Play in the Early Years Why is play so important? How does play help children to learn and development?

MISCONCEPTIONS OF PLAY…… School is for learning…..not playing! Play is a waste of time ‘Do they just play all day?’ Play is just for Nursery. ‘You can play after you finish learning.’

Friedrich Froebel Friedrich Froebel (1782-1852) Born on 21 April 1782 Friedrich Froebel was a German educator who invented the kindergarten. He believed that "play is the highest expression of human development in childhood for it alone is the free expression of what is in the child's soul." According to Froebel, in play children construct their understanding of the world through direct experience with it. His ideas about learning through nature and the importance of play have spread throughout the world. ​ Froebel considered the whole child’s, health, physical development, the environment, emotional well-being, mental ability, social relationships and spiritual aspects of development as important. Froebelian Principles impacted our understