Mature Play in Classrooms

*List 3 ways that Mature Play can be implemented into a classroom.
-What are the benefits of these?
Identify specifics about:
-What the situation and props are
-The roles that the children will be in
-How these roles create positives of Mature Play
**When discussing whether Maddie should be in organized Soccer next year (as a 5 year old), what was your answer? Relate your reasons why to the notes on Mature Play. **

1. Kitchen/House Center
Benefits: The children are able to create their own environment based on what they've seen or experienced at their home and bring new ideas to the theme of playing house with other children.
Situation: Children are given a setup of a kitchen scene such as a stove, refrigerator, microwave, etc. and they begin to act as the different roles that occur in a household.
Props: Fake Food, Dress-Up Clothes (Aprons) , Fake Kitchen Supplies, etc.
Roles: Mother, Father, Brother, Sister, Pet, Guest/Friend, Grandparents, the "baby", any other people that may come into one's house.
Positives of Mature Play: Children begin to use a different vocabulary if things are said by the children that they hear from their parents or siblings, the children begin to talk more (verbalization) with one another because playing house requires you to interact and hold conversation with each other, they use their imagination if they are "cooking" or eating fake food or even pretending to be another character rather then theirself, they may use problem-solving strategies if any arguments break out about switching characters, they must use cooperation skills to make the game happen and they experience a lot of different emotions because they are being put in other people's shoes and begin to realize the events that some people have to deal with everyday.

2. Arts & Crafts Center
Benefits: Children are able to use their imagination to create pictures, paintings, and other forms of art and expect feedback from students around them or even the teacher. They can open their mind to new ideas when they feed off their peers ideas.
Situation: Children are given enough paper but not enough utencils to use, therefore they are forced to cooperate and share with eachother. They all perform their art around eachother and experience rejection or praise.
Props: Paper, Pencils, Pens, Colored Pencils, Markers, Paint, Eisel, Scissors, Coloring Books, etc.
Roles: There aren't too many roles required for this- just a student with an imagination. For children who are advanced- maybe they could pretend that they were one of the famous artists like Vango, but i don't think it's likely.
Positives of Mature Play: An art center could help create a longer attention span because it requires some time and thought to be put into a great peice of art. And again they can use their imagination to develop things that they see in their mind and put it down on paper. Art centers take concentration because the children are surrounded by other students and they could provide distraction which would require the students to focus more. They could experience empathy becuase they may feel more feelings for different topics in their mind and put more effort into one peice of art than another they dont really care about.

3. Tag
Benefits: Children are able to run free and get daily exercise but at the same time they are developing in a way that will benefit them later on in the classroom.
Situation: There is one child that is "It" and that person is to run around to try and touch another child so that they are the "It" person. All the other children are just running for their lives so they aren't "It" but once they are, they try to get rid of that title. There are many different rules to the different types of tags but before the game is started, all the children crowd around and figure out which type of tag they are playing.
Props: The children themselves, maybe a wide enough area for the children to run around and spread themselves out, and objects that may keep the "It" person from tagging them.
Roles: One person who is "It" and the other children that will become "victims".
Positives of Mature Play: This relates to talking more with one another and using "choosy" words (vocabulary) that may hurt peoples feelings or make them feel better. It takes concentration to decide what routes to take so they don't become "It". It uses impulse control so they don't give themselves up and are actually focused. It takes cooperation between the kids to decide on one type of tag and it takes group participation to play the game in general.

In my opinion, I believe Maddie should be put in organized soccer. Although it may not prepare her for the classroom like activities such as playing "House" or something else, it still provides her with opportunity to interact with other children. It also involves an important strategy known as team work (group participation), playing soccer requires concentration, impulse control, curiosity, empathy and group participation. Maddie will have fun with feeling needed and she'll experience different emotions on days when shes exhausted, excited for scoring a goal or even getting the ball in general, etc. It's important for children to experience different atmospheres and add to their schemas. Overall i believe organized soccer will be a good thing for Maddie to experience.