Play Based Learning Benefits In Early Childhood
Do you know that every time your child is playing, they are acquiring new skills? Basically playing is learning.
Experts believe that it’s the best way to set a solid foundation of learning in early childhood and gone are the days where learning was limited to a formal classroom with a lot of listening, copying down and memorising.
Contrary to our traditional view of learning, play based learning draws on a child’s natural sense of enquiry and provides a hands-on exploration of the world around them.
Play is such a crucial demand in a child’s life that it’s been enshrined in the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child. Article 31 states that every child should have the right to rest and leisure to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts.
What Is Play Based learning
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When children actively engage in an activity exploring their environment by touching , moving, listening, seeing and experiencing in a relaxed environment, that is called play.
3 types of play
Child initiated play
It is a learning activity that is initiated and directed by the children themselves. They support children’s creative and imaginative learning and developmental skills. This also enables them to learn from first-hand experience.
- It’s freely chosen by the child
- Little adult involvement or interaction
- Spontaneous
Ex: The child runs towards the slide in a park and slides, giggles, waits in line, waits for the turn and slides again.
Guided Play
They are learning experiences that combine the child-directed nature of free play with a focus on adult mentorship. During guided play, the adult becomes the planner, observer ,active play participant, researcher and documentarian.
It is initiated by the child or adult and may include instructions but remain open-ended.
Ex: Pretend Ice cream shop, where the child is the vendor and the adult comes to buy ice cream
Adult-led play
This involves an adult having control over the instruction and guiding a child through a learning experience.
They are organised and directed by an adult and may include instruction but remain open-ended.
Ex: Simon says, Musical chairs
Play Based Learning Benefits
Physical development
Strong healthy bodies – Contrary to a sedentary lifestyle where you stay in one place for a very long time, play encourages kids to stay active throughout the day which makes them strong and healthy.
Fine and gross motor skills– Fine motor skills involve the use of small muscles in the hands. Ex: using a scissor, drawing, fastening snaps and buckles
Gross motor skills involve the larger muscles in the arms, legs and torso. Running, jumping, climbing etc fall into this category.
Coordination– This means the ability to synchronise the muscles used in a certain action in order to carry out an action as appropriately as possible.
Ex: Hitting a ball with a bat
Agility– It’s the ability to move quickly and easily. Catching, running and all types of movements improve their agility.
Read more about Gross Motor Skills
Cognitive development
Independent thinking– At play, children have to make decisions on their own which improves their independent thinking.
Memory, focus, reasoning and problem solving skills– Play based learning can be used to improve many different aspects of a child’s cognitive development including memory, focus and problem solving abilities. This is because play based learning encourages children to use their imagination as they explore their environment or create something new from scratch using materials around them (like cardboard boxes). The process of creating something new helps kids develop an understanding of how things work in our world; this understanding helps them make connections between ideas which further enhances their reasoning skills!
Scientific and mathematical thinking– playing with lego, puzzles and speculating the speed or weight of an object or person are simple yet effective ways to encourage children’s scientific and mathematical thinking.
Language skills– Using new words, communicating with peers, listening to guidelines can help children build up their vocabulary. Even a simple game like “I spy” can build up language skills immensely
Research and enquiry skills– Playing naturally brings a child’s curiosity and encourages them to explore the environment around them.
Cause and effect – Play is the best way for children to learn about cause and effect. Through play, children can explore the world around them and experiment with how it works.
For example, when your child plays with blocks and knocks over a tower he has built, he will learn that knocking over his tower causes it to fall down.
That’s why it’s so important for adults to let children play freely without interrupting them or criticising their choices—so they can discover things on their own!
Read more about Cognitive Development Activities
More play based learning benefits
Emotional development
Joy- Play is pure joy. It takes away their stress, makes them strong and healthy and fills their hearts with a lot of joy.
Empathy– Play can sometimes be a moment of intense joy, frustration, or strong emotions. All these varied feelings and emotions can build up their ability to understand other people’s emotions.
Resilience– Sometimes play needs a lot of courage, strength, and the ability to manage stress. All these eventually build resilience in our children.
Self-regulation– Victory, defeat, joy, and frustration are parts of play. Managing your emotions to better face these situations is a benefit of play.
Self-confidence– Gross motor skills, fine motor skills and development in social and emotional skills help them face the challenges of life more confidently.
Social development
Socialisation– Play requires more than one sometimes. Small kids learn to make friendships when they play together or when they do parallel play.
Cooperation– There are some games that need cooperation as their base. For example, a saw needs the help of two kids to move up and down.
Negotiation– Turn-taking, sharing, and working as a group need a lot of negotiation.
Collaboration– It’s when kids contribute to achieve something together. A group of kids digging up and making a construction site is an example of this. Everyone is engaging and helping in their own achieve a common goal.
Rules formation– Sometimes when they play, especially when there’s a group, rules make it easier for them to play smoothly. Ex: Everyone gets two turns to hit the ball with a bat.
Conflict resolution– Whenever there’s an issue or obstacle, they take action to resolve it. To stop hitting the ball far away towards the road, mark the boundary line, and further than that is out.
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Tips for parents and teachers
Plenty of time should be available for children to play throughout the day in an relaxed and organised environment with a predictable schedule.
When planning activities, think specifically about the lesson the students need to learn and how to set stages for learning.
When challenges arise, ask guiding questions to help the children find problem-solving solutions.
Create distinct stations for different activities like reading corner, waterplay area, dress-up corner, crafts etc.
Collaborating with children to develop further knowledge, skills and ideas.
More resources : https://www.vic.gov.au/play-based-learning-preschoolers
Different play spaces for different benefits
Play based learning benefits children. That’s for sure. But how we plan and organise the learning environment can have a huge impact on how efficiently children reap play based learning benefits.
Dramatic play space – Home corner, prop boxes
Children explore and interpret the world around them through social engagements. Dramatic play opportunities enable children to develop their imagination, independent thinking, cooperate and emotions.
Construction area– Blocks, lego
These are open-ended creative spaces that promote exploration, creativity and self-expression.
Active play– Slide, monkey bar, stepping stones, obstacle course
Active play develops gross motor skills such as balance, strength, hand-eye coordination etc.
Literacy corner– Book shelf, quiet area
Children find the book corner to be their quiet time destresser. They learn new words, learn about relationships and emotions and discover a whole new world other than where they live. Their literacy skills, imagination, and empathy develop as they spend more and more time with books.
Visual arts corner– Paint, crayon, colour pencils, chalk
This enables children to explore their identities and the world around them. They improve their creativity, self-expression, and free expression as they spend time in arts corner.
Music and movement area– Musical instruments, music tracks
Apart from being calming and soothing, music plays a huge role in building a total personality. Emotional regulation, creativity, imagination and self-expression are a few of these. And it is a great energy booster if the kids are bored and disinterested.
Sensory play– Sand pit, sensory bin
Exploring different textures, different smells, and sounds can stimulate children’s brain cells and lead to cognitive development.
Manipulative play– toys with buttons, puzzles
This happens when children move, order, turn or screw to make them fit.
They improve children’s fine motor skills, cognitive skills and problem-solving skills.
Conclusion
Play allows children to explore, discover, negotiate, take risks, create meanings, and solve problems—all of which help develop cognitive, physical, social and emotional development in children.
A play based learning encourages talking, reading, thinking and writing. Throughout this, your child will see literacy and numeracy as part of their everyday experience. Now we all know that play-based learning has numerous benefits.
Now you know why play is an essential part of your child’s day. Let’s encourage them and be their mentor to help them be the best version of themselves.
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