The learning through play theory supports open-ended play that children choose and lead in the classroom. Educators implement play into their curriculum for the benefits it provides for their students. Many parents are unaware of how essential learning through play theory is to their kid’s education. Play-based learning allows children to explore their surroundings in a safe environment that nurtures their overall health and learning experience.
What Is Play-Based Learning?
Play-based learning supports the concept of allowing children to control their play environment. Learning through play allows kids to explore their curiosities and discover individual interests. It provides creative freedom for children to make independent choices and use their instincts as their guide.
This teaching style is multifaceted and has many components that nurture kids’ growth and development and helps them thrive in myriad situations. Educators use free and guided play interchangeably to maximize learning, providing similar academic advantages. Children under eight learn more efficiently through guided play than traditional teaching methods. Let’s discuss some research on play-based learning and how it can benefit your kid.
Supports Child Development
Learning through play theory supports children as they try to understand their surroundings. Play helps kids explore their emotions and socially engage as they learn through experience. Learning how to regulate your emotions is crucial to social development and through play, kids form friendships and learn how to practice empathy and work with others.
Figuring out ways to work as a team is vital to a child’s success since it applies to every aspect of life as they mature. Personal relationships like friends and family, sports teams and career paths will thrive if kids learn how to cooperate and share at a young age. Additionally, learning through play theory provides cognitive development benefits. It nurtures intellectual skills like understanding numbers and symbols from building blocks to solving puzzles.
Play is natural for children — it doesn’t feel like forced learning. A good learning environment allows kids to explore and naturally pose interests based on what they see and experience. Academic exploration has challenges for children who feel pressure to perform or experience anxiety, where play gives them a chance to discover these concepts naturally, like when they begin questioning why animals behave a certain way.
Benefits Children’s Health
Whether structured or unstructured, play-based learning supports your kid’s mental health, reduces stress levels and nurtures social-emotional growth. Play also reduces the risk of diabetes, obesity and high cholesterol. With so many health benefits, play should be at the top of your to-do list regarding your children.
Playing with your kids at home can provide all these benefits, like strengthening your child’s muscles, bones, heart and lungs. So, what is the purpose of incorporating play into the curriculum? It’s a vital part of learning and allows kids to manifest their ideas and let them come to fruition in a safe environment surrounded by their peers.
Young children especially must learn problem-solving skills, how to cooperate, share and social cues like when they should follow and when they should lead. Encouraging play at home can provide additional benefits for kids and teach them how to structure play in social situations. Consider trying new sports with your child to teach them how to work as a team and provide guidance that will help them when leading peers.
Boosts Creativity and Nurtures Imagination
Learning through play theory encourages kids to use their imaginations, which nurtures cognitive and social development. Children are encouraged to use their creativity and imagination to design activities, express themselves freely and make their own decisions and discoveries. This nourishes their brains and boosts their creativity, confidence and self-esteem.
Kids thrive off of playing make-believe and using objects around them to impersonate real-life scenarios. Scolding children for using miscellaneous nature items to mimic weapons in a cops-and-robbers impersonation, for example, can be discouraging and limit your child’s willingness to express themselves. When kids feel limited, it can stifle their learning and make them internalize their thoughts and emotions, leading to behavioral issues and slowing their growth and development.
Of course, you shouldn’t allow your child to play with dangerous items, but letting them freely explore their imagination has myriad benefits for their mental and physical health. It can be challenging, but try to resist the urge to criticize, critique or instruct your kid’s play at home to nurture their growth.
Stages of Play Development
Children use play to discover the world around them from birth. As kids grow and learn, play facilitates opportunities to explore interests, emotions and adaptations. During early childhood, six stages of play development occur as they learn essential life skills that will stay with them throughout their lives. Cooperative play typically begins at around the age of four and involves interacting with other children and showing interest in the activity and other parties involved in play. Why should you stop there?
Play-based learning expands on these stages of development from early childhood and extends the learning process while using play as a core part of syllabi. Kids play because they are instilled with an instinct to learn and explore. Rather than using play as a reward for learning academic facts and figures, educators should be allowed to use play as a resource to teach these lessons. Every child is unique and develops at their own pace.
Everyone also has their own way of learning, with some kids learning better with hands-on approaches and others comprehending concepts with visual aids or auditory lessons. You can use play in every learning style because it’s an open-ended concept that applies to every potential class. Learning how to integrate play into the classroom naturally can promote a positive learning environment that puts children on the path to success.
Research On Play-Based Learning
Research on play-based learning provides an opportunity to incorporate play into curriculums to facilitate safe and positive environments for kids to learn and grow. Play-based learning offers various benefits for kids of all ages. Younger children significantly benefit from play in all aspects of their lives, from home life to what they learn in school.
