Project Module an example of a good project report Do Children in Early Years Settings get enough opportunities for free

e play?

Introduction Whether or not children in early years settings get enough free play is a much debated topic in any educational setting, and one where teachers, early years professionals, parents, and children can often have contrasting opinions. There is a significant amount of literature that focuses around this topic (Ruff et al 1990, Lansdowne 2001, Isenberg et al 2002), with the majority supporting the idea that free play is vital in child development on many levels, including its impact on social skills and motor development. Teachers and early years professionals are required to ensure that children are able to achieve several learning outcomes including those required in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) material in addition to the requirements of the Every Child Matters agenda. In achieving these, some settings may view free play as an activity that is not as essential as an adult led activity and may limit the amount of time children are able to engage in free play activities. This project aims to investigate the true value of free play and gain opinions from children, teachers and parents on its importance in a childs early development. It will then further investigate whether or not children in early years settings get enough opportunities to engage in free play.

Literature Review
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There are many definitions of free play available from research studies carried out in this area. Garvey (1990) defined play as being made up of activities associated with pleasure and enjoyment, and Sheridan Bartlett (1999) defines play as engaging in the surrounding world through exploration, manipulation, physical exuberance, experimentation and pretence, either alone or with others (Bartlett, 1999 p.68). Free play is often viewed as unstructured as it tends to involve few rules or regulations. It can involve various pieces of equipment including props and, more commonly, toys yet can also encourage children to use their imagination. Moyles (2005) described play as a process that embraces a wide range of behavioural skills, motivations and opportunities.

The importance of free play for children has been debated for many years. Early studies investigating the role of play in child development were carried out by Mead and Piaget. Mead (1934) suggested that play is important as it allows the individual to develop themselves as an object and learn the importance of role playing skills that become vital in later teenage and adult life. Piaget (1965) argued that play is vital in developing moral values and that these can then be further developed through rule-bound games. Piaget also suggested that play can be a major tool that can be used in facilitating a childs mental development. In developing the stage theory, Piaget argued that the changes in play through each stage parallel different levels of cognitive and emotional development. It is here where the differences between play and games can be clearly seen. Play relates to an early stage and refers are to a childs activities that are characterised by freedom from rules apart from those that are personally imposed (often adaptable). Play often encompasses a childs fantasy and does not contribute to any goals outside of the activity. In
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contrast, games occur at a later stage and are usually competitive and constrained by rules and time constraints. Piaget argued that children appreciate early in their lives that play allows and promotes enjoyment whereas engrossing children in games at an early stage in their development can lead to stress. The stage theory supports the idea that, through play, children develop other skills that support their development. Diamond and Hestenes (1997) used the example of a child pretending to drink from an empty cup to support the stage theory. They stated that a child who plays with the same props repeatedly, for example drinking from an empty cup, is actually developing other skills such as hand eye coordination and other sensory-motor skills that are critical in development.

Tsao (2002) reported through her research into play that Sigmund Freud regarded play as cathartic, believing that play could help children release negative feelings caused by traumatic events and substitute them with more positive ones. Tsao ( ibid) used the example of a child playing with a doll to explain Freuds analysis. She states that a child who punishes a doll and then comforts it can work through and resolve negative feelings brought on by being punished by a parent. Doing this allows them to understand painful situations and find methods to substitute these with pleasurable feelings. In summary, Freud regarded play as the means by which a child accomplishes his first great cultural and psychological achievements; through play they express themselves. Play is so valuable in that it allows children to work through and master quite complex psychological difficulties of the past and present (Bettleheim, 1987).

A psychoanalytical approach has been presented by Hughes (1990) who stated that play is a critical tool in helping children reduce a fear of vulnerability as they can view themselves as being the dominating character in play activity. An example of this in free play is a child who plays with miniature figures. A psychoanalytical view on this is that playing with the miniature toys reduced the overwhelming world of adults to a manageable size.

Many theories exist which seek to explain play and its effects on children. The preexercise theory (Saracho and Spodek, 1995) states that play is the result of energy build up, and that through participating in play activities, this energy can be released. A further classical theory is the relaxation theory which states play to be a source of relaxation, and is an activity used to build up energy prior to work.

