Play isn't just play!

Play is the main way your child learns about how things work in the world. Your child will learn a lot through play. There are four main concepts your child learns through play. Each is described below.

• Classification. Point out the ways that objects are different to your child. This helps children develop the concept of classification of objects. For example, objects are used for different things. "These balls are for throwing; these crackers are for eating." You may point out to your child that objects work in different ways. In other words, they have different properties. "When I throw balls off my tray they bounce; when I throw food off my tray it splats." Also the same behavior gets different reactions with different objects. You may notice that your child quickly learns that throwing balls is OK but throwing food makes mom angry. It is through interaction with objects, guided by you the parent, that your child comes to understand the world.
• Causality. Children learn cause and effect by doing the same things over and over again. Through this repetition, your child learns that one action causes another. For example, "When I coo, mom coo's back in response to me" or "When I bat the mobile with my hand, the mobile makes noise". This is called causality. Gradually, your child's is able to direct her actions towards an outcome she wants ("I reach in order to grasp"). You will also notice your infant begin to realize that she can effect change. She is learning that she can experiment to make interesting things happen.
• Object Permanence. As infants explore objects they also learn about the permanence of objects. This is the idea that objects and people continue to exist even when they are out of sight. This has an impact on your child's emotion too. Around 8 months, your child can now hold an image of you in her mind. Therefore when you leave, she remembers you were there and are now gone and she may get upset. This is called separation anxiety. She may craw frantically after you even if you just leave the room briefly. Examples of the developing concept of object permanence include the following:
• Newborn: "Out of sight, out of mind".
• 4 months: Stops feeding to look around and locate source of noises.
• 7 months: Eyes follow object dropped from sight, e.g. watches food dropped from high chair.
• 9 months: Searches for object partially hidden under a blanket.
• 1 year: Searches for object seen being hidden completely under a blanket.
• Imitation. As early as birth, you may notice your child imitating things you do. Imitating provides new ideas on how to explore the world and on how to use objects. Early on, your child will imitate you immediately. But as your baby gets older, she will be able to remember actions and copy them later. For example, your toddler may see a child throw a tantrum on the playground and copy it later at home. But imitation can work in helpful ways too. You may notice your child become very interested in feeding himself as he watches you use a fork and spoon. Early on your child will imitate sounds you make. Later she will imitate the banter of back and forth conversation. This is especially important in learning to talk. This kind of imitating will lead to early words like "no" and "bye-bye". Here are some other examples of how your child might imitate.
• Newborn: Tongue thrust in response to caregiver sticking out tongue.
• 4 months: Imitates parent's sounds.
• 7 months: Imitates symbolic gestures (e.g. waves bye-bye).
• 9 months: Imitates others' actions on objects (e.g. pushes button on busy box, dumps toys from box).
• 1 year: Imitates social actions (e.g. "talks" on a phone).

Adapted from Jellinek, M. (2000). Bright Futures in Practice, Mental Health.