Enhance Learning through Play

Sociology

Paper instructions:

You are the newest employee of the Step 2 toy company.
No reaserch is needed, no references, this is a creative writing.

Your first job is to design a play center for their very important clients, 5 year old Joey, and his sister, 3 year old Sara.

Joey and Sara’s parents report that the siblings are having difficulty playing together. Joey is very out-going, verbal and engaging. Sara likes to sit and observe, and wait until Joey is finished before she plays with their toys. Joey can be possessive of their toys, and takes them away from Sara. He also becomes frustrated if she doesn’t do exactly as he wants her to do when they are playing creatively.

Joey and Sara’s parents have asked that the play center include the following components:

· A theme that will promote imaginative and sociodramatic play
· Activities that will prompt Joey to involve Sara because he will need her help to play or manipulate the activity

· Components that will encourage Sara to develop her sensory-motor skills and objects that help develop her dexterity (ie: a play phone that she needs to pick up from a receiver and hang back up)

· Make sure the center includes music, language and/or sounds to help develop Joey and Sara’s verbal skills

· Include objects that will help encourage their symbolic play (ie: triangle blocks that can be used as pizza slices)

* Describe, in detail, your play center. Have fun, put on your kid hat and use your imagination!
Hints/Suggestions:
Puppet stage
Kitchen center
Gas station
Rowboat
Camp site
* Demonstrate how the play center will include all of the components that Joey and Sara’s parents asked for. Be specific on the toys, activities, songs, etc, and how they relate to the different kinds of play
* How did this exercise help you understand the different kinds of play that can help Joey and Sara’s relationship, as well as their individual development?