Exploring the Role of Child-Minders in Promoting Child-Initiated Play among Children Aged 3 to 4 Years

This research paper explores the role of child-minders in promoting child-initiated play among children aged 3 to 4 years. It evaluates the dynamics of child-initiated play, the role of child-minders in promoting it, and its contribution to the development of the child.

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Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

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Abstract:
According to Van Hoorn et al. (2014), playing forms an integral aspect of the learning
process. In this context, it should be mentioned that the concept of child-initiated play typically
aims at stimulating the learning ability of the children. The process essentially involves the child-
minder and the children. The children get an upper hand in the process of playing and can take
independent decisions in the form of selection of playmate or the approach that could be taken
for playing. In the words of Maynard et al. (2013), the child-minders are the care providers who
are engaged with the children for several hours in a day and are responsible for ensuring children
safety and positively contribute toward the holistic development of the children. Having clearly
defined the professional role of child-minders and the impact of playing on the development
process of the children, this paper would delve deeper into exploring the role of child-minders in
extending support to promote child-initiated play among children aged 3 to 4 years.
The objective of the research paper is to evaluate the dynamic of child-initiated play. In
addition to this, the objectives also include, developing an understanding about the child-
minder’s contributions in promoting child-initiated play and evaluating the contribution of child
initiated play towards the development of the child. In order to address the research objectives, a
qualitative study design was adapted. Further, two child-minders were selected on the basis of
prior acquaintance to participate in a semi-structured interview. Further, the findings based on
the interview responses were evaluated using the thematic analysis. The findings typically
generated two important themes that practitioners were not clear about their direct role in child-
initiated playing process. However, the play-minders acknowledged the importance of child-
initiated playing to promote holistic development in children aged 3-4 years.

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Discussion:
This section would critically address the articulated research objectives on the basis of
the interview responses gathered from the two child-minders. In addition to this, it would also
evaluate the research objectives on the basis of the findings gathered from the literature review.
In response to the first research question (RQ1) that states, ‘what are dynamics of the child
initiated play?’
The scholarly literature evidences suggest that the process of learning when child-
initiated places the care providers in a position to effectively respond to the child’s choice of
playing. According to Woods (2017), it has been mentioned that the role of the child-minders is
to positively enhance the process of learning by subtly adding new information about things that
might interest the child. In addition to this, studies have also mentioned that inherent interest of
playing is not utilized to the maximum by the teachers and the care providers to boost the
learning needs of the children. In this regard, Tandon et al. (2015) has mentioned that children
possess a set of skills and innate motivation while playing which readily helps them explore new
things and at the same time access play resources according to their vivid imagination. As
suggested by Maynard et al. (2013), children at the age of 3 and 4 are competent explorers who
are in the pursuit of seeking knowledge to quench their inquisitiveness about everything that
seems to interest them. In addition to this, toddlers are also distinguished as active learners who
are trying to develop an understanding about the extrinsic world and at this time, educators and
care providers must proactively provide valuable knowledge inputs so as to lay a strong
conceptual foundation. Therefore, it can be stated that the process of child-initiated playing helps
in developing the child’s imagination. It further helps children in developing an understanding
about the functioning of the extrinsic world (Van et al. 2014) Hoorn. Also, the process of playing

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offers an equal opportunity to toddlers of diverse backgrounds irrespective of their cultural or
religious backgrounds to come together and play collectively. The dynamics of child-initiated
playing are variable and are dependent upon the child’s interests and the creative imagination of
the children (Tandon et al. 2015). Pedagogical researchers have opined in this context that
children might struggle with learning but could gain more knowledge about a topic of interest
while playing in a group (Woods 2017). Also, playing offers a unique opportunity to the toddlers
to learn multiple facts about a topic of interest at the same time and also offers time to absorb the
knowledge. For instance, a child who likes to dress up like a nurse and indulge in role play with
another child who pretends to be a patient, is actually learning about the device used for
measuring the temperature or the heart beat. Both the children are gradually learning about the
importance of the vital sign assessment while assessing a patient. Therefore, research studies
suggest that play imparts a unique, enjoyable yet a knowledgeable experience to the children
(Woods 2017; Tandon et al. 2015).
A total of 3 questions were asked to the child minders that directly correlated with the
first research question. The following section would present the questions and the responses of
the child-minders in response to the question.
Do you believe that the process of child-initiated play is uniform for every child?
In response to the above question, the first child-minder said that, ‘No, I think the manner in
which children play differ from one another…like you know you one child might be interested in
dressing up and pretending to be a fairy and the other child might be playing with a toy car.’
The second child minder also had a similar response and said that, ‘Ya I believe they are packed
with creative ideas and every time play differently.’

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What parameters affect the dynamics of the child-initiated play?
The first professional stated that, ‘You know these kids are so full of energy and zest and
most of the time they discover their own games.’
The second professional stated that, ‘I think that their creative imagination and inquisitiveness
are the parameters that determine the dynamics of their play’
What benefits do you think that the drive of play fetch in children?
The first professional said that, ‘Playing shapes their thoughts and perceptions about things. It
also helps them know new stuff…like you know a child might be interested in playing with cars
and play with different models and gradually come to identify the toy cars with the model
names…’
The second professional said that,’I think playing helps them know other kids and they learn to
share and play collectively. Like you would often see those kids exchange their play things and
play with each other happily.’
The second research question (RQ2), articulated for the research study included the
question: What are the roles of child minders in the process of child-initiated playing process so
as to promote development in the children?
On critically analyzing the scholarly evidence, it can be said that the child-minders or the
professionals who are concerned with the providing safety and ensuring development have a
critical role in determining a positive development of the toddlers. According to Freeman and
Kasari (2013), it has been mentioned that care providers are responsible for making the learning
process more interesting for the children. As stated by Fleer (2015), actively interacting with the

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children during their play time or asking them about what they were playing made them feel
valued and at the same time on account of generating fluent responses, the children were bound
to learn more words and this greatly improved their vocabulary. According to Singer et al.
(2014), the process of child-initiated playing treated the children as the masterminds or the
originators of the play who engaged in playing according to their own choice of partners and
play materials and directed their process of learning. In addition to this, as mentioned by the
Singer et al. (2014), the behavior as well as the attitude of the child minders have a significant
impact on the quality of the child’s learning. In order to ensure a healthy learning and
development, it is essential for the toddlers to have care professionals who are active,
enthusiastic and at the same time are aware of the concepts of outdoor learning. It is important
for the child minders to proactively offer bits of information in order to add to the knowledge
resource of the children (Fleer 2015). Also, the child minders must be critically aware of the
importance of the outdoor as well as the indoor playing and learning environment. Outdoor
playing activities offer an opportunity to the children to interact with nature and develop an
understanding about the natural environment (Wood 2014). In addition to this, the framework for
the early year foundation stage suggests that equilibrium must be maintained in between the
adult-initiated activities as well as the child-initiated play activities. This particular
recommendation of the framework is widely supported by the educators widely.
In order to address the second research question (R2), a total of three questions were
asked to the two child minders who had participated in the interview process. The three questions
along with the corresponding responses would be discusses below in this section.
What according to you is the role of a child minder?

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To the first question, the first professional replied that, ‘well I believe we are supposed to ensure
a safe play environment and see to it that the kids don’t end up hurting themselves while playing.
We need to engage the children with different play things so that they enjoy playing.’
The second professional to the first question replied that, ‘I think we just let the kids free to enjoy
their play time but constantly mind them so that they do not injure themselves or cause trouble to
other kids. We talk to them while they play and that makes them happy. They have so many
things to tell us and we like playing with them too.’
Do you think child minder play a specific role in the development of the child?
The response of the first professional to the question included, ‘Well I think we answer their
questions and that pretty much helps them know about things.’
The response of the second professional to the question included, ‘Well I think sometime when
they are messing up..I tell them not to be naughty and ask them to be good. I don’t know maybe
that’s telling them about good manners.’ (laughs)
Do you think child minders need a specific set of training to understand a toddler’s psychology
of playing?
The response of the first professional included, ‘ I don’t think that is required, like we have been
doing this for so long already.’
The response of the second professional included, ‘That sounds good, it would help in knowing
more about kids and their behavior and accordingly make playing a better experience for them.’
The third research question (R3), included the question, what was the role of child
initiated playing activities in the process of development of the children. On critically evaluating

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the available pedagogical research studies, it was understood that the concept of child initiated
play aimed at supporting children in exploring new ideas and at the same time acquire control
over their learning process (Weisberg et al. 2013; Freeman et al. 2015). It offers the children to
learn through first hand experiences and at the same time also offers them the choice to chose
and select the play resources. As suggested by Rowe (2017), it might seem that the child
activities at the beginning might seem as activities initiated by the adults. However, with time
and space, the child masters the ability to make use of the ideas and resources and utilize them to
generate their individual experiences. Studies have indicated that an optimal maintenance of
balance between the child initiated play activities and the Adult balance help in acquiring the
best possible outcome (Weisberg et al. 2016).
On asking about the opinion of the two professionals with regard to the third research
question, the first professional replied that, ‘Child centred playing is not a new concept and it
was already there before. We have always let children be free and encouraged play activities.
So, I don’t really feel that this is something new....especially you know when you are dealing
with the toddlers.’
On the other hand, the second professional’s response to the same question included the
response, ‘I think children like to play and they should be given ample opportunity to engage in
playing. I feel it helps in stimulating their senses and they are able to learn new things too…and
child initiated playing is like when you are focusing on the child and his likes and dislikes while
assisting him with his playing.’

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Therefore, on the basis of the scholarly evidences as well as the interview responses of
the two professionals a total of two common themes could be extracted. The themes included the
following:
The child minders acknowledged the positive impact of playing on the holistic development
of the children
In line with the findings of the research studied by Macintyre (2016), the child minders
positively acknowledged that playing directly contributed to the holistic development of the
children. The child minders stressed on the parameters of stimulating the creative imagination in
children through playing activities (Fletcher et al. 2013). In addition to this, the first professional
also said that playing helped the children learn new things and helped them assume control over
their learning process. Also, the fact that playing within groups helped children learn positive
interaction and sharing was highlighted by the second professional. The responses of the
professionals are uniform with research study findings that suggest playing positively promotes
the development of skills and abilities in children (Moyles 2014). The professionals also
mentioned about letting the children free and providing them space so as to make learning an
interesting process for them. At the same time, the responses of the professionals also stressed
upon the maintenance of a secure environment so as to ensure complete safety. The responses
can again be treated unanimous with the findings of the research studies that stress upon the
maintenance of a secured environment and encouraging playing activities to make learning an
effective experience (Kuh et al. 2013).
The child minders were not aware about their clear roles in the development of the
children

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The research studies suggest that the adults play an integral role in the development of
the child by collaborating in the process of playing (Curtiss 2014). Typically, the child minders
or professionals must take into consideration the interests of the child and accordingly make use
of the resources to develop a window of opportunities to stimulate the learning needs of the
children. The scholarly literatures focus on building strong relationships with the children to
learn about their likes and dislikes and make use of the environment to direct the children in the
correct direction to ensure a holistic growth (Saracho 2013). However, the professionals seemed
to be confused about their role in the development process of the child. When asked about their
role in the developmental process, the professionals typically focused on the maintenance of a
safe environment. On asking about whether a training could help in making them understand
about the child psychology in a better way, one of the professionals denied while the other
showed interest. Therefore, it is important to impart knowledge so as to clearly make child
minders aware of their role in the process of development of the children.
Conclusion and Recommendations:
Therefore, to conclude it can be mentioned that on the basis of the research findings in
combination with the scholarly evidences, it can be stated that the professionals are unaware
about their direct contribution in the process of determining holistic development of the children.
However, the professionals do acknowledge that the process of playing stimulated the senses and
effectively promotes a positive learning experience to the children.
Hence, as recommendations it can be mentioned that the aspect of child-initiated play
should be the central focus of developing a pre-school curriculum. This is because the response
of the professionals as well as the reviewed scholarly literatures suggested the positive impact of

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playing on the holistic development of the children. Therefore, customizing the curriculum
according to the principles of child-initiated play would allow positive scope of development.
In addition to this, the perception and awareness about the role of child minders in
association to the development of the toddlers is unclear among the professionals. As a positive
recommendation incorporation of a short training course or a refreshment training course could
help professionals in acquiring knowledge about the concept of child-initiated play. It would
further help the professionals in learning techniques that could facilitate in developing a better
understanding about the psychology of the children. This is turn would facilitate a healthier
development of a bond between the professionals and the children and would positively direct
the process of development.
Reflections:
On critically reflecting upon my research experience, I would like to mention that the
research study conducted by me was laden with a number of limitations. The primary limitations
can be enlisted as the minimal sample size which does not permit the research findings to be
generalized. However, one strength of the research study can be mentioned as the relatibility of
the research findings in alignment with the scholarly evidences. In addition to this, I would also
like to mention that the time constraints did not permit me to conduct in depth semi-structure
interview with the participants. Further, on account of the time constraint I was unable to recruit
more than 2 candidates for the interview which again can be considered as a limitation of the
study. Also, both the participants selected by me were child minders and this suggests that their
responses could be influenced by professional bias. However, in my opinion within the stipulated
time frame I have managed to position myself as a ‘partial insider’ to conduct my research study.

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The rationale for the selection of the strategy can be mentioned as the lack of lack of work
experience and also the ready acceptance by my acquaintances who were the participants of the
research. It can therefore be agreed that the research study has a number of limitations but the
findings that indicate the confusion of roles among the child minders substantially suggests that
there is a need to introduce training so as to impart an understanding about the role of child
minders in the process of development. Also, the effectiveness of the child-initiated play in the
development process suggests that the concept could be used for the creation of pre-school
curriculums to enhance the learning experience.

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References:
Curtiss, S., 2014. Genie: a psycholinguistic study of a modern-day wild child. Academic Press.
Fehr, K.K. and Russ, S.W., 2014. Assessment of pretend play in preschool-aged children:
validation and factor analysis of the affect in play scale–preschool version. Journal of
personality assessment, 96(3), pp.350-357.
Fleer, M., 2015. Pedagogical positioning in play–teachers being inside and outside of children's
imaginary play. Early Child Development and Care, 185(11-12), pp.1801-1814.
Fletcher, R., StGeorge, J. and Freeman, E., 2013. Rough and tumble play quality: Theoretical
foundations for a new measure of father–child interaction. Early Child Development and
Care, 183(6), pp.746-759.
Freeman, S. and Kasari, C., 2013. Parent–child interactions in autism: characteristics of
play. Autism, 17(2), pp.147-161.
Freeman, S.F., Gulsrud, A. and Kasari, C., 2015. Brief report: Linking early joint attention and
play abilities to later reports of friendships for children with ASD. Journal of autism and
developmental disorders, 45(7), pp.2259-2266.
Kuh, L.P., Ponte, I. and Chau, C., 2013. The Impact of a Natural Playscape Installation on
Young Children's Play Behaviors. Children Youth and Environments, 23(2), pp.49-77.
Macintyre, C., 2016. Enhancing learning through play: A developmental perspective for early
years settings. Routledge.
Maynard, T., Waters, J. and Clement, J., 2013. Child-initiated learning, the outdoor environment
and the ‘underachieving’child. Early years, 33(3), pp.212-225.

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Maynard, T., Waters, J. and Clement, J., 2013. Moving outdoors: further explorations of ‘child-
initiated’learning in the outdoor environment. Education 3-13, 41(3), pp.282-299.
Moyles, J., 2014. The excellence of play. McGraw-Hill Education (UK).pp.90
Rowe, D.W., 2017. Bringing books to life: The role of book-related dramatic play in young
children’s literacy learning. In Play and literacy in early childhood (pp. 37-64). Routledge.
Saracho, O.N., 2013. An integrated play-based curriculum for young children. Routledge.
Singer, E., Nederend, M., Penninx, L., Tajik, M. and Boom, J., 2014. The teacher's role in
supporting young children's level of play engagement. Early Child Development and
Care, 184(8), pp.1233-1249.
Tandon, P.S., Saelens, B.E. and Christakis, D.A., 2015. Active play opportunities at child
care. Pediatrics, 135(6), pp.e1425-e1431.
Van Hoorn, J.L., Monighan-Nourot, P., Scales, B. and Alward, K.R., 2014. Play at the center of
the curriculum. Pearson.
Weisberg, D.S., Hirsh-Pasek, K., Golinkoff, R.M., Kittredge, A.K. and Klahr, D., 2016. Guided
play: principles and practices. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 25(3), pp.177-182.
Weisberg, D.S., Zosh, J.M., Hirsh-Pasek, K. and Golinkoff, R.M., 2013. Talking It Up: Play,
Language Development, and the Role of Adult Support. American Journal of Play, 6(1), pp.39-
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Wood, E., 2014. The play-pedagogy interface in contemporary debates. The SAGE handbook of
play and learning in early childhood, pp.145-156.

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Woods, A. ed., 2017. Child-Initiated Play and Learning: Planning for possibilities in the early
years. Taylor & Francis.

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Annexes:
What according to you is the role of a child minder?
To the first question, the first professional replied that, ‘well I believe we are supposed to ensure
a safe play environment and see to it that the kids don’t end up hurting themselves while playing.
We need to engage the children with different play things so that they enjoy playing.’
The second professional to the first question replied that, ‘I think we just let the kids free to enjoy
their play time but constantly mind them so that they do not injure themselves or cause trouble to
other kids. We talk to them while they play and that makes them happy. They have so many
things to tell us and we like playing with them too.’
Do you think child minder play a specific role in the development of the child?
The response of the first professional to the question included, ‘Well I think we answer their
questions and that pretty much helps them know about things.’
The response of the second professional to the question included, ‘Well I think sometime when
they are messing up..I tell them not to be naughty and ask them to be good. I don’t know maybe
that’s telling them about good manners.’ (laughs)
Do you think child minders need a specific set of training to understand a toddler’s psychology
of playing?
The response of the first professional included, ‘ I don’t think that is required, like we have been
doing this for so long already.’

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The response of the second professional included, ‘That sounds good, it would help in knowing
more about kids and their behavior and accordingly make playing a better experience for them.’

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