Playology

PLAYOLOGY: STEAM-BASED PLAY ACTIVITIES LEAD TO IMPACTFUL LEARNING

By Chris Singer. Originally published on 9/7/22 at the WhyMaker Educational Thought Leadership Blog. 

When I’m able to, I love to write a specific message on the boards of classrooms I visit. In the past six months, I have visited almost 80 classrooms with 1400+ students. These 80 classrooms were in various elementary, middle, and high schools across Linn and Benton counties. I also visited some preschools, special education classes, afterschool programs like Boys & Girls Clubs, and even a few college classes.

The message I write remains the same regardless of age, class, or location:

When you play, you are learning.

Now, I certainly don’t think I’m the first person to say this. At first glance, this statement doesn’t appear to be a radical or revolutionary thought. It’s pretty simple actually, and many who hear this phrase might even respond with a “That’s it?” which is completely fair.

But, this message has become a sort of a mantra for me, and it isn’t as simple as one might think. Let’s say you take a snapshot from some of my classroom visits… like this one below from an activity called LEGO Disaster Island, and you ask yourself, “What are they learning here?”

These students might not be learning about the quadratic formula or the periodic table. However, I would argue that they are instead learning invaluable skills such as:

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

I can tell you from witnessing these activities in person there’s so much more happening here. And honestly, there’s probably even more than that if you take a look at some of the STEAM skills not listed above such as engineering, design thinking, mathematics, science skills, critical thinking, and inquiry.

LEGO Disaster Island is one of the most popular activities I do with K-12 students, and I adapt very little of the activity among the different elementary, middle, and high school grade levels. Time is typically the biggest differentiator, and I usually have much more time in high school classes. With longer class periods, students have more time to present their island to their peers and engage in more discussion. Besides this, the activity is pretty consistent, regardless of age group. It’s what I love about doing STEAM-based play activities like this. For me, this shows the universality and power of play.

PLAYOLOGY: MY GOALS FOR SCHOOL VISITS

I was at a meeting with my supervisor this past spring when I coined the term, “Playology.”

We were talking about school visits, and I made a joke that I should be called a “Playologist.” We both laughed and she said, “I love that. Maybe you need a new title.”

While my title hasn’t changed, at least officially, it got me thinking more intentionally about what I want to achieve when I visit classrooms and work with students and teachers.

Regardless of the age of the students, I want to see them reap these three benefits:


Now these aren’t in any particular order, but my hope is to see aspects of all three in a classroom session. As a STEAM coach, I really love to see creativity. I get so excited seeing students come up with creative solutions to a problem or challenge. This summer, we launched a Hot Wheels™ camp activity, and the track-building and creativity of campers has been such a thrill to see. Seeing them experiment with track designs and different Hot Wheels™ cars has been a shining example of how play can lead to inspired creativity (and vice versa even!).

I also love seeing the social aspects of play. Again, I witnessed this at our Hot Wheels™ camps and throughout the school year. Play builds trust, it builds relationships, it builds social skills and it improves the community and culture of a classroom. It’s truly that powerful! I’ve seen students advocating for themselves to get their ideas included, and I’ve seen their fellow students support them in that process. It doesn’t always happen immediately, but it doesn’t take long to see the language of play among kids develop, especially when that trust starts to build. When you see empathy and compassion expressed through playful STEAM activities, all you think about is why we aren’t doing more of this with our kids!

Finally, I want to see students having fun. Often, this is the most rewarding. Seeing students express joy at their successful Hot Wheels™ track or take pride in their creative solution to the zombie problem on LEGO Disaster Island is what tells me I’m on the right track with this concept of “playology.”

All of us have gone through so much during the COVID-19 pandemic and if nothing else comes out of my visit, I just want to see kids smiling, laughing, and enjoying themselves.