Introduction
For the construction of the play area, it is proposed to use a single room separated into sections. The area will be equipped with various types of furniture and toys that facilitate child development, growth and recovery. Furniture will consist of cabinets, at least two tables, chairs, and soft floor mats. Toys would include a ball pit, a sensory play board, plush toys, dolls, costumes, books, and real world texture samples. All 4 types of development can be enhanced by using different toys. Furthermore, the layout and makeup of the room facilitates social interaction and bonding.
Notable sections include a play area for younger and older children, sensory play panel area, and a dramatic play area. The age-based areas will be divided by using display panels, which can also fulfill the role of storing toys. This process can allow to separate children into groups while also keeping the space open as a whole, and helping kids see each other. Older children will have less opportunities to accidentally harm the younger in their play, and vice versa. In organizing a separate play environment, the safety of children is ensured. In terms of medical care, the creation of the play area will also stand to benefit children’s recovery process. The use of different toys and areas helps engage children on different levels of play, encourage cooperation between those with different physical capabilities. The wide of sensory experiences connects able-bodied and disabled children, allowing for better social development. Intellectual, emotional and physical capacities are also enhanced using a variety of approaches. This paper argues that using toys that connect children, families and care providers on a community level is important to getting kids accustomed to their hospital stay.
How does each piece of play equipment contribute to the four types of development?
Social Development
Toy Cabinets
Children can organize toys together, and put them away, working as a group and building better interactions. Furthermore, communication skills are enhanced thru them asking each other to take out certain toys.
Display Panels
Display panels, much like cabinets are able to connect children through their connection with toys. They can serve as a medium for children to perform an imaginative play, and they can present opportunities for collaborative socialization.
Sensory Board
Sensory boards, because of their size, can be used by multiple children at once. The need to perform various motor tasks can make children interact, and present further opportunities for collaboration. Furthermore, sensory boards, possessing different types of stimuli, can provide sufficient grounds for interactions between disabled and non-disabled children (Verver et al., 2020).. The existence of various auditory and sensory stimuli provides a common ground of experience and helps children with sight issues to participate
Ball Pit
The ball pit puts children in close proximity to each other, giving them a medium for interaction and a number of activities to perform. Throwing the balls, counting them, sorting them and “swimming” can be among the activities children may learn to do together.
Toys and Dolls
Dolls and plush toys present an opportunity for collective roleplay, and interaction with the use of dolls. Playing with dolls can help children connect. Interactive play helps establish common ground with others.
Costumes and the Dramatic Play area
Costumes and dramatic play can both be used to collectively create scenarios, talk, and play pretend, all of which build familiarity with social interactions and conventions in children (Jenkins, 2017). Using additional resources such as costumes as support, it is possible to give children more reasons to play together.
Books
Children can use books as an interactive experience. Books can be read to kids by a supervisor, and then discussed collectively. Additionally, older children can read books to each other, using them as another tool of socialization. Sharing stories is one of the first and primary ways of building a sense of shared community, distributing knowledge among a group. Therefore, books serve as a building block for child socialization.
Real World Textures
Children can talk about and compare their sensory experiences with real-world textures, which aids them in learning about each other and learning about the world at large.
Emotional Development
Toy Cabinets
Toy cabinets can give children more experience in emotional response to other people, as using them often involves interacting with other children. Much like with social development, this piece of furniture promotes more conversations between kids.
Display Panels
Same points as with the toy cabinets can apply to display panels.
Sensory Board
Sensory board can facilitate different types of reactions from children, ranging from amusement to confusion. Interacting with the board in different ways helps kids experience more emotions and better control them.
Ball Pit
The ball pit provides entertainment to kids and elicits an emotional response. Active interaction with the ball pit environment exposes a child to varying types of physical stimulation, providing entertainment value and a chance to practice emotions.
Toys and Dolls
Toys and dolls, as part of the roleplaying process, can facilitate a wide range of emotions. As part of interactive collaborative play, children are able to experience joy, anger, sadness, excitement and many other emotions, training their emotional response. Dolls with interactive capabilities, such as talking or moving their limbs can also be used to encourage emotional development. Children will be able to directly interact with their toys and see results (Kara & Cagiltay, 2020). Such a method of interaction is said to be conductive toward mental development.
Costumes and the Dramatic Play Area
Costumes and dramatic play provide a hand-on opportunity to both practice and talk about one’s emotions (Jenkins, 2017). The space can be used to help children better navigate their various emotional states and play out certain scenarios.
Books
Reading and listening to books can give children a range of emotional reactions depending on the contents of books. Educational and entertainment literature has the capacity to awaken new feelings in the young audience, making it a necessity.
Real World Textures
Real world textures engage children on a physical level, providing an opportunity for play. Play, then, becomes a source of new emotional experiences.
Intellectual Development
Toy Cabinets
Toy cabinets can help promote intellectual development with the use of toy sorting, or other methods of organization. Learning them helps children develop pattern-seeking thought and understanding of grouping techniques. Additionally, it trains memory.
Display Panels
Display panels can also train memory and organization, while also promoting a better understanding of aesthetic principles and design.
Sensory Board
A sensory board provides children with simple puzzles and challenges, giving them more opportunities to develop decision-making skills and understand the cause-effect process. Moving parts of the board around will make it change its appearance, building familiarity with different sensations.
Ball Pit
The ball pit can help children learn to count better, as well as differentiate between various colors. Interaction with the balls can lead to different learning outcomes depending on their type.
Toys and Dolls
Toys can be used to help children learn more about various animals and the human body. Basics of anatomy are displayed through the toy’s construction.
