Care and Preventive during Child Play

Play:

A play is a natural and most easily available outlet for children's expression of needs and feelings. It is the necessary stimulation for optimal development and support for their natural curiosity.

Spontaneous play evolves from children's need for self expression, mastery in the environment and integration of past and current experiences. Young children play with exhilaration and total enjoyment. A play is important for the children's physical, psycho social, and intellectual development.

Physical Development:

The play encourages muscle activity and muscle tone. It also, helps to develop skills and balancing in various positions.

Psychological Development:

The play provides a place for children to compensate for feelings of smallness and helplessness. During the play children experience control over the objects and the environment, while they have very little control over events in the reality.

They learn to control their feelings. In dramatic play, children practice before one another the roles they will some day play as parents, providers, teachers, gardener, and so on. Through the play, children search for their own present identity and imagine the possible future identity. The play provides an opportunity for the acceptable outlet of their negative feelings.

Social Development:

Children develop the capacity to cooperate with their peers; Group plays provides opportunities to develop skills and social interactions and to realize the consequences of control their impulses and learn the meaning of sharing experiences.

Intellectual Development:

Through     the      play      children     learn      the

concept of' space, color, form, shape, distance, height, and speed. Children create and practice problem-solving techniques. They develop better skills.

They increase their attention span, and develop an ability to concentrate. They experience the joy of achievement. Through the play activities they improve their communication skills. Children can play whenever and wherever they wish to play. There is no need of special clothes, toys or space.

Selection of Toys:

It is important to provide toys suitable for children's physical and psychosocial development. Toys may not be expensive but must be able to create interest in the children.

The toys should be safe, durable, attractive, appealing, and suitable to the needs, age, and experience of the children.

The toys which can cause injuries or which are accident-prone should be avoided. For example, the toys with sharp edges, rough edges, inflammable, with the small removable parts, and those, which are painted with the lead, should be avoided, because of the risk of injury.

The characteristics of play changes according to the age, environment, and developmental level of the children. The playground equipment should be selected to suit the children's developmental need. These equipments should be checked frequently to avoid accidents.

Other materials for indoor and outdoor games should be chosen carefully to promote exploration, develop problem solving ability, develop concept formation, and encourage self-expression.

Adult' s guidance is required for assisting children in relating to each other and for providing safety, self-respect, and for the intellectual and emotional development

Play in the hospital:

The play is a very important component of children's life. It has special importance in the hospital to help sick children to continue to grow and develop, to preserve their sense of wholeness, to understand hospital procedures, and to act out emotions.

For the hospitalized children, the hospital is a new environment with a new routine. Sick children, suffering from pain and confusion may, be under the stress. The family routine, friends, and parents are missed. Children need to vent out their feelings, emotions, and tensions. The play helps, temporarily, to divert their mind from pain and loneliness.

The nurse must remember the following factors while selecting play for the sick children:

1.     The capacity of the children to play during their illness

2.     Limitations of play and toys for an immobilized child

3.     Sick children may prefer small simple toys. The interest of the children to enjoy play. The maintenance of the play materials.

There should be a separate playroom in the unit, if possible, with play material for the sick children who ambulate.