By Cady Brandeau, M.Ed. in ECED
On a chilly February day, I looked over the play yard as children shouted joyfully and ran around. The game they were playing was very different from their usual games of “ice cream store” and “fishing.”
“49ers, 49ers” one child was chanting.
“Bad guy Chiefs!”
Most of the children had watched the Superbowl the previous weekend, and were clearly enamored. Interested, I paused to listen and watch how this game would play out.
One child had taken on the role of the “Chiefs.” He was being chased by the other children who were the “49ers.” The “49ers” were not kind to the “Chiefs” causing this child to not want to play the game anymore. I intervened and asked what was happening. “The Chiefs are bad guys and we can’t let them get the football,” one of the children explained.
This game, among others similar to it, led me to wonder if this kind of play had much benefit. Sure, the children were reflecting on what they had learned the previous weekend, and there were some moments where communication skills could be practiced. However, it made me wonder if the children were getting the full benefits of imaginative play that we, as Waldorf educators, promise to offer. That year, I was the assistant in the preschool classroom as I was working on my final Action Research project for my Masters in Early Childhood Inclusive Education. I spent 9 months conducting this research to answer the question: How does screen time and media affect imaginative play for children ages 3 and 4?
Waldorf education focuses a lot on nourishment of the child which involves their senses and what they ingest. This ingestion goes far beyond the literal sense of eating food; it is what they are seeing, hearing, smelling, feeling and so on. All of these affect how a child’s inner being is experiencing and understanding the world through a digestion process. If something has made an impact on a child, whether it is good or bad, you can see the process of it being digested through a child’s play. During my research, I watched children reenact trips they had been on with their families, going to the grocery store, and the typical game of “family”. I also watched reenactments of media-based games such as Frozen.
There were large differences between the games that were an extension of typical life events and games that were media-based. The first difference was the flexibility of the game. In a game where the children were a “family” it started as two parents and a baby. Slowly, more family members were added, and through negotiation and collaboration, half the class joined into the family and all went on a road trip. In a game of Frozen, only one person was allowed to be Elsa and only one person was allowed to be Anna. Then, Elsa and Anna were frustrated when the person who was labeled as Kristoff didn’t know how to play him properly.
The second difference was the time it took for the children to settle into their play. For the children who were playing “family,” their play began immediately and the game adjusted and blossomed throughout the hour of uninterrupted play time. The children who played Frozen took 10 minutes to get dressed up with the proper colors and another 5 minutes trying to assign characters. Then they recited some of the lines from the movie, and got frustrated when Kristoff decided it was more fun to run around the classroom. It took them 15 minutes before they finally started productively playing.
Prior to my research, I had done a survey to find out how much screen time each child was receiving at home and the results came back to show that the children in that class got less screen time than the average 3 or 4 year old in the United States. In addition to less screen time and media, these children benefited from going to a Waldorf school where there aren’t any screens in the classroom and there is large amounts of uninterrupted play time. They are able to spend time digesting what little media they are exposed to and still have more time left over to experience the kind of imaginative play that exercises the skills for critical thinking, creativity, and social interactions.
We live in a day and age where there is inevitable screen time and media. However, we can still control the quantity and quality of the media our children are ingesting. Watching shows or movies with your child so you can discuss anything that might be jarring to them is highly recommended. Slower programming such as Mr. Rodgers' Neighborhood has a more gentle effect on the senses of the child. Saving action movies and video games until a child is older can help them develop the emotional capacities they will need to help them process the complex images they might see from those types of media.
I concluded my research by answering my question: Yes, screen time and media does impact imaginative play for children ages 3 and 4. I was able to expand my answer by adding that imaginative play is necessary for children so they can properly digest the stimulation from having watched a movie or a show. Waldorf education once again proves to be ahead of the curve when it comes to providing children with what they need to develop into emotional, social, and logical human beings.
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