How would you define child’s play? Is it the act of a child’s freedom, is it separate and independent enjoyment, or is it freely chosen depending on the situation. According to Brown (2009), he defines play as “…play is a very primal activity. It is preconscious and preverbal…” (p.16). However, according to Caplan & Caplan, they define play as “a voluntary activity which permits freedom of action, diversion from routines, and an imaginary world to master”. The concepts that are being touched on between the two authors Play by Stuart Brown and The Power of Play by Caplan & Caplan are fine motor skills, gross motor skills, and negotiation. First, what are the basic definitions of these three concepts? According to Dictionary.com, negotiation is defined as, “mutual discussion and arrangement of the terms of a transaction or agreement”, Encyclopedia of Children’s Health defines fine and gross motor skills as “gross motor skills are the abilities required in order to control the large muscles of the body for walking, running, sitting, crawling, and other activities”, “fine motor skills generally refer to the small movements of the hands, wrists, fingers, feet, toes, lips, and tongue” (2009).

Combined with fine and gross motor skills physical development/activity is and outcome of these concepts. In other words both of these concepts have something to do with being active. Therefore, what are the concepts that Brown and Caplan & Caplan are giving towards physical and personality development? For example, Brown (2009) explains, “One of the quickest ways to jump-start play is to do something physical. Just move. Take a walk, do jumping jacks, throw a ball for the dog (double play boost)” (p.213). Physical development deals with not only body activity but also the feeling of having power.
“Protecting his feelings on something so real and concrete, a child is able to rob them of their power and possible threat. Whether constructive or destructive, the dramatic play which building blocks help to implement serves to round out the personality of a child” (Caplan & Caplan, p. 159).

Muscular coordination such as drawing or learning how to hold a paintbrush or other utensils are ways of defining fine motor skills. Caplan & Caplan explains how muscular coordination develops fine motor skills. For example,
“As a child’s muscular co-ordination improves, his marks on the paper become more than random movements. He enjoys making the lines go where he wants them to go. Large pencils with blunt, soft leads are easy for the young child to hold, as well as large wax crayons. However, neither pencils nor crayons can substitute for the sweep of feelings and ideas that a paint brush allows” (Caplan & Caplan p.164).

In dealing with fine motor skills there can also be a few common problems that may develop. According to Encyclopedia of Children’s Health,
“Fine motor skills can become impaired in a variety of ways, including injury, illness, stroke, and congenital deformities. An infant or child up to age five who is not developing new fine motor skills for that age may have a developmental disability. These problems can include major health conditions including cerebral palsy, mental retardation, blindness, deafness, and diabetes” (2009).

When interacting in gross motor skills one must be in a wide open space. However, in the process of helping someone develop gross motor skills it requires patience and opportunity in order for the child to practice. According to Brown (2009),
“… emotional arousal that these screens and games produce is usually discharged through physical activity. Without this physical discharge, kids can become antsy and unfocused. There have been studies that have shown correlations between attention deficits and excessive game play. It will be interesting to see, though, how video games like Wii, which combine intense physical activity with screen-based game play, change this equation” (184). For example, the game, Wii requires room for the players to move and interact with what the game is asking them to do.

In developing gross motor skills one must gradually move their way up the scale in order to master these skills such as practice. For example, Brown (2009) explains,
“For most players, it is playful to be a gamers that I am acquainted with are empowered by their success at video games. They are enthralled, challenged, and improve their gaming skills while playing video games… Such games can even have a positive effect on brain development” (183).

Physical development sometimes have to be encourage in order to get a child to develop fine and gross motor skills. According to Brown (2009),
“Movement play lights up the brain and fosters learning, innovation, flexibility, adaptability, and resilience… This is why, when someone is having a hard time getting into a play state, I have them do something that involves movement: because body play is universal” (84).

Getting a child to interact in some kind of movement will not only bring a smile to their face but also lower child hood obesity and increase physical development.

As stated before Dictionary.com defines negotiation as, “mutual discussion and arrangement of the terms of a transaction or agreement” (2009). Negotiation is a concept under social development. This entire category has to do with developing communication skills. Children learn these skills from their parents, school, and their peers.
“There is little doubt that a child’s first notions of social values are formed from the ways in which he is treated and from the manner in which he sees other children and adults behave. In brief, his interpersonal experiences are vital aspects of his early living and significant forces in molding him”
(Caplan & Caplan p.64).

Negotiation is child’s play is used in a verity of things such as, when two kids are playing and one looks at the other and ask, “Bobby would you like to play with the building blocks?” Bobby must decide what answer he’s going to give the other child. Bobby is basically making up his mind before he agrees with the other child that he is going to play with them. According to Brown (2009),
“By the time they are four to six years old, mutual play becomes the crucible in which empathy for others is refined. As they suggest their own imaginative elements in their game, kids hear other contributions and come to understand other points of view. This mutual play is the basic state of friendship that operates throughout our lives. Give-and-take, with shared contagious enthusiasm, characterizes healthy mutual play” (p.88).

All three concepts combine are all definitions of play. In this research we found that even social development which is intertwined with negotiation is a connection of play. In order to play we have to communicate with our play mate(s). We also found the difference in physical development between fine and gross motor skills. Although this research was focused on child’s play, these concepts also play a part in teens, adults, and the wise of all ages.

Work Cited

Brown, S. (2009). Play: how it shapes the brain, opens the imagination, and invigorates the soul. New York, NY: Penguin Group.

Caplan, F. & Caplan, T. (1973). The power of play. Garden City, NY: Anchor.

Negotiation. (2009). Dictionary.com. Houghton Mifflin Company. Retrieved October 25, 2009, from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/negotiation

Encyclopedia of children’s health. (2009). Retrieved October 27, 2009, from http://www.healthofchildren.com/G-H/Gross-Motor-Skills.html

Encyclopedia of children’s health. (2009). Retrieved October 27, 2009, from
http://www.healthofchildren.com/E-F/Fine-Motor-Skills.html