Essay on Book Response to Bad Guys Don’t Have Birthdays

        It is not allowed to bad guys to disturb the baby, celebrate the birthdays, or pick blueberries. So, said by the four years old kid who announced dangers and risks of life while playing out a school year in the classroom of Vivian Paley. The play is full of warnings, and they had to invent chaos to show that things are under control. There is no too much large or too much small theme for the intense scrutiny. The ever-dependable pathway of children to certainty and knowledge is fantasy play. Valuing the communication of child sufficiently takes a special teacher that help child entering the significant dialogue with a youngster so that more productivity could be stimulated without overwhelming a child with his or her ideas (Paley, 1991).

        This book has been very helpful for me to normalize some of the bad guy play that I have observed. I loved the style of author style. The author has discussed two forms of play, i.e. a social form of play and cognitive form of play. In the cognitive form of play, there are various theories that are incorporated in Bad Guys Don’t Have Birthdays. Paley has incorporated the functional play that is referred to as sensorimotor play as a child is exploring at a cognition’s sensorimotor level. Paley wanted to capture the fantasy play’s aspect in her classroom, and she had a tape recorder hidden in the classroom so that children activity during the play could be recorded (Paley, 1991).

        Constructive play is also discussed in a book that is characterized by objects or materials manipulation to create, construct, or make something else. Dramatic play is referred to as pretend play because it involves making believe element. Such play uses the imaginary element to satisfy the personal needs and wishes of the child at the moment. Games with rules is another playlist theory incorporated in this book; this theory includes any activity with structure, rules, and a goal such as winning or completing something. The “bad guy” is created by children so that they become able to overcome their fears and face the challenges they deal with daily and exist in their lives (Paley, 1991).

               I felt that every kid should be asked and convinced to read this book when he or she is at a growing stage. It is not presumed by Paley to theorize or understand the preschool children; in fact, her strength equally lies in this awareness that she is just trying to learn and does not know anything. When Paley is unable to help children, when she is unable to follow or anticipate their thinking, she struggles hard not to hinder them. The arrogance of adult is avoided by her to a small child, i.e. arrogance of teacher to student or arrogance of writer to the reader (Paley, 1991).

            Stories and interpretation of Paley argue for the latest kind of early education in childhood – a teaching form that comes out of the considerable knowledge of children while grappling daily in the fantasy play. Paley believes that children are comfortable expressing the deepest concerns they have through the fantasy play’s intuitive language. They invent imaginative scenarios and act out different roles to understand the real world in a better way. This book has made me learn that fantasy play helps children to cope with their uncomfortable feelings. Any device, in fantasy, is useful to draw safe boundaries (Paley, 1991).

            Furthermore, in social forms of play, the author has incorporated theories in the book. Considering unoccupied or non-social behavior – this behaviour is characterized when a child is watching someone else doing some activity – Paley wanted to capture the fantasy play’s aspect in her classroom, and she had a tape recorder hidden in the classroom so that children activity during the play could be recorded. According to onlooker behaviour or marginally social behaviour theory: this is kind of behaviour where other children at a play are being watched by the child. She wanted to capture the fantasy play’s aspect in her classroom, and she had a tape recorder hidden in the classroom so that children activity during the play could be recorded (Paley, 1991).

            In Bad Guys Don’t Have Birthdays written by Vivian Paley, the author has used and observed the fantasy play so that dear could be portrayed effectively and then prove that it is possible to conquer the fear. The author throughout the book has made the reader believe that children can easily and freely express their concerns while acting out scenarios and roles and this is how they become able to work through their fears and deal the feeling they are uncomfortable with. The author, in her early play studies, realized that it is very necessary to process ideas and process through other children in some social play (Paley, 1991).

            Reading the book “Bad Guys Don’t Have Birthdays” has been very helpful for me to understand the role play of “bad guy” in my classroom. It has been very helpful for me to understand the purpose of the play involving roles of “bad guy”. Most of the times, teachers in the classroom try to eliminate aspects of the play of children they deem to be too violent or inappropriate. Such inappropriate roles, however, that are created by children serve a purpose, and to become more developed, this purpose should be supported. Interpretations of characters by the children in play are not unique and not very common, and its meaning might vary from the interpretations of adults (Paley, 1991).

            Throughout the experience of Paley in play observation, the role of catching the “bad guy” is the scenario that is played most of the times in her class with children. The children during the show act out of shape while showing signs of jealousy. The children might act out as well to play the bad guy role. The bad guy role does not have a name or celebrate birthday parties, the sign of fear is shown by children towards the role of the bad guy, and they stated that they are unable to sleep due to fear that bad buys are coming (Paley, 1991).

            As suggested by Vygotsky, play is used by children as a mean to socially grow that has really motivated me to become early childhood educator and then teach my children to socially grow with the help of plays. Furthermore, the stages of childhood development introduced by Jean Piaget are also related to play that can be helpful to become a successful early childhood educator. Last but not least, this book has become an inspiration to pursue a career as an early childhood educator. After reading the book, I believe that I can be an inspiration to kids, and I can guide them to become a strong and successful person in the future. I will follow Paley as an inspiration while teaching and guiding children on how they can avoid the bad guys. According to Montessori, “play is the child’s work” that taught me to let children spend their best time in play to learn grow and develop their personalities.

References of Book Response to Bad Guys Don’t Have Birthdays

Paley, V. G., 1991. Bad Guys Don't Have Birthdays: Fantasy Play at Four. s.l.:University of Chicago Press.