There are several theories of play such as those developed by Freud and Piaget. Where the principles behind each theory differ, they all agree that play has key benefits for children and is an essential supporting part to child development. Rubin (1982) stated that children participate in play type activities to develop skills that they need for surviving in the future. He expanded on this by saying that play allows children to practice and perfect these skills in preparation for adulthood. This type of research requires additional evidence to support it and future research should include longitudinal studies that investigate the relationship between a childs play activities and what types of jobs they do in the future and establish where there is any connection. Research of this type would help teachers to establish what type of play should be promoted with children for example.
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The Association for Childhood Education International believe that play is a crucial aspect in supporting children to succeed. Research from the association suggest that play has a critical role in the learning pathway for all children and young people and should play a critical role in a childs learning alongside more traditional methods. The Association define play as:

A dynamic, active, and constructive behaviour that is an essential and integral part of all childrens healthy growth, development, and learning across all ages, domains, and cultures (ACEI 2002 p. 1).

Hughes (1990) expands on this, stating that play is a dynamic process that develops and changes as it becomes more varied and complex. Types of play change as the child ages, and this should be recognised in early years settings who should ensure that the environment provided for play supports and promotes this. A study into the importance of play, carried out by The American Academy of Paediatrics in 2006, stated that play was essential in child development. In particular stating that free and unstructured play can be healthy and essential in supporting children attain important social, emotional, and cognitive developmental goals as well as helping them manage potential stressors.

Play can take place at any time and in any place in early years settings. Teachers and early years professionals along with children often view the outside environment
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as adventurous and ideal for play. Many early years settings recognise this and ensure that there good quality, safe, and developmentally appropriate equipment available for children to use to facilitate play. A setting can have limited indoor space and the need for teachers to have control can at times lead them to inhibit play activities, preferring more structured activities that require rules and certain behaviours to be exhibited by the children that result in them to be more easily controlled.

Additional factors that can affect free play and a childs access to it include the quality of the early years setting a child is in. Holloway and Erikson (1988) studied the relationship of day care quality to the activities of 4 year old children during free play and how this impacted on social problem solving skills. Results suggested that social problem skills were enhanced when there was good positive interaction between the children and young people during free play. Other positive indicators were the arrangement of physical space, spaciousness of the environment and appropriateness and variety of the equipment provided for play. These findings are supported by the Rumbold Report (1990) which found that children need talk, play and first hand experiences in pres school settings as these are powerful in child development and learning

If free play is so important to a childs development , we must understand how a teacher can best facilitate free play and what their role is when children are participating in free play. Kontos (1999) carried out research to investigate what a teachers involvement was in activity settings, their roles, and their talk during free
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play. This is a real key area of study as teachers have the knowledge and the experience to ensure the free play carried out promotes learning from an educational right through to social perspective. Kontos found that the setting the activity was taking place in was the decisive factor in what teachers roles were in free play. Evidence from the study suggested that teachers modified their role in free play by activity setting. During free play, teachers were most often in the role of play enhancer or playmate.

The research described in this literature review clearly demonstrates that there is a need for children to have sufficient time to play. Within early years settings, play should be encouraged to support development, however in a time where results and targets are a driving force in settings play can often be withdrawn from children. This is a statement supported by Isenberg and Quisenberry (2002) who stated that:

Higher and tougher standards of learning for children a focusing on a narrow view of learning and that consequently children now have less time and opportunity to play than children did in previous years (Isenberg and Quisenberry, 2002 p.114).

The researchers do however agree that the primary goal of education is learning play though should be advocated as a key source for this, especially in early years settings.

The Effective Provision of Pre School Education Project (DfES 2004) studied the behaviours of 3000 children in regards to the impact pre school education had on the
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childrens intellectual, social and behavioural development. The key finding of the project was that for learning to best occur, it was important that the child freely chooses activities to best extend their thinking. There is a clear lack of empirical research that suggests that play is not important to children. Isenberg and Quisenberry (2002) state that any absence in play can be an obstacle to the development of healthy and creative children a statement supported by a range of psychoanalysts, psychologists, and neuroscientists including Piaget, who believed it was beneficial for a range of reasons including ego mastery through to competence building.

