Does your child spend most of his time playing? Even as he gets older, is the only thing that changes is the type of game? So what does play mean for a child? Which games or toys should be preferred according to which age range and developmental periods? What consequences might await me if I do not expose my child to the right games at the right age? Dear parents, all these questions will be answered in this article. Play a game; It teaches children many things cognitively, physically and psychologically. It helps in many other matters such as conveying emotions, developing imagination and many more. We also make great use of games to acquire or extinguish behavior.
Observations have been made from different perspectives during the development periods of children and these have been theorized. Freud, Piget, Erikson and Bandura are the owners of these prominent observations. There must be certain achievements at certain ages. We can teach these achievements by attracting the child's attention with toys, allowing them to gain some life experiences from small games themselves, allowing them to taste the role they want and decide which one suits them.
Adult people choose talking as a form of communication. The tools they use to speak are words. Children choose games as a way to express themselves. Their words are their toys. Games and toys are the language of the child. Language is a way of learning and teaching for us adults. It helps us convey our feelings to the other party. Just as we pay attention to the words we choose when using language, we should also show the same care and attention when choosing toys. Otherwise, we may suddenly destroy the behaviors we want to instill in the child and the mood we want to strengthen. For example, choosing toys that are neither too low nor too high for the child's age and skills may cause boredom or anxiety in the child.
Babies between 4 and 6 months fall into the oral stage group in Sigmund Freud's theory of psychosexual development. Babies in this period need care because they cannot meet their basic needs on their own like us adults. These are needs such as nutrition and cleaning the diaper. The baby waits for its needs to be met. In this process, they acquire receiving behavior. � And it doesn't just stop there. He has also seen giving behavior from people who have given to him. The organ where babies in this period derive pleasure is their mouth. At the same time, Freud suggests that the management is in the hands of the id during this period.
According to Piaget's cognitive theory, babies between these months are in the sensory motor period. Object permanence has not yet been established in babies in this period. Object permanence is the baby's lack of effort to search for that object because he has a belief that the object out of his field of vision disappears. It also says that the child is open to exploration in this period, watches the environment, and tends to repeat the behavior he experiences even by chance.
According to Erikson's Psychosocial approach, children in this age group are against basic trust. It is in a period called insecurity. Erikson emphasizes that since children in this period cannot meet their basic needs, they form a bond with the person who meets them. He mentions that if this bond is not correct, it may lead to situations such as anxiety, insecurity and skepticism in the child. Children between the ages of 4 and 6 months engage in exploration, understanding and imitation behaviors. For this reason, in addition to toys that play songs, make animal sounds, have lights and attract the child's attention, toys such as walkers, teethers, pacifiers and rattles can also be used to support language, cognitive and physical development.
Children between the ages of 3-4 are in the anal period according to Freud. Children in the anal period have passed the walking stage, so they have gained independence through toilet training. During toilet training, the child may tend to derive pleasure from actions such as holding his/her feces. Some wrong attitudes during this period may cause anal or personal problems in the future. During the anal period, management passes from the id to the superego. According to Piaget, children between the ages of 3-4 are in the preoperational period. In this period, children who have developed object permanence use symbolization for some objects that are not present in the environment. Additionally, verbal schemas begin to appear during this period. The child begins to characterize similar-sounding instruments in a group. For example, car, truck n produces a single sound for all vehicles such as trains. In this period, thinking as if the objects called animiz have living characteristics and egocentrism also play an active role in this period. The child thinks that we also like the things he likes. According to Erikson, children between the ages of 3-4 are the period of guilt versus entrepreneurship. With the independence gained, the real discoveries began. The child begins to think about the roles he discovers while playing that are suitable for him. They want the special attention given to them during this period to continue in some way. If this does not happen, the child may feel guilty and anxious. Toys suitable for this group level, legos, play dough, dolls, cards to imitate household items, creating a visual story using one's own photographs and experiences one day, etc.
8-10 According to Freud, children in this age group are in the latent period. During this period, the ego comes to the fore quickly. Cognitive and emotional development is noted. Causality is established. Evaluations are more realistic. According to Piaget, children between the ages of 8 and 10 are in the concrete operational period. In this process, a transition is made from symbolization behavior to the logical process. Installation of schemas is now done based on logic. Reasoning and fully understanding the conservation laws occur in this period. According to Erik Erikson, children between the ages of 8 and 10 are in the period of feelings of humiliation and inferiority in the face of productivity. This period means that children start school and enter a new environment. In addition to learning identities such as student and friendship given to him by his new environment, the child also gains new knowledge and skills. However, situations such as not being appreciated enough or feeling inadequate during these situations may lead to anxiety. Toys suitable for this group level can be toys that help develop intelligence, memory, strategy and perhaps vocabulary. Chess, scrabble, taboo, memory cards, puzzle etc.
Albert Bandura mentions that children learn some behaviors by using observation and imitation. In fact, games and toys are very important in this period. For example, instead of directly showing the child the behavior that should not be repeated by getting angry or warning the child, We can choose to explain it through play. This could be a much more memorable solution without making him feel embarrassed, anxious or inadequate. In other words, games are our biggest helper in attracting attention, supporting language, cognitive abilities, increasing motor skills, as well as learning and keeping the child emotionally strong.
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