Prof. Dr. Telat Gül Şendil noted that the child develops and gets to know the world through play and emphasized the importance of play in the child's mental, physical, emotional, social and moral development. Drawing attention to the role of play in developing the child's ability to regulate emotions, Şendil said, “First recognizing emotions and then learning to cope with uncomfortable emotions happens in the process of play.”
Stating that play has an important place in the development of the child from past to present, and that it has been discussed in many fields from education to philosophy, Prof. Dr. Telat Gül Şendil, Head of the Department of Psychology, Faculty of Human and Social Sciences, Istanbul Atlas University, said: “Before addressing the importance of play in the development of the child, it is necessary to look at the answer to the question of what is play for the child. Play has been defined in various ways: 'Play is a rehearsal for the serious things that the child will do later (Aristotle)'; 'Play is the most real occupation of children (Montaigne)'; 'Play is the work of the child (Montessori)'; 'Play is activities that give pleasure and happiness without the aim of reaching a certain result (Dewey)'. As can be understood from the definitions, although the content and types change, play has always been and will continue to be from the very beginning of human history to the present day.”
It builds neural networks in your brain
Prof. Dr. Telat Gül Şendil noted that the child develops and gets to know the world through play and said, “The child develops continuously mentally, physically, emotionally, socially and morally through play. In terms of its contribution to mental development, the various stimuli to which the child is exposed, the new concepts he learns, the experiences and the connections he establishes between them lead to the establishment of new neural networks in his brain and the gradual development of this capacity.”
Gains the ability to produce new solutions
Prof. Dr. Telat Gül Şendil stated that playing games has important contributions to the development of the child's productivity and said, “Developing new perspectives on different situations; In addition to the development of new solutions and language skills, one of the most important cognitive functions of the game is that it activates productivity. Of course, another issue that should be reminded immediately is that these functions that the game will provide to children will not always be automatic.”
Emphasizing that the choice of games and toys is important, Prof. Dr. Telat Gül Şendil said, “The presentation of games and toys to children that are not age-appropriate and do not stimulate their sense of curiosity, or the presence of adults who do not give them enough freedom, constantly shaping and criticizing them in their games, will detach them from their daily lives and responsibilities. Being in a play environment that prevents them from concentrating their attention may also have a negative effect.”