Research into play documented in this literature review clearly suggests that play has a crucial role in many areas, especially in child development and this view is supported by both current and early research into the area. This research includes heavily documented studies and theories by Piaget and Freud. The critical question is how much is needed to support this development and at what point does this unstructured activity begin to affect children in attaining the necessary literacy and numeracy levels. Through my research into the question Do children in early years settings get enough free play? I will investigate both sides looking at the effects of too much and too little free play and its subsequent effects on children and the setting they are in.

Methodology Research Hypothesis

After reviewing the relevant research in this field, the hypothesis for the project was that Children in early years settings do not have enough opportunities for free play. This was researched using the methods documented in the methodology Background The research project took place over a 12 week period in a private early years setting in East Yorkshire. The setting has been operating for over thirty years and caters for children from pre-school through to year three (current roster of pupils in early years education 60). A recent Ofsted inspection in 2009 rated the early years setting as good. It has recently been selected to operate as a feeder school into a private education setting that caters for children from aged 4 to 19 in the area. Participants The project involved 60 participants comprising of 50 children (25 of whom attend pre-school and 25 from reception) and 10 members of the teaching staff who work daily with children who are in early years and 50 sets of parents of the children involved in the project. The teaching staffs who were involved in this project have a collective experience of over 150 years in teaching children and this experience and knowledge has been very beneficial to the project. The project will also take into account the views and opinions of the childrens parents. Each child will be provided with one questionnaire for either one or both their parent / guardians to complete. As the project involved children, all ethical guidelines were put in place and strictly enforced. With these in mind, each parent of a child who was involved in the project has received a participant information sheet which clearly stated the nature of the project and informed them that they have the right to withdraw their child from the project at any time. Each parent was also required to sign an informed consent form
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prior to the project commencing and was invited to a project debriefing session at the end of the 12 weeks and had the opportunity to ask any questions they may have had about the project and its findings. The staff who were involved were also issued with a participant information sheet and in addition were fully briefed through a one to one initial interview with the researcher. They too had the opportunity to attend a debriefing event after the project had been completed,. Method Three groups of participants, child, parent, teacher, have been used through the project to establish whether the hypothesis can be supported. At the beginning of the project each parent and teacher received a self reporting questionnaire that had been designed specifically for the project (see Appendices A and C) to assess their views and opinions as to whether children have enough opportunity to participate in free play in early years settings. It is worth noting that these questionnaires were to be returned and reported anonymously. Each child involved in the project was also be issued with a child friendly questionnaire (See Appendix B) that they took home and completed with the assistance of their parents. The staff and children participating also took part in a structured interview with predetermined questions. The children were interview in their own classroom environment with the researcher being a familiar person to them so they were able to feel relaxed during the brief interview. The staff were also interviewed about their views on free play in early years. The participants were made aware that they could stop the interview at any time. These interviews were carried out throughout the day when it was suitable for both the staff and the children.
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Experimental Design The project took place in a field setting as opposed to a laboratory setting. Within any early years setting there are several uncontrollable variables that may have prevent children partaking in free play and it is important that this project is open enough to capture what these are. Any are such instances may not have been able to be observed in a laboratory setting. The project has predominantly gathered information through the completion of surveys and is therefore classed as non-experimental research (Bell 2005). In addition survey results are compared against actual observations during time periods where free play has the opportunity to take place. An observation schedule was used to ensure that equal time was spent observing children in both age groups and a variety of teachers. Experimental Setting The observation element of the project will take place in an early years setting that caters for children from pre-school through to year 3. The setting has a large outdoor play area where children have the opportunity for play at break and lunch times. Depending on the weather being suitable, children are also able to access a field on the grounds of the setting, The setting allows children a 15 minute break in the morning and the pupils also have a one hour lunch period, 30 minutes of which they spend playing. The school day commences at 9a.m. and finishes at 3.30p.m. Parents are able to put their children in morning school care from 8am and in after school care from 3.30pm to 5.30pm each day if required. The setting also offers holiday provision in
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half term and summer holidays. Children who attend morning school care, after school care, and holiday provision are encouraged to take part in both structured activities and free play. Results The results of the project were gained through interviewing members of staff and children at the setting and from questionnaire responses gained from children who attend the pre-school and reception class and their parents. A copy of the questionnaires and interview questions used are included in the appendix. Headline Results - Staff

Fig 1: Are children always willing to join in the structured activities?

