The Play Cycle Understanding and Application Dr Pete King Swansea - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Dr Pete King Swansea University Somerset Play Conference – June 19th 2019

The Play Cycle – Understanding and Application

A Quick Snapshot: Pete

• 1. Senior Lecturer at Swansea University in the College for Human and

Health Science

• 2. Programme Manager for the MA Childhood Studies and MA

Developmental and Therapeutic Play Courses

• 3. Teach research methods across both undergraduate and postgraduate

courses

• 4. Researcher in play and playwork

https://twitter.com/Dr_Pete_King https://www.facebook.com/MastersVivianTower p.f.king@swansea.ac.uk

The Play Cycle (Sturrock & Else, 1998)

L (ludic or play cycle) = (M-L.T>.@. §):

• M-L: The metalude, where the play cue is issued
• T>: termination or decay
• @: the active development where there is a response to the play cue termed the play return
• § : the loop or flow: This is where both the original play cue and the responding play return goes back to the

metalude

• Play frame, the boundary where the Play Cycle ‘sits’
• Annihilation, the end of the Play Cycle

What is the adult role in the Play Cycle

Adult Intervention Description Play Maintenance The Play is self-contained – no intervention is necessary; the worker observes the activity Simple Involvement The adult acts as a resource for the play – this may be subtle, as in making a tool available for use,

• r more overt responding to a request from children

Medial Intervention At the request of the child, the adult becomes involved in the play – such as by offering alternatives from which the child chooses, or by initiating a game then withdrawing Complex Intervention There is a direct and extended overlap between playing children and the adult – the adult may need to take on a role in the play, or act as a partner to the playing child

Source: Sturrock and Else, 1998; Sturrock, Russell and Else, 2004

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