Skills to help insert play to children with disabilities

Play is a very important and critical milestone within children especially at a young age in a lot of different ways. It's important for their overall well-being and includes their preparation to enter school with kids with and without disabilities along with accommodations for the kids that need it. Play can be defined as “ A state of of being, in which an individual experiences increased energy focusing on any activity, cheerfulness and joy which is accompanied by smiles and laughter and feeling an ease of burden lifted.” (Children's Play Information Service 2002). It is normal and expected that young children should be playful. Kids with Disabilities already are at a distinct disadvantage. Mobility, visual impairments and cognitive disabilities can make it hard to play tag, hide and seek, or any memory or brain stimulating games.

Exploring Out-of School Play and Educational Readiness

    In the article Exploring Out-of-School Play and Educational Readiness, it talks about how play has changed so much over the past few years. Play has been taken out of schools to prepare kids for the next step. Meaning that they are preparing kids to go to middle school/ high school where there is no play, instead of focusing on what they need in the grade they are in. Teacher and parents are overwhelmed with the new rules created for kids and play. They are taking play away to continue to learn but kids need time to free their mind. There is a program called Every Student Succeeds Act, which basically no kids stays back. Researchers have found that play allows success but at the same time has allowed low test scores.  They examined play in and out of school and what types of families include play in their home. They have also found that parents have just given kids technology (television and ipad) instead of actually playing with them play on their own. The study in this article has shown that they are improving play and adding it back  in but in an educational way to help all children develop socially and educationally.

Onlooker Play

Autistic Spectrum conditions affects an individual ability to understand the mental states of other people. children with ASC show less interaction in free play situations, and rarely have social interaction.  Play by children with ASC is often obsessive and repetitive. They also isolate themselves because the way they play does not attract other children to play with them. Ways to encouraging social skills are awaring others and the reading of facial expressions through visual interface technology.  Children with ASC do not have stress while playing or react as other children in most  social situations. This play depends on the environment but also on other materials that they are able to interact with. i believe kids with ASC should express themselves through their own way nobody should try to test them or change their way of play. 

Farr, William, Yuill, Nicola, & Raffle, Hayes. (2010). Social Benefits of a Tangible User Interface for Children with Autistic Spectrum Conditions. Autism: The International Journal of Research and Practice, 14(3), 237-252.

Effects on toys

Trawick-Smith, Jeffrey, Wolff, Jennifer, Koschel, Marley, & Vallarelli, Jamie. (2015). Effects of Toys on the Play Quality of Preschool Children: Influence of Gender, Ethnicity, and Socioeconomic Status. Early Childhood Education Journal, 43(4), 249-256.

Reclaiming Play In Schools

Children spend most of their time at school and at home. When these environments are set in strict scheduling and children are made to work rather than play, this causes detrimental effects on the young kids. There are lasting physical, mental and emotional health inhibitors such as ¨increased rates of obesity, psychiatric illness, anger, aggression, narcissism, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder; and lack of overall well-being (Frost Wortham, & Reifel, 2012; Ginsburg 2007; Gray, 2013). Obviously, lack of play is unethical, and is actually considered so by the government. If it is considered unethical, why is less and less play still instituted in schools? This lack of play is then replaced with more rigorous, standardized, testing atmospheres. Luckily, due to many supporters, people in recent years have instituted more play during school time rather than the drudging work. This has drastically improved students ability to be more productive, and have healthier mental and physical work.

Pinchover, S. (2017). The Relation between Teachers' and Children's Playfulness: A Pilot Study. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 2214.

How Much Do We Know About the Importance of Play in Child Development?

Play allows children to use creativity while developing their imagination. It also allows children to practice, elaborate on, and perfect skills. The first year of  life, children uses their sensory and motor skills to explore their own bodies. The second year the progress to manipulating objects in the environment. Play serves as a tool of the mind to help children master their behavior. Play also can be an important educational strategy for facilitating children's development in cognitive, social/emotional, motor, and language areas. Play also provides a base for building language. It builds children's confidence and potential. The function is to encourage children to make up the rules to govern their own interactions and stimulate them to focus on the meaning behind human social interaction. Play is an activity that is dependent upon and respectful of individual children's learning space. It reveals not only what a child knows but also what they are curious about.

