PRE- OPERATIONAL STAGE- Symbolic Play (2-7 years old) Symbolic play is when a child assimilates a concrete object

with a scheme which already exists for a familiar object (Ginsgerg, 79). *For example, as children, many people pretend to be rock stars and use a household broom as a guitar. Both the guitar and the broom have similar features (long and skinny at one end and short and wide at the other).  Children not only form verbal and mental symbols for objects, but also concrete symbols which they many times use in play. y y Play is at peak during the preoperational stage, especially from age three to six. y Children move from solitary pretend play to social play, where they interact with other children. * In simple solitary pretend play, a child may move a truck along the floor, imitate a cat or dog by crawling along the floor, and put a teddy bear to sleep, or rock a doll in a cradle. y Roles are identities children assume in play.  Some roles are functional: necessary for a certain theme. *For example, taking a trip requires passengers and a driver.  Family roles such as mother, father and baby are popular, and are integrated into elaborate play with themes related to familiar home activities.  Children also assume stereotyped character roles drawn from the larger culture, such as nurse, and fictional character roles drawn from books and television, such as He-Man. Play related to these roles tends to be more predictable and restricted than play related to direct experiences such as family life (Garvey, 1984). Construction play with symbolic themes is also popular with preschoolers, who use blocks and miniature cars and people to create model situations related to their experience. A kind of play with motion, rough and tumble play is popular in preschool years. *In this play, groups of children run, jump, and wrestle. Action patterns call for these behaviours to be performed at a high pitch. Adults may worry that such play will become aggressive, and they should probably monitor it. Children who participate in this play become skilled in their movements, distinguish between real and feigned aggression, and learn to regulate each other's activity (Garvey, 1984).

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Play helps the child overcome egocentrism.  Egocentricity is not selfishness, rather the inability of the child to take into account the feelings of others. *Through repeated social interaction, other's needs, interests and goals can come into focus for the child. The give and take of play and imitation is one way the child learns about the world. y USE OF PIAGET S THEORY IN THE CLASSROOM Teaching the Preoperational Child (Toddler; Early Childhood; 2&1/2-7 years old) Use concrete props and visual aids to illustrate lessons and help children understand what is being presented. y y y Make instructions relatively short, using actions as well as words, to lessen likelihood that the students will get confused. Use physical illustrations. Use drawings and illustrations. After giving instructions, ask a student to demonstrate them as a model for the rest of the class. Explain a game by acting out the part of a participant. Avoid lessons about worlds too far removed from the child's experience. Discuss sharing from the child's own experience. Use cut-out letters to build words. Avoid overuse of workbooks and other paperand-pencil tasks.

Do not expect the students to find it easy to see the world from someone else's perspective since they are likely to be very egocentric at this point. Give children a great deal of physical practice with the facts and skills that will serve as building blocks for later development.

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Encourage the manipulation of physical objects that can change in shape while retaining a constant mass, giving the students a chance to move toward the understanding of conservation and two-way logic needed in the next stage. Provide many opportunities to experience the world in order to build a foundation for concept learning and language.

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Provide opportunities to play with clay, water, or sand. Engage students in conversations about the changes the students are experiencing when manipulating objects. Take field trips. Use and teach words to describe what they are seeing, doing, touching, tasting, etc. Discuss what they are seeing on TV.

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CONCRETE OPERATION- RULE BOUND (7-11 years old) y Children become interested in formal games with peers by age five or younger. Games with rules are the most prominent form of play during middle childhood (Piaget, 1962).  Older children's more logical and socialized ways of thinking make it possible for them to play games together. They become increasingly focussed on the social aspect of play and the concept of group acceptance begins to take root. The main organizing element in game play consists of explicit rules which guide children's group behavior.

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 Game play is very organized in comparison to sociodramatic play.  Games usually involve two or more sides, competition, and agreed-upon criteria for determining a winner.  Children use games flexibly to meet social and intellectual needs. *For example, choosing sides may affirm friendship and a pecking order. Games provide children with shared activities and goals.  Children often negotiate rules in order to create the game they wish to play (King, 1986).  They can learn reasoning strategies and skills from strategy games like checkers. *In these games, children must consider at the same time both offensive alternatives and the need for defense.  Many card games encourage awareness of mathematics and of the psychology of opponents. Such games can be intellectually motivating parts of pre- and primary school curriculum (Kamii & DeVries, 1980, Kamii, 1985). The Adult Role in Children's Play These general guidelines may be helpful: y Value children's play and talk to children about their play. * Adults often say "I like the way you're working," but rarely, "I like the way you're playing." y Play with children when it is appropriate, especially during the early years. *If adults pay attention to and engage in children's play, children get the message that play is valuable. y Create a playful atmosphere. * It is important for adults to provide materials which children can explore and adapt in play. y When play appears to be stuck or unproductive, offer a new prop, suggest new roles, or provide new experiences, such as a field trip. y Intervene to ensure safe play. *Even in older children's play, social conflicts often occur when children try to negotiate. Adults can help when children cannot solve these conflicts by themselves (Caldwell, 1977). Adults should identify play which has led to problems for particular children. They should check materials and equipment for safety. Finally, adults should make children aware of any hidden risks in physical challenges they set for themselves.
It was proved many times that play is very important in the life of a child. Indeed, in my topic it was also proven. PLAY IS A NEED! Before, I thought that Piaget s theory focus on the mind of the child alone but then I discovered that in his theory all the aspects can also be seen. It is not just for cognitive but also developing one s self through the interaction to the environment. As BECED student, it will be a great help for me in the near future. Through this, I can prepare myself in the field so that someday I can be a good educator of the young minds. In the near future I can now be a teacher or a parent someday. Through this, I can take my responsibility as an adult. Also it would make us realize that each child is unique from one another. We will pass through the same stages but it doesn t mean that we can go on to the stages together.