play the role of the facilitator. The practitioner will be talking to the children asking them questions; â€Å"what are you making†, â€Å"who are you making it for† and helping the children if they need it. He/she will try and encourage the children who are having trouble and motivating them giving each child praise and acknowledging their efforts. D6 – explain how this activity provided for children’s choices This activity allows the children to make choices and be independent with their play when they’re making their jewellery they can choose whether to make a necklace or a bracelet and they will be able to choose what colour string they would like to use. They can also choose what shape pasta there are. C1 – description of a resource that supports spontaneity and choice The beads support the children’s element of choice because there are different beads of shapes and size a colour; it supports their spontaneity because each child’s jewellery will be different and unique. D7 – how does this activity meet the individual needs of the children? This activity can be for all children. Children with allergies may not be able to do the painting part of the activity. Children with learning needs can take part with the help and supervision of an adult because they might not fully understand what to do so the adult can support and encourage them. B1 – explain how the activity can be extended to meet individual play needs. To extend this activity you could use the pasta for different things. Getting a box and gluing the pasta onto it. Making pictures with the pasta. The children could use the left over pasta as food in a food tray. This activity is suitable for a child with learning needs because it’s supervised by an adult, the child will get help.