Tsao, Ling-Ling. (2002). How Much Do We Know about the Importance of Play in Child Development? Review of Research. Childhood Education, 78(4), 230-33.

The Power of Play

In the article The Power of Play by David Isaacs, it talks about how all children play to control their emotions, and how it is overall, crucial for their development. He explains that there are 24 different meanings for the verb "to play". This signifies that all people have a different understanding of what the action of playing actually is. He goes into further detail by explaining that children playing is their own form of work. This is how they exhibit their energy and explore the world. Learning occurs through play and it allows them to distinguish make-believe from reality. According to Isaacs, children need to have play time, and it is essential for their own growth because it progresses their cognitive, social, and emotional development. Although Isaacs hasn't found any scientific studies which prove that play is crucial is a child's life, he strongly believes that the power of play is important for normal child development.

Isaacs, D. (2011). The power of play. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, 47(11), 761-762.

Play It Again

Playing has benefits. When kids play they develop multiple skills that benefit them in throughout life. Pretend or make believe play helps kids develop executive function or self-regulatory skills that include making plans, controlling emotions and impulses, and regulating one's own behavior. Nowadays preschoolers are spending more time in organized activities and scheduled lessons and less time in imaginative free play. This diminishes their cognitive, social, and emotional development. Play also has important roles in the development of school readiness. It encourages literacy related language skills. Learning occurs through active investigation-play. It acts as a child's "work" or job. Playing is a necessity for children, and they need adults to balance play, academics, and team activities. Play produces children who are emotionally healthy, ready for school, and eager to learn.




Isaacs, D. (2011). The power of play. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, 47(11), 761-762.

How much does autism truthly effect play

      The Article A comparison of playfulness of young children with and without autism spectrum disorder in interactions with their mothers and teacher" By Shulamit Pinchover, Cory Shulman and ANita Bundy gives a deeper meaning of what it is like for an autistic child to play. Autism is a serious developmental disorder that impairs the ability to communicate and interact. Play is a primary occupation of children, that helps social, cognitive, and emotional development. Most people would believe that children with autism. Childrenś development occurs through interactions between others. Childhood traits are focusing on five dimensions, which are physical spontaneity, social spontaneity, cognitive spontaneity, manifestation of joy and sense of humour. Scientist wanted to see the difference between a child with autism and a child that was not on the spectrum. Having teachers promote play is very important, having ASD or not. The children in this study had to meet a current criteria based off either the Mullen scale(a scale used for younger children) or the WPPSI scale ( a scale for older children.) For this study to work, researchers had to contact the school and get the th parents okay. The procedure was, ¨Each child was videotaped , one with his or her mother at home, and one with his or her teacher in preschool setting.¨ Each adult was giving instructions so the study was as the same as possible. With both of the groups, there were little to no difference between the amount of play-- the group numbers were pretty close. Child with Autism played much more with their teachers then they did with their parents. One of the reasons this might be is because teachers are trained and have the appropriate tools to create playful interactions. Most parents feel stress and helpless when communicating and playing with their children because they don't have the skills. This study might have proven that playfulness might be a trait, and have nothing to do with a child learn capability. This was the first investigating on playfulness with ASD in different environments, and proved that it doesn't matter on learning skills

Pinchover, S., & Shulman, C. (2018). Behavioural problems and playfulness of young children with ASD: The moderating role of a teacher’s emotional availability. Early Child Development and Care, 1-13.

Knowledge of Child Development as a Predictor of Mother-Child Play Interactions

                                   Children Lead to Play vs. Directing Their Child's Play

         In 2015, parents with their child had different ways of socializing as well as playing with the child/children. Many parents thought that teaching their child how to play and telling them how to play is the right way for the child to learn. Meanwhile other parents feel that the best way for a child to play is to let them explore their surroundings and if anything, the parents can keep an eye out for them if they believe that their child will get hurt or hurt others accidentally. This article concluded that parents find different ways of coping with their child.


Mcmillin, S., Hall, L., Bultas, M., Grafeman, S., Wilmott, J., Maxim, R., & Zand, D. (2015). Knowledge of Child Development as a Predictor of Mother-Child Play Interactions. Clinical Pediatrics, 54(11), 1117-1119.