06/12 Counsellor's Corner
Learning Through Play:
Why It's Important for Child Development
Learning through play is an educational approach to learning which highlights the use of playful activities to develop essential skills in young children. It is not only enjoyable for children but crucial for their overall development. It supports cognitive, social, emotional, and physical growth while promoting a love of learning. This method is far from the traditional, structured way of teaching which focuses on direct instruction. Instead, play promotes a more natural and engaging way for children to learn new information. Through play, children have fun, yet experiment, discover new concepts, and develop problem-solving skills.
As educators and parents, adopting play-based learning sets the stage for lifelong curiosity, creativity, and problem-solving abilities in children. By offering enriching play opportunities, we give children the tools they need to succeed in an ever-changing world.
The most common forms of play that contribute to learning include free play, guided play and structured play. Free play is spontaneous and unstructured play where children decide the activities, roles, and outcomes. They can play with whatever they want the way they want, which is the most common form of play in homes. Guided play involves activities that have an educational goal but are still child-directed, often facilitated by adults (such as asking the children to build a bridge using building blocks). As for structured play, it involves adult-led activities with a clear learning objective, such as puzzles or educational games.
Here are some of the benefits of learning through play:
Cognitive Development: Play is a powerful tool for developing cognitive skills, as it allows children to explore, experiment, and solve problems in a stress-free environment. Activities such as puzzles, construction blocks, or imaginative play, help in developing critical thinking, memory, and reasoning abilities. For instance, when a child builds a tower and it collapses, they gain understanding of concepts like balance and gravity, prompting them to rethink their approach.
Language and Communication Skills: Play promotes communication and supports children’s language skills development by interacting with others. When engaged in play, children role-play and/or engage in conversations with others which helps them practice listening, speaking, and expanding their vocabulary. Play scenarios like selling and buying or acting out stories from their daily life or from books they’ve read foster the use of descriptive language, storytelling, and understanding of social interactions.
Social-Emotional Growth: Through play, children acquire new skills like how to manage their emotions, cooperate, and build relationships with peers. They learn to take turns, share, and resolve conflicts, which help with the development of essential components such as empathy, self-regulation, and social competence. Children who play in groups also learn how to negotiate roles, follow rules, and work with others, all of which are crucial for their social-emotional development.
Creativity and Imagination: Play stimulates creativity and imagination, giving children the opportunity to explore ideas and challenges without worrying about failing. During imaginative play, children create different scenarios, find creative solutions to problems, and express themselves artistically. For instance, acting as superhero characters wearing blankets pretending they are capes is an example of how children demonstrate the ability to think ‘symbolically’, which is foundational for abstract thinking and creativity as they grow.
Physical development: When children engage in physical play, such as running, jumping, or handling small objects like building blocks or building using Lego, they develop both their fine and gross motor skills. Active play also improves hand-eye coordination, balance, and muscle strength. These activities lay the foundation for more structured tasks like writing or sports.
In conclusion, play-based learning is an educational approach that focuses on using playful activities to support the development of key skills in young children. Far from the traditional structured teaching approaches, this method encourages a more natural and interactive way for children to gain knowledge. Through play, they explore, experiment, and discover new ideas.