Experiences cms have you noticed a change in the way children play over the years?

**nipper** · 20-02-2013, 08:03 AM

I'm interested in how children learn to play and was wondering if any of the more experienced childminders (with 10 years plus) experience have noticed a change in their mindees ability to play, especially with all this increase in technology with ipads, televisions and phones etc. Also with regard to parents being 'busier' these days (sorry I say that tongue in cheek).
I realise this doesn't apply to all children but for example when I used to be a teacher I realised that some children spent less time reading which had a considerable impact on their literacy skills, especially writing.

**mama2three** · 20-02-2013, 08:24 AM

Im not so experienced but have dipped in and out for 20 years or so!
I think as a generalisation children dont have the same skills , but do have a whole new set! They may struggle for example to do a jigsaw puzzle by hand , with the dexterity and puzzle solving skills , but give them the same puzzle on the ipad they would be fine! The ability to 'problem solve' is still at the same level , but the way it is learned has changed.
More and more children seem to need to be 'taught' to play , they are so used to having the telly and their gadgets that they struggle to entertain themselves without them.

**miffy** · 20-02-2013, 08:32 AM

Originally Posted by mama2three

Im not so experienced but have dipped in and out for 20 years or so!
I think as a generalisation children dont have the same skills , but do have a whole new set! They may struggle for example to do a jigsaw puzzle by hand , with the dexterity and puzzle solving skills , but give them the same puzzle on the ipad they would be fine! The ability to 'problem solve' is still at the same level , but the way it is learned has changed.
More and more children seem to need to be 'taught' to play , they are so used to having the telly and their gadgets that they struggle to entertain themselves without them.

I agree with this - I have a not quite 4yo who is a whizz on the ipad but struggles to align the pieces in a simple jigsaw!

But I also think if you strip away the technology, switch off the telly and provide lots of open-ended resources then imaginations soon begin to flow.

Often children are so used to having entertainment or "structured" activities provided for them every waking moment it's no wonder they've forgotten how to make their own!

Miffy xx

**FussyElmo** · 20-02-2013, 08:38 AM

Yes its changed but so has modern society.

Children tv is available 24/7 not just certain times. Computers are a part of life for the most of us and its the same for children. I look around my own house and see the technology and sometimes do ban them. The amount of my childrens friends come and say oh you play board games.

There is also the fact that children dont go out and play like they used to.

I dont think childrens playing has changed I think its adapted to the times we live in

**christine e** · 20-02-2013, 08:41 AM

I think maybe we overstimulate them at times with too much to choose from but I think the ability to play with very little is still there which I recently saw in a couple of my little ones who only had an empty cardboard box to play with - this kept them entertained for ages. I think the same can be said of me sometimes I don't know what resources to put out because I am overwhelmed by the choice. Very interested in seeing how the childminders on here who are choosing to go toyless get on with it

Cx

**nipper** · 20-02-2013, 09:24 AM

Oooh I could quite happily go toyless. Please teach me how

You mean lots of walking, outdoors type activities, baking, craft, sorting out the socks type toyless activities????

**chriss** · 20-02-2013, 09:30 AM

Like the idea of sorting socks....maybe the Los can tackle my laundry basket

**TooEarlyForGin?** · 20-02-2013, 09:33 AM

I agree with the comments on "over stimulation" It makes me smile to think when I started 10 years ago, I had very little "role play/dressing up" resources, just some old clothes, fabrics, hats etc, and remember being told I had to provide more, such as police, doctors....... Now at a recent group meeting it was all about removing the pre-made stuff and provide fabrics, boxes, pegs, to make children use their imagination!! I have a box full of things like old phones, cameras etc and small children will bring them to me saying "broken" I will try and show how to pretend play, but the will say things like "new batteries" and don't seem to want to use imagination. One of the other major things I have noticed is the constant need for reassurance. For example, one of my older girls will be doing a picture for mum and every time she draws a line, will say, "look do you like it?" Or when playing constantly say "look I am doing x now" iykwim. I don't mind, but it seems to cry for attention as though they are not getting the basic feeling of confidence in their overall lives.

