Children's Play In The Age Of COVID: Screen Games Still'real' Play

Children's play adapts according to their environment. Children have been incorporating themes related to pandemics in their play lately, such as coronavirus tags, whose goal is to infect as many children as they can. Play is also likely to aid children in coping with feelings of loss associated with the pandemic.

With playdates, playgrounds and playcentres being largely not on the agenda, many parents and children are relying on online games for play. However, the use of screens by children is still an anxiety source for many parents.

Recent research shows that children mimic real-world play in the digital world. This means that screen games can be a substitute for what children may be missing out on during the pandemic.

Digital play is still available

Research has shown that playing on a screen builds many of the same abilities as playing without screen. This includes cognitive and spatial abilities as well as learning, creativity, and learning.

In comparison to digital play that is not digital, we have a limited understanding of play in digital spaces.

We conducted a survey of 753 parents in Melbourne to discover what digital games their children were playing on which devices and with whom. It showed 53% of children aged 6-8 and 68% of children aged 9-12 were playing actively Minecraft. More than half of them played Minecraft more often than once per week.

In Minecraft, players can build, fight for survival or play with imagination using the digital environment as a virtual playground. It can be played online or offline, by yourself or with friends, on a range of devices.

Since the survey, we've been analysing in depth the Minecraft game played by 6-8 year old children from 10 families across Melbourne. We interviewed children and their parents and recorded hours of Minecraft play. We watched children engage in vital play.

In 1996, theorist Bob Hughes identified 16 different kinds of games. These include

Sociodramatic play is where children play everyday scenarios like "school" and "families". Play that is symbolic is when children make use of objects to substitute for other objects. For example, a stick can be used to make an axe or broom.

playful play that makes use of color, form, texture, and spatial awareness to produce structures or art

Dramatic play where children incorporate media, such as pop stars into their play.

Locomotor play, where the pleasure of movement and a sense of vertigo are the main ingredients in action, like going on swings or climbing trees.

Here's a look at the things we observed children doing in Minecraft, and how it fell into these categories of play:

Two children create an imaginary town that includes a movie theater as well as a Bunnings hardware shop. They pretend to be twins with a couple (sociodramatic play).

- Children designated "emeralds" on-screen as telephones. One player has to "hold" an emerald in order to talk to players far away in the game. They adhered to telephone conventions, such as saying "ring rings, ring," and then waiting for someone else to say "hello" (symbolic play)

Children broke out into spontaneous song and dance on-screen and played with their siblings through text chat (communication play).

When building, the kids made thoughtful decisions about design and aesthetics. Redstone is a form of electricity in the game, can be used to move structures or flash up. They also built amazing machines using it (creative playing).

Children flew their screen characters high up into the sky and then let them fall crying "whee!" We also saw them whirling around on the "roller coaster" constructed of Minecart tracks. This seemed to provide a sense of vertigo and excitement moving (locomotor play)

Some kids acted out to be YouTubers and commentated or dramatizing their own play in the style of the YouTube video (dramatic play).

There are distinct differences between playing on a computer and playing in a physical space. "Making a cake" in Minecraft doesn't involve the same sensory and fine motor experiences like baking real cakes. Nor does running around Minecraft terrain work major muscle groups. Children who leap off high structures in Minecraft also don't risk physical injury.

It is crucial to remember that no game whether digital or not, provides every kind of experience. A "varied diet" of play activities is the best choice.

Digital freedom Physical lockdowns

Parents can keep track of what's happening in the worlds of Roblox, Minecraft, Fortnite and other virtual spaces their children are playing in to get a better understanding of their children's virtual worlds of play.

It can be done by playing with them. However parents may not have the desire, and kids may not want parents tagging along. Parents can ask questions about their child's favorite games and what happened during the play time. They can also note the links between non-digital and digital play and events.

Children have the right to play. Gaming are required to respect this right. This is especially relevant in a time when children's play environments have been dramatically altered.

The eSafety Commission website provides a wide range of options for parents to help make online play enjoyable and safe. Explore more

This article was reproduced by The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Check out the original article.