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Fig 1 indicates that 60% of staff felt that children joined in with structured activities most of the time when asked to. Fig 2: Do Children get enough Free Play Opportunities?

Fig 2 indicates that 70% of teachers interviewed felt that children did not get enough free play opportunities in their setting.

Fig 3: Is there too much pressure on children in early years to learn?

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Fig 3 indicates that 80% of teachers felt that there was too much pressure on ensuring children in early years settings were at the correct stage of learning. In addition to the above results, the interviews also indicated that 70% of the sample could not always allow children to make their own decisions when it came to choosing a learning type activity, this is in contrast to 20% stating they would never allow this freedom of choice. In regards to whether children in early years settings need more freedom, 60% stated yes, with 40 stating no. Finally, in terms of staffs beliefs on which activities children enjoy the most, 50% believed that free play was the activity most enjoyed.

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Headline Results Children

Fig 4: What is your favourite part of the day?

Fig 4 indicates that 34 out of the 50 children researched selected Free Play as there most enjoyable part of the day. In addition the above, 85% of the children stated through their questionnaire that they enjoyed school activities. Of these activities, 70% stated that their favourite actvity was free play from a choice of circle time, free play, structured activities, craft and P.E.

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Headline Results: Parents

Fig 5: During the schools day how many hours would you like your child to choose their activities in comparison with adult led activities.

Fig 5 indicates that parents would prefer their child to spend up to 2 hours a day having free choice over their activities with the remaining time being adult led activities. The results from parents were that their children brought home a range of extra learning materials ranging from reading books, phonics, flash cards, and worksheet and that these were required to be completed in the week and over the weekend 86% of parents agreed with this. Importantly, 100% of parents believed that is important that their child has choice over activities completed at school.

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Discussion The results indicate that children find free play activities the most enjoyable part of the day; 70% of staff interviewed felt that they did not give enough free play opportunities; they stated in their interviews that they would like to provide more opportunities yet feel under pressure to ensure they have completed more structured, guided learning activities in accordance with the early years foundation stage. This is also reflected in the fact that 80% of staff felt that there was a pressure on children to learn in their setting. In addition, 70% of staff stated that they could not always allow children to make their own decisions whereas 100% of parents felt that their child has choice over the activities they complete at school.

The results of this project suggest that children in early years settings do not have enough free play, thus suggesting the original research hypothesis to be supported. The reasons for this appear to vary and contradict the wealth of research that suggests play is a vital element in a childs learning and development.

A key part of the project was observing the children whilst they were engaging in free play activities. Often children were involved in specific role playing activities e.g. pretending to be a chef or doctor. It was apparent that through this they were developing the social skills with fellow children as well as other motor skills. This finding supports that of Mead (1934) who stated that play is important as it allows the individual to develop themselves as an object and learn the importance of role playing skills that become vital in later teenage and adult life. Throughout the observations on free play, it was clear that the children enjoyed the unstructured time
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where they could participate in specific games and activities at their choice. They clearly enjoyed and gained pleasure from the opportunities play provided, thus supporting Garvey (1990) theory. This was shown in their questionnaire results that indicated free play was their most enjoyable part of the school day. One area which was particularly enjoyed was when children were afforded the opportunity to take part in more rigorous free play activities. Teachers stated that free play that involved the children using a lot of energy was good as it made them more willing to take part in structured activities later in the day.

The teachers of the setting are those responsible for controlling the amount of free play had by children at school and to a certain extent in their home life as all teachers stated that they provide work to be completed at home by the children with their parents to increase and improve attainment on key areas such as literacy.

