Last little bit...
In conclusion, I would agree that using Superhero play in the classroom is an effective way to "help children develop language, cognitive, physical, social and emotional skills. (Understanding how your child's mind works, part 11, 2007)" If facilitated correctly, Superhero Play has the potential to teach children early on in life that with certain rights or bestowed power comes great responsibility. Through this form of play, children are able to foster a moral awareness of right and wrong actions, learn that every decision has a consequence and discover the importance of making socially responsible choices. Most importantly, Superhero play not only celebrates a child's successes,it also brings to light that personal weaknesses are necessary to help us learn valuable life lessons as well as improve and develop our character. Furthermore, those weaknesses help an individual to appreciate their strengths and find creative ways to work around or embrace challenges that are unique to each person. Collaboration is also a strong component of Superhero play which cannot be underscored enough. Just as heroes are sometimes forced to work together in order to achieve a common goal. Used under guidance, supervision and close monitoring by the ECE, children can benefit tremendously from engaging in Superhero play which makes it an excellent tool not only for teaching and instruction but also to facilitate a child's ability to learn independently from a creative, interactive and kinesthetic form of exploratory play!
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HI Jessica,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your posts. I also liked the article that you have posted its link.
While I was reading your post, It reminded me the similarities that Superhero play has and Rough and tumble play. They usually both have wrestling, chasing, kicking, mock battles and... and most importantly R & T play usually involves fantasy play and pretending play. So, Superhero play can be conceptualized as another way of R & T play; in that case children are role playing as superheroes characters.
'We should see superhero play not as a disruption to be prevented but as another gateway to learning'. ( Holland, 2003).
As you also have noted in your posts pretended play is very important in children's emotional development so this explains also the importance of children's involvement in superhero play.
While we should value children's play including their superhero play, we also need to have a guide line like the guide line the we have for R & T play. Although we should make sure that children know superhero play is acceptable and valuable play, they need to know that aggressive behavior is not acceptable and all children need to feel safe at school.
The other important thing is that educators should also have great knowledge about the different characters of superheroes in order to facilitate children's play and also to engage in meaningful discussion with children about their super hero play.
We as educators need to listen to children's play in order to to extend their creativity. Super hero play is like other play, we can try to extend children's thinking, imagination, and their creativity through providing open-ended materials and meaningful discussions.
It would be also a great idea to talk to children about real life hero too.