Play is a critical activity in every child’s life which serves as a way for children to develop an understanding about themselves, their world and their experiences; personal and that of peers. Every child instinctively needs to play as play gives children the freedom to imagine, promotes concept formation, associations and classifications, and encourages them to explore and to be creative. Moreover play enhances their social and intellectual competencies through providing opportunities for exploration, experimentation and manipulation of the environment.

Play is a dynamic process that develops and changes as it becomes increasingly varied and complex. It is a key facilitator for learning and development across various domains and reflects the social and cultural context in which children live. Play enhances multiple areas of children’s development such as cognition, language, socialization and control over their emotions. Through play, children expand their understanding of themselves and others, their knowledge of the physical world, and their ability to communicate with peers and adults. Moreover, play promotes personal and social values such as empathy, trust, respect, love and care and admiration leading the child towards self-awareness and other human inter-relations.

Children are mentally very active and while playing they are constantly trying to make sense from the information they are processing. This provides children an outlet to express their emotions, feelings and ideas as well as a sense of accomplishment through achieving tasks in any given play situation. Play has therefore been given fundamental importance in the early childhood learning methods and teaching since learning through play and activities tends to maintain the interest and concentration of young learners.

Play is both a process and a product; as a process, play facilitates individual understanding of skills, concepts and dispositions; as a product, it provides a vehicle for children to demonstrate their understanding, skills and dispositions. Play continues in one form or the other from childhood into adulthood.

As children play, they learn all about themselves and what they can do. Play occurs throughout life but its form varies as children grow older. It directly offers opportunities to children to learn about their own selves, others and the environment in which they are living and growing. Children’s play also has a significant impact on their developmental growth and contributes to their social adaptation from infancy to middle childhood. Play helps them make friends, enjoy company and discover the world around them. Play also facilitates personality integration and inner growth and enables children to understand and accept individual differences and multicultural issues in their interactions with others.