The exact reasons as to why children are not afforded high amounts of free play can be linked to the pressure a teacher can be under to ensure the children are at the right stage of development once they progress into the next year. The development of the Early Years Foundation Stage has required teachers to alter their teaching approach, and it is plausible that during this process and the requirement to gain results from the children, free play has become less of a priority as it does not provide teachers with real tangible attainment information. This potential explanation is reinforced by the findings of Landsdown and Lancaster (2001) who expressed serious concern that an emphasis on attainment targets for pre-school children will jeopardise opportunities for free play.
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It should be acknowledged that there were some factors that limit the validity of the results gained from this experiment. The sample size throughout the experiment was low as it only involved 50 children, their parents and ten staff from one setting therefore it is impractical to suggest these results are representative of other settings. Future studies in this area should ensure that it takes into account a wider research sample across multiple early years settings. In addition, the setting for this project is a private school in an affluent area. A future study could investigate whether there are significant differences to free play amounts across the state school system in rural and inner city settings.

An additional factor that should be taken into consideration regarding the results is the possibility of parental bias on the questionnaire results from the children. The parents had responsibility of supporting children who were not able to complete their child friendly questionnaire and they could have inadvertently encouraged a child to put a response that was not a true reflection of their opinion.

A final limitation of the study was the potential familiarity between researcher and participant, in particular the teachers who potentially may have given inaccurate responses that placed them in a more favourable light. In the future it is important that research takes place in settings where the experimenter is unknown.

Conclusion

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It is apparent from the wealth of research into free play by researchers including Piaget, Garvey, and Rubin amongst others, that the ability for children to engage in free play type activities during early years is essential for child development. There can be little doubt that children themselves enjoy engaging in free play activities when at school, nor that parents believe that their child should be able to have an element of choice over the activities they complete. What does appear to be a key factor is the pressures placed on teachers and early years professionals to ensure each child is at the correct level of development in relation to the early years foundation stage. This therefore places more of a focus on other activities and reduces the amount of time and subsequent opportunities for children to engage in free play.

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References The Association for Childhood Education International (2002) (Position paper available at http://365waystounplugyourkids.com/play_Essential_for_kidsl.htm) Bartlett, Sheridan. (1999) Childrens experience of the physical environment in poor urban settlements and the implications for policy, planning and practice. Environment and Urbanization. (1999) vol 11 no 2 pg 68 Bell, J. (2005), Doing your Research Project, NY, USA, Open University Press Bettelheim, B. (1987), The Importance of Play, Atlantic Monthly, 3, 35 46. Roberts Holmes, G (2005), Doing your Early Years Research Project, London UK, Sage Publications Diamond, K and Hestenes, L. (1997), Relationships between enrolment in an inclusive class and pre school childrens ideas about people with disabilities, Topics in Early Childhood Special Education , 17, 520 536. Garvey, C (1990), Play, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press. Ginsburg, K (2006), The Importnace of Play in Promoting Healthy Child Development, The American Academy of Paediatrics, USA, Clinical Report 2006. Holloway, S and Erikson, M. (1988) The relationship of day care quality to children spree play behaviour and social problem solving, Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 3, 39 53. Hughes, M. (1990), Childrens Play: A forgotten right, Environment and Urbanization, 2 (2), 58-64. Isenberg, J and Quinsberg, N (2002), Play: essential for all children, Childhood Education, 79, 114-126. Kontos, S (1999), Preschool teachers talk, roles, and activity settings during free play, Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 14 (3), 363-382. Lansdown, G and Lancaster, P (2001) Promoting childrens welfare by respecting their rights, Contemporary Issues in the Early Years: Working Collaboratively for Children, London, Paul Chapman Publishing Mead, G (1934), Mind, Self, and Society, Chicago, USA, University of Chicago Press.
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Moyles, J (2005), The Excellence of Play, Buckingham, University Press. Osborn, A and Milbank, J (1987), The effects of early education: a report from the child health and education study, Oxford, Clarendon Press. Piaget, J (1965), The Moral Judgement of the Child, London, UK Free Press. Rubin, K (1982), Non social play in pre schoolers, Child Development, 53, 651-657. Development of sustained, focused attention in young children during free play. Ruff, Holly A.;Lawson, Katharine R. (1990) Development of sustained, focused attention in young children during free play. Developmental Psychology, Vol 26, No.1 pp 85-93. Saracho, O and Spodek, B (1995), Childrens play and early childhood education: Insights from History and Theory, Journal of Education, 177 (3), 129-148. Taylor, S and Morris, V (1996), Outdoor play in early educational settings: is it safe and healthy for children? Early Childhood Education, 23 (3), 153-158. Tsao, L (2002), How much do we know about the Importance of play in child development, Childhood Education, 78, 89-94.

