Benefits of Play
Neuroscientists have become increasingly focused on the connections between play and brain development. A theory of mind has emerged that describes how the child’s process of understanding the difference between reality and the abstract develops through symbolic play (Bodrova & Leong, 2007). When a 3-year-old begins to use wooden blocks to represent a road or pieces of colored paper to represent fish in an imaginary aquarium, the foundation is laid for later representation of sounds with the squiggles we call letters or the measurement of temperature by a column of mercury in a thermometer.
More From the Field
Program director Rita Palet describes play as an important source of insight about young children’s learning.
Critical Thinking Question