Big Body Play

Why Boisterous, Vigorous, and Physical

Play Is Essential to Children’s Development
and Learning

Frances M. Carlson
Frances M. Carlson
• teaches early childhood education in an
associate degree at Chattahoochee Technical
College
• has worked as center administrator for child
care programs in Oklahoma
• has led 4 child care programs successfully
through NAEYC accreditation process
• Bachelor’s degree in English from North
Georgia College and State University
• Master’s in Education in Concordia
University- St. Paul
 What is Big Body Play?
• A play style that gives children the
opportunities they need for optimum
development across all domains from
physical to cognitive and language to social
and emotional.
TYPES
• Ways children engage in big body play:
1. Alone
• running around, dancing and swirling, rolling on the
floor, hopping, skipping
2. With others
3. With objects
• slides and mounted playground structures, large yoga
balls, roll bodies on the floor, climb the slide
4. In rough-and-tumble fashion and in organized
games and rules
 “Children play this way most often with
others they consider as friends, and
generally enjoy it.”

- Schafer and Smith, 1996

SIGNS OF ENJOYING THE PLAY
• Smile • Join the activity voluntarily
• Laugh • Readily return for more.
TYPES OF PLAY
• Infants – solitary play
• Toddlers – parallel play
• Preschoolers
• Kinder
• Early Primary Grades
RESERVATIONS &
MISUNDERSTANDINGS ABOUT BIG
BODY PLAY

o Fear of Fighting
o Fear of Escalation
o Fear of Agitation
o Fear of Injury
DISTINGUISHING
ROUGH-AND-TUMBLE PLAY FROM
FIGHTING
• Facial expressions
• Willingness to participate
• Willingness to return and extend play
BENEFITS OF BIG BODY PLAY

• Evolution and brain dev’t

• Growing and Moving
• Feeling and Interacting
• Communicating
• Thinking
STRATEGIES FOR
IMPLEMENTING BIG BODY PLAY
• Managing risk
• Establishing policies for safe & effective body play
• Supporting big body play
• Communicating and collaborating with families
FAQS about Big Body Play
1. What do I do if a child accidentally gets hurt
during rough-and-tumble play?
2. Is it okay to let children climb up the slide, or
slide down it on their stomachs?
3. I have several children with special needs in my
program. Should I encourage them in big body
play? How do I help the other children play
without hurting them?
 Five things you should
remember about big body play
• Big body play looks like fighting, but it isn’t fighting.
• Big body play is rowdy, physical, and usually loud. It rarely
turns into real fighting.
• Big body play is a vital component of children’s growth and
development. Children all over the world play this way.
• Big body play gives children sustained moderate-to-
vigorous physical exercise. With our current obesity
epidemic such a growing concern, it can help children stay
fit and healthy.
• The quickest way to distinguish big body play from real
fighting is by looking at the expressions on children’s faces.
Their big smiles let us know the play is okay.
 “We learn as we play.
Most importantly, in play,
we learn how to learn.”