Do Boys and Girls Play Differently in an Early Learning Centre?
Do Boys and Girls Play Differently – This question (and variants) is one of the commonest we hear.
Once this subject would have been considered routine and the answer self-evident but today, the area is slightly controversial. In what follows, we’ll discuss our honest observations through many years’ worth of experiences of observing children at play in an Early Learning Centre.
Boys and Girls Play in Early Learning Centres
The first point we’d like to make is that here we are speaking primarily of statistical averages when discussing “boys’ play” or “girls’ play”. Sentences starting ‘all boys…’ or ‘all girls…’ should be viewed with a degree of caution because children usually defy attempts to try and get them to conform to single categories of play interest.
So, some boys typically enjoy some sort of play, while other boys might prefer another type of play on average. The same is true of girls.
Our grandparents probably believed there were boys’ toys and girls’ toys. To some extent, the legacies of that traditional thinking are still with us today. That can be seen in some toy stores where preschool children’s toys are still sometimes clearly presented on the basis of “for boys” and “for girls” even if that’s not explicit.
The reality is often far more complex and subtle, as is seen in a typical Early Learning Centre.
Are there any differences?
Age plays a big factor when answering this question.
Prior to about 2 years of age, most studies and practical observation suggest that there are relatively few differences between boys and girls in their play activities. Some studies dispute this, showing differences are visible even earlier but on the whole, where differences become more noticeable, it’s usually after 2.
In the age range of around 2.5-5 years, the differences in play tend to become more marked and visible. Please remember again that there are some very large generalisations here but typically boys will become:
- more physical in their play;
- inclined to build (after a fashion!) things and then knock them down (or knock down those of others);
- slightly more oriented towards solo activities at younger ages in this range but that then reverses at 4-6;
- less passive and more likely to become involved in disputes and aggression.
Girls are often the reverse of this, being more:
- cooperative and considerate of other children they’re playing with;
- social in their selected play activities;
- inclined to include verbal pretend dialogue in scenarios and roles;
- interested in art and fine motor skill activities.
The causes of differences
This simple question can often get child psychologists angrily brandishing contradictory academic studies at each other!
A simple and direct answer is – this area is poorly understood.
It was long assumed that these differences were simply attributable to ‘nature’ – meaning the hormonal differences that arise in children by virtue of them being male or female. This is likely to play a part because male infants are known to have a testosterone ‘surge’ in their early post-natal period that some refer to as “mini puberty”.
Given the powerful behavioural impacts of various hormones, it seems likely that to some extent, ‘nature’ is a factor in explaining these play differences, just as our ancestors would have said.
However, we also know today that socialisation can have a huge effect too. That’s essentially the often entirely unintentional psychological shaping forces that parents, family, friends and the media, place on children to help define what it means to be a boy or a girl.
Just how much each of the two factors contributes, in percentage terms, to the differences in play is unknown.
Our policies
We recognise the uniqueness of all children irrespective of their gender. We respect their inclinations to play how they wish to play and value all children equally.
If you’d like to know more of our Early Learning Centre’s policies here, why not call for an appointment and pop down to look around for yourself?