**nipper** · 20-02-2013, 10:03 AM

Originally Posted by chriss

Like the idea of sorting socks....maybe the Los can tackle my laundry basket

My husband has the socks with the coloured heels and toes. Now that would be a good pairing activity.

**nipper** · 20-02-2013, 10:06 AM

Originally Posted by TooEarlyForGin?

One of the other major things I have noticed is the constant need for reassurance. For example, one of my older girls will be doing a picture for mum and every time she draws a line, will say, "look do you like it?" Or when playing constantly say "look I am doing x now" iykwim. I don't mind, but it seems to cry for attention as though they are not getting the basic feeling of confidence in their overall lives.

Yes I have too. It certainly makes you think doesn't it?

**mum24** · 20-02-2013, 10:20 AM

Originally Posted by TooEarlyForGin?

I agree with the comments on "over stimulation" It makes me smile to think when I started 10 years ago, I had very little "role play/dressing up" resources, just some old clothes, fabrics, hats etc, and remember being told I had to provide more, such as police, doctors....... Now at a recent group meeting it was all about removing the pre-made stuff and provide fabrics, boxes, pegs, to make children use their imagination!! I have a box full of things like old phones, cameras etc and small children will bring them to me saying "broken" I will try and show how to pretend play, but the will say things like "new batteries" and don't seem to want to use imagination. One of the other major things I have noticed is the constant need for reassurance. For example, one of my older girls will be doing a picture for mum and every time she draws a line, will say, "look do you like it?" Or when playing constantly say "look I am doing x now" iykwim. I don't mind, but it seems to cry for attention as though they are not getting the basic feeling of confidence in their overall lives.

I find this too, you have written exactly what i would have done. However, I have had one young only child whose family are not well off by any means and he has a fantastic imagination. I just love it when he is here, as he can take a bit of string and a peg and make loads of imaginary games, he is amazing. I can sit and watch him for ages, he really makes me smile. However, he is not very confident when faced with other children who poo poo his ideas and just want everything to be what it is, if you know what I mean. A box is a box, a peg is a peg and they find it difficult to make believe.
I have to really work with them to not have everything perfect.
And do not get me started on blooming Disney....

**phoenix2010** · 20-02-2013, 10:28 AM

I have one child who constantly asks for cbeebies and snacktime all day long
and if we go out anywhere after about 30 minutes he is asking to go home and watch cbeebies
such a shame , his mum is a primary teacher too so Im a bit surprised he is so obsessed with tv

when i was childminding years ago , we never had the tv on , now it seems kids need to have their fix every day

I try to limit it to 30 minutes in the afternoon but the nagging does make me buckle sometimes

Its not as if they have nothing to play with , they have sufficient choice of toys and activities

**hectors house** · 20-02-2013, 12:13 PM

20 years ago I only had 2 or 3 toy boxes where now I have about 20 - back then children happily played with the same toys day after day and used their imaginations without being prompted - our coffee table was a den or turned upside down to be a boat, one little boy's dad was a mechanic so mindee was often laid under table mending a "car". Some days even after the children have chosen their own toys/resources within 10 mins they are lying around saying they are bored.

**TooEarlyForGin?** · 20-02-2013, 04:59 PM

Originally Posted by phoenix2010

I have one child who constantly asks for cbeebies and snacktime all day long
and if we go out anywhere after about 30 minutes he is asking to go home and watch cbeebies
such a shame

I have this especially from the parents that seem to frown upon the TV, their kids seem to know all the characters.

Also the snack thing is a big issue, we can't go anywhere without drinks and snacks ( fruit or veg bits) even my mum commented they never carried drinks and food everywhe Children seem to expect to eat every couple of hours during the day. I have been trying to limit my snacktime as children are not eating lunch properly. One little girl will rarely eat her lunch and then in an hour start asking for a snack and she's only just turned 2. When I say no, queue lots of screaming and tantrums, unfortunately I only have her three short days a week so find it difficult to break the habit

**jillplum** · 20-02-2013, 05:35 PM

Yep the snack business is crazy sometimes. One 18 month old just snacks all day then Mum says she wont eat her meals!!!! Child constantly has a bottle of milk on the go having a few mouthfuls every few minutes. No wonder shes not hungry at mealtimes. When she comes to me I get rid of the half drunk bottle and dont give her another till after her dinner. Children dont need to eat and drink constantly or they never learn to recognise when they are truly hungry.

