At The Club, we combine a number of playwork theories with the playwork principles to maximise the quality of children’s experiences whilst they are with us. The theories we focus on are as follows:

Play Types (Hughes):

Hughes believes that children need to experiment in a variety of play types and lists 16 that in his view are essential to child development. His theory involves children taking risks, going back to basics and learning from their mistakes. Risky play needs to be risk assessed and control measures put into place. Playworkers must look at the risks involved and determine whether the benefits of the activity outweigh the risks, or if the activity is just too risky.

Risky (deep) play for one child could be something completely different to another, for an example one child may love climbing trees, which would be classed as deep play, whereas for another child, plucking up the courage to make a new friend could be a big risk for them. Each individual child is different from the next, and is why it is so important for children to initiate their own play.

Play Types:

• Symbolic play
• rough and tumble play
• socio-dramatic play
• social play
• creative play
• communication play
• dramatic play
• deep play
• exploratory play
• fantasy play
• imaginative play
• locomotor play
• mastery play
• object play
• role play
• recapitulative play
   

The Play Cycle (Else and Sturrock):

This theory illustrates a cycle in which play takes place, and in order for healthy development, the full cycle needs to be completed.

The metalude is where the play begins and sets out the context of the play, this is followed by a play cue, where the child initiating the play will produce some sort of cue or action, which is an invitation into the child’s play, with an expectation of a response. The cue may be given to an adult, another child or an object, and it could take the form of a smile, a request or the child throwing a ball to someone or something.

In response is the play return, when the invitation is either accepted or rejected. Examples of this could be a returned smile, answering a question, returning the ball etc. If there is a play return and the play continues, the children will create a play frame, which is the boundary around their play.

The play flow is when children become engaged and caught up in the moment of their play and it is finished when the children feel that it has no more meaning or has lost its value, this is called play annihilation and completes the cycle. Adults do not initiate the play, but they can support it (containment), however, they must be careful not to take over and ultimately, end the play before the full cycle is completed (adulteration). 

SPICE:

Social interaction, Physical activity, Intellectual stimulation, Creative achievement, Emotional stability. It is becoming widely accepted that play has positive effects on children’s overall development. It can help children to learn how to make positive relationships with others and allows them to practice social interactions and concepts such as taking turns, sharing, listening to others, give and take and cooperation. Play involves the use of children’s gross and/or fine motor skills and thus, helps them to develop physically and practice particular skills.

As well as the use of children’s bodies, play stimulates them to think, learn and be inspired through problem solving and exploration. Creatively, play helps children to discover their talents and express themselves in a variety of ways, allowing them to follow their imagination, instincts and ideas. And emotionally, children can find safety and security through play, and they can come to terms with difficult situations by going over them again and again and acting them out. Play celebrates what children can already do, and hence, builds confidence and self-esteem.