Costumes and the Dramatic Play Area
Costumes and dramatic play can teach kids how to act. Furthermore, the process can also teach children about the different types of clothing, materials and time periods depending on the costumes.
Books
Books provide a variety of learning opportunities, including literacy, listening proficiency, text understanding, analysis, and general knowledge about the world.
Real World Textures
Real world textures give kids a frame of reference for understanding realistic materials and how they feel. They also facilitate enhanced learning about the world at large.
Physical Development
Toy Cabinets
Toy cabinets promote simple skills, such as carrying items, putting them in and taking them out, and using doors.
Display Panels
Display panels can teach children about movement coordination and careful placement of objects. In order to navigate a space with display cabinets, children will need to proficiently move in the environment.
Sensory Board
A sensory board teaches kids fine motor skills, including holding items and manipulating various types of switches, devices and mechanisms.
Ball Pit
The ball pit promoted physical fitness of the whole body, giving children an ability to use the entire surface as an area of play. In addition, the throwing and carrying abilities can be improved.
Toys and Dolls
Toys and dolls can aid in developing fine motor skills, better proficiency at using fingers and manipulating small objects.
Costumes and the Dramatic Play Area
Costumes help kids learn basic motor skills, such as clothing themselves or removing various articles of clothing.
Books
Books train fine motor skills involved in turning pages and following the text with one’s finger. Strength necessary to carry a book may also be developed.
Real World Textures
Interacting with real world textures helps kids develop their motor skills and use their hands more proficiently in handling objects.
How does each piece facilitate the social-emotional bonds of children with their families?
Toy Cabinets
Children can organize or take out toys along with their parents, partaking in a shared activity.
Display Panels
Display panels can be decorated or organized together with one’s family, making the child feel cared for and included in family activities.
Sensory Board
A child can relate their experiences with the sensory board to the family, building better understanding and engagement. Additionally, the family can help kids overcome the fear of touching unknown sensory stimulants.
Ball Pit
Families can engage in limited play together with their kids in the ball pit, bringing them closer together and engaging the child.
Toys and Dolls
Toy roleplay can be performed together with one’s family members, helping the older members better understand the emotional state of their children and make the latter feel more secure.
Costumes and the Dramatic Play Area
Costumes and dramatic play can present the family with an opportunity for roleplay and education together with their child. It allows people to both simulate real-life situations and partake in imaginary ones. The process is conducive to socialization and emotional development.
Books
Older family members can read books to their younger children and explain their meaning to them. The process can be an engaging pastime and an opportunity to learn further emotional maturity.
Real World Textures
Interacting with real world textures while together with the family lets children express their feelings, both positive and negative, about the process. The activity works to build better trust and give a kid opportunities to make their emotions known.
How does each piece improve coping and adjustment to long-term care?
Toys are extremely important for children’s hospitalization stay. Their inclusion aids kids at a vulnerable and difficult time, providing comfort, entertainment and relief (Jones, 2018). Furthermore, they can stave off isolation and present further opportunities for social interaction.
Toy Cabinets
Toy cabinets contain toys, which are a source of entertainment and learning for children. Finding both new and familiar toys can be a soothing experience for kids going through medical procedures.
Display Panels
Display panels provide a frame of reference for the purpose of the activity room, setting a welcoming atmosphere and helping kids better adjust to a different environment.
Sensory Board
Sensory board can be used as a visual and sensory distraction that will keep a child’s mind occupied, helping stave off worry and potential anxiety.
Ball Pit
The ball pit is a unique and usually rare source of entertainment, one that will catch the children’s eyes and make them more engaged in the playroom.
Toys and Dolls
Toys and dolls are often objected children know how to interact with, making their presence a source of stability or normalcy that is needed to better adjust. Similar technology, such as smart robots can also be used in some capacity, in order to promote social interaction from children (Jeong et al., 2018). Interactive and smart toys are able to cover the lack of communication present in a controlled hospital environment.
Costumes and the Dramatic Play Area
Similar to toys, the dramatic play area can be used to address the concerns of children. Potential anxieties can be discussed or expressed through roleplaying. In addition, it provides the necessary socialization experience to make hospital stay experience more positive.
Books
Books provide entertainment and engage the mind of a child, helping them become accustomed to new circumstances faster. Furthermore, the contents of the books can be chosen to address the potential concerns of children.
Real World Textures
Real world textures provide a sensory distraction for the child and their mind, while also rooting their experience in familiar feelings and materials.
Conclusion
As a result of this discussion, a number of toys that can be used in a children’s entertainment room were discussed. Many of them, such as the sensory board and the dramatic play area are able to thoroughly promote all 4 types of development in a child. Furthermore, the composition of the play area promotes communication, cooperation and interaction with both one’s family and peers, improving the sense of security and community. Disabled children are able to participate in vital activities along with able-bodied ones, promoting inclusion and growth.
References
Jenkins, N. A. (2017). Choosing Toys that Matter: Which Toys are Most Effective in Helping Children Develop Social-Emotional, Language, and Gross Motor Skills [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Northcentral University.
Jeong, S., Breazeal, C., Logan, D., & Weinstock, P. (2018). Huggable: the impact of embodiment on promoting socio-emotional interactions for young pediatric inpatients. In Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-13).
Jones, M. (2018). The necessity of play for children in health care. Pediatric Nursing, 44(6), 303-305.
Kara, N., & Cagiltay, K. (2020). Smart toys for preschool children: A design and development research. Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, 39, 100909.
Verver, S.H., Vervloed, M.P. & Steenbergen, B. Facilitating (2020). Play and Social Interaction between Children with Visual Impairments and Sighted Peers by Means of Augmented Toys. J Dev Phys Disabil 32, 93–111. Web.