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Appendix A

Interview Questions
(For all staff)

Are the children always willing to join in the structured activities? Never Not always Majority of the time Always Added Notes:................................................................................................................. ......................................................................................................................................

Do all children have to participate in activities or can the children make their own decisions? Never Not always Majority of the time Always Added Notes:.................................................................................................. .......................................................................................................................................

In your opinion are children getting enough free play on a daily basis? Yes No Added Notes:............................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................................
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Which part of the day do you feel the children enjoy the most out of? Circle time Free play Structured activity Craft P.E ....................................................................................................................................... ....................................................................................................................................... Do you think that children in the early years need more freedom? Yes No Added Notes............................................................................................................................. .......................................................................................................................................

Is there too much pressure put on children in the early years to learn? Yes No Added Notes............................................................................................................................. .......................................................................................................................................

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Appendix B

Questionnaire for Children

Do you enjoy going to school/pre-school?

Yes

No

Sometimes

What is your favourite part of the day?

Free Play

Craft

Structured Activities

Circle Time

P.E

Other (please state).......................................

What would you like to do more of at school?

Free Play

Craft

Structured Activities

Circle Time

P.E

Other (please state)......................................... What would you like to do less of?

Free Play

Craft

Structured Activities

Circle Time

P.E

Other (please state)..............................................................

If you could do anything at school what would it be? .............................................................................

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Appendix c

Questionnaire
For Parents What setting is your child in Pre School Reception

How many hours a week does your child attend childcare? 0-9 10-19 20-29 30+

Please indicate if your child brings home any of the following

Reading

Phonics

Flashcards

Worksheets

None

Other (please state)............................................................................

If so how many times a week? 1 2 3 4

During your childs day how much time would you like them to spend play and choosing their own activities

0-2 hours

2-4 hours

5+

How many hours during the day would you like your child to take part in adult lead/learning activities 0-2 hours 2-4 hours 5+

Do you think it is important for your child to choose their own activities? Yes
Dear Parent/Carer 26

No

Introduction: I am a student at the University of Hull, doing a research project on children in early years education. I want to see if children in early years have enough opportunity for free play. I would like to invite you and your child to join this research study.

Background information:

Whether or not children in early years settings have enough opportunities for free play is a much debated topic in any educational setting, and one where teachers, early years professionals, parents, and children can often have contrasting opinions. There is a significant amount of literature that focuses around this topic, with the majority supporting the idea that free play is vital in child development on many levels. Purpose of this research study
Purpose of the study is to find out if children in early years have enough opportunities for free play in early years settings in both pre-school and reception classes.

Procedures
In this study i will be sending out questionnaires for both you and your children, your child will also be asked to take part in an interview and observe them in their classroom several time during the 4 week period. This will take about half an hour of your time that is convenient to u and are anonymous these can be returned at any time to the drop box in the main school hall.

Possible risks or benefits

There is no risk involved in this study except your valuable time. There is no direct benefit to you or your child. This research will not interfere of effect your childs day/education in any way, and is done at a time convenient to them and their teacher.

Right of refusal to participate and withdrawal You and your child are free to choose to participate in the study. You and your child may refuse to participate. You may also withdraw any time from the study without any adverse effect. You may also refuse to answer some or all the questions if you dont feel comfortable with those questions.

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Confidentiality
The information provided by you will remain confidential. Nobody except myself the principal investigator will have an access to it.

Available Sources of Information

If you have any further questions you may come and visit me at a time that is convenient to you.

Authorisation I have read and understand this consent form, and I volunteer my child to participate in this research study. I understand that I will receive a copy of this form. I understand that I have the right to withdraw my child at anytime during the research. Parents Name (please print) Signature Childs Name (please print) Childs Class ...............................................

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Time

Who

What Are They Doing

Duration

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