While trying to find toys for your kids, all the way up to the search for the right preschool, you may have come across toys and programs that label themselves as “play-based”.
But WHAT do the terms ‘play based’ or ‘learn through play’ really mean and WHY do these hold significance for you as a parent?
In this post, we’ll take a look at what learning through play is, how the term has gotten popular and how important it really is when you make decisions as a parent.
What exactly is Learn through Play?
Children are naturally wired to play and have fun.
Play-based learning is a type of early childhood education based on open-ended play.
As learn through play activities, if you’re picturing preschoolers ‘finger painting’ or ‘playing house’, you’re spot on.
The Montessori Method of childhood education initially picked up this fact and emphasized self-directed activity on the part of the child and clinical observation on the part of the teacher as critical teaching concepts.
The objective being to adapt the child’s learning environment to his or her development level.
This broad approach caught on and was adopted by the other curriculums and the toy industry subsequently.
In her TedX Talk talk, Professor Doris Fromberg, Director of Early Childhood Teacher Education at Hofstra University, explains why play is such an important part of the learning process for children.
“We need to consider that young children learn in quite different ways [than adults]. They learn by comparing physical experiences, by interactions with other people and their own feelings. And they learn an enormous amount through their imagination…. Play is what pulls together the logical and creative parts of the brain.”
What Learning through play is NOT
Learning through play is NOT WORK and is NEVER ‘agenda’ based.
According to the book From Play to Practice: Connecting Teachers Play to Children’s Learning “meaningful play” has five characteristics. It:
- Gives the child a choice about what he or she wants to do
- Feels fun and enjoyable for the child
- Evolves spontaneously, rather than giving kids a script to follow
- Is driven by intrinsic motivation about what the child wants to do
- Creates a risk-free environment where kids can experiment and try new ideas.
For example,
A good way to differentiate the two is if there’s an agenda for the activity, it’s likely not true play-based learning. Your kid won’t get the same benefits they would from true play-based learning (they may get different benefits though!)
Criticism of Learning Through Play
Forty years of research has shown a positive correlation between play and children’s learning but as a parent, at some point, you may wonder – Is my child learning if they’re just playing all day?! What do kids learn through play?
Play is far more powerful for children than many parents realize. The true value of play is not that it can teach children facts, but that it can help them acquire important procedural knowledge (the knowledge that you gain when you perform a task). Even if it looks like your kid is just having fun, play has a major impact on their development in this way.
Some Learn Through Play Activities
Happy Mirror: This Home activity is recommended by UNICEF and is designed for learning geometric shapes like circles, squares and triangles. It helps children ages 4 to 6 to develop the skills of perseverance, observation and focus.
Word Wheel: If we could emphasize a toy that helps kids reach multiple language development milestones while playing with it – it would be the Word Wheel. This one powerhouse of a toy promotes oral language development, boosts listening skills, builds vocabulary, and encourage oral language development. Have a look and see if this would be the right fit for your child by clicking the link here.
Invitation to Play: As parents, we are always concerned if our child is reaching the right milestones at the right time. Two of the developmental milestones that are important for a child are Gross and Fine Motor Skills. Our Invitation to Play boxes are perfect for the parent who wants to develop fine motor skills in their child (aged 1 to 4) years while keeping their child busy and happy through endless hours of play. Created by Early Years Educators, this box also has 12 activities designed to engage all the five senses, logic, early literacy and communication.
Of course, the foundation that Toddle is built on is kids reaching early development milestones using the products we curate.
If you’re having trouble deciding, our monthly subscription where each month we send you new toys, books, crafts and more may be a good option or simply send us a message and we can help you decide.