**Dragonfly** · 20-02-2013, 05:53 PM

I have also I"m afraid watched children that go to nursery and childminders and I ( think you are not going to like this!) they find it hard to use their imagination some of the time because so many activities are planned/laid out for them. It's the case of finish one thing what are we going to do now ?.
Food is also a issue, when my children were young, grown up now, we didn't have oh it's 10 am snack time, has any child shrivelled and wasted away from not having their 10 am snack?( can understand if they are missing breakfast or not eating well at home) but I really thing feeding them a lot mid morning and then expecting them to eat lunch is too much.And maybe possibly making them over eat??

**blue bear** · 20-02-2013, 06:06 PM

Uummmm, interesting question, I have a variety of children with differing backgrounds, I would say the children with less material things tend to be the ones who improvise the most. Children Definetly have more technology gadgets that are often used for baby sitting at home.
Tv here is a real treat it has to be earned and probably only goes on half a dozen times in a year. I love being outside and this follows through to the children who love being outside too, we have a very well kitted out playroom but it's not the resources the children are interested in to be honest it's each other and me, spending time together sharing ideas and bouncing off each other. I don't think that has changed over the years, it's always been the one thing that parents mention when passing my name on, how much I play with the children and how we are always out and about.

I find it's the older children that stands out as having changed, now they seem to need to be told what to make, they don't use their own instinct and imagination so much as years ago, the education system seems to have gotten all hung up on the curriculum and the fun has disappeared somehow. they like computer games because they tell you what to do, what happens next there is no real imagination needed and they know when things are right or wrong.
Also with older children they seem to be less confident to take risks and need lots of reassurance.

Children I've had since babies tend to continue with imaginative play it's the children I've taken on at aged 5 or six that most stand out as being different to children of the same age 20 years ago. If that makes any sense.

**Sarsar3NCH** · 20-02-2013, 06:43 PM

I am finding lack of imagination a problem too, the older preschoolers need ideas on what to do with open ended resources and constant reassurance of what they are doing "look at what I'm doing" all the time and then "what shall we do next"?

**Little Puddings** · 21-02-2013, 09:16 AM

I haven't been minding that long just 6 years but I do find some children do get bored quickly and want new toys out... my own girls they are 8 and 10 can play for hours with the same thing, I have been off this week as I have an essay due in today so they have had to entertain themselves, my youngest spent hours playing with the Playmobile set. They often get odd bits together making games up. I used too have two afterschoolers and they happen to best friends and sometimes I think they used to come up with things while at school as soon as we get through the door mine would run upstairs to get what they needed for their game, often I had things planned for after school but they were just not interested.

I started to read to my son at 3 mths old every night so girls both had stories from more or less birth. They all love books (often catch them all reading in bed far to late at night) and they all write their own little stories. They do say children who have not been read to from an early age struggle to see outside the box and when starting school they find it difficult to 'read' the books with out words. My three do have great imagination

I have a little one who wants the telly on but I don't like it on as it is not good for them, I was looking for mp3 albums on Amazon on my phone and played the samples to the 3yr old and she could name about two thirds tv programmes the dongs were from just by hearing 20 odd seconds of it. I did not know half of themS myself.

S

**jillplum** · 21-02-2013, 09:31 AM

I am a beleiver in a certain amount of what I call benign neglect! If you constantly keep kids occupied with activities and tv and clubs, they never have time to learn to keep themselves amused. I often pretend to be too busy in the kitchen or with the baby so the others have to go and find something to do. I obviously keep an eye on them and give them a new idea if they are really stuck. Too much adult intervention can stifle imagination in my view.