Child’s Play and Development: Learning and Social Interaction

Running head: CHILD’S PLAY AND DEVELOPMENT 1
Child’s play and development
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CHILD’S PLAY AND DEVELOPMENT 2
Introduction
Play is very crucial in the life of a child. It is the stage where the children learn how to cooperate
with other people, pronounce some vocabulary and bring imaginations to their life (Brilli, Del &
Pronzato, 2016). The report analyzes the case study of the focus child play and the development of a
child as it is explained by the theories of child development. The research focuses also on the learning of
the children and social skills which the child learns through interaction with other people. Both at home
and school, the children enjoy various form of play depending on the social environment of the child
(Lin & Bratton, 2015). Children at the age of two enjoy using their motor skills and senses to explore the
world. They are usually curious on events, phenomena and objects that are unfamiliar to them. Children
begin learning from their parents, nannies and their siblings while at home. The name of the focus child
is Sarah and she is two years old. Sarah stays at home with her parents and elder sister who is 8 years.
Sarah’s parents are Indians but their children were born while living in Australia. The parents moved to
Australia for business purposes where they have established Sales and Marketing Company. The parents
have been living in Australia for more than 10 years. The parents to Sarah are self- employed and most
of the time stays with her.
Moreover, there is a nanny who takes care of Sarah when her parents are not around. The
parents are economically stable and can provide all the basic needs of the Sarah as well as luxurious one.
She is the second child and she has one sister Mary. Sarah is a Christian and she has been brought up
embracing eastern culture. The parents to Sarah are always loving and caring. They make her feel
comfortable and ensure her joy is their priority. She likes playing with train toys and vehicles. Her sister
is also jovial and likes playing with her whenever she is on holiday or during weekends. The topic
chosen for the case study is Peer interaction in group play. Sarah is very active child and enjoys playing
with other people. Many of the children of her like playing and spending time with her. The emotional

CHILD’S PLAY AND DEVELOPMENT 3
and social developments of Sarah have shown positive changes which are indicated by the number of
people who are impressed by her ever smiling face. The development of a child is greatly determined by
the social environment, the experiences gathered while growing and the interaction with other people
(Hillier & Aurini, 2017). The theories of child development explain various ways of through which
children develop and how different children show their developmental reactions. The main aim of the
article is to explore child’s play, learning and development of a child.
Research questions
What are some of the activities that can increase the interaction of a child?
What are some of the things a child learn through interaction with the peers?
Which theory is related to social interaction of children?
How does a child learn about objects, phenomena, and events around him or her?
Methodology
The methods of data collection utilized for this incidence are observation, questionnaires and
interview. Interview as a method of data collection was used to get the information related to the play of
Sarah and how she was interacting with other people. Parents said that Sarah was very active during the
day and she would only sleep for three hours daytime. At night the child would play with her sister till
nine and then she would sleep for more than ten hours. During the interview with Sarah’s parent, they
indicated that Sarah loves train and vehicle toys. Most of her playing materials are comprised of train
and vehicles toys which she enjoys playing with them. Sarah is jovial and many people love to interact
with her. If she is playing alone, many children of his age would join her in the play. She is not selective
in her play because she can play with any child. She has developed good social relation with other

CHILD’S PLAY AND DEVELOPMENT 4
people and her parents enjoy watching her play with other children very well. At the age of two years,
children have their daily routine of doing their activities (Métraux, 2015). They use toys which represent
certain object and have the understanding of time concepts. There is also recognition of patterns and
begin to reason logically in order to solve some problem (Van, 2017). The parents showed how Sarah
was able to solve some simple problems while playing with the other children. She would give them the
direction on what they were expected to do and the other children would be very happy to follow her
sequence. Similarly, Questionnaires were majorly related to historical background of the parents. The
questionnaires wanted to inquire about the family background of Sarah. It happens that the diseases are
passed from the parents to the children (Thomas, 2014). The questionnaire aimed at finding out if there
is any historical background of the diseases or complications. The parents of Sarah explained that in
their family background, there are no cases of genetic disorders. All people were normal and health
except the grandmother of Sarah who had hypertension. The grandmother got high blood pressure when
she was 70 years which is common diseases in the old age. The data collected showed that there were no
relative who had any blood pressure and all the relatives have been enjoying healthy life.
Furthermore, the observation was also used to collect data from Sarah. The research took place
in three days to observe how Sarah interacts and relates with other children while playing. Sarah is very
active while playing with her age mates. After taking lunch, she would go outside to play with her
vehicles and train toys which she loved so much. When someone familiar to Sarah greets her, she would
smile and respond according to greetings. From the observation, it was recognized that children at the
age of two years, they begin to label feel. It is difficult for them to control their emotions and their
frustrations can lead to emotional meltdowns. Comfort objects such as teddy bears and blankets can be
used to cope with intense emotional changes of the children (Métraux, 2015). Sarah was crawling,
rolling jumping, climbing objects, running and walking from one corner to another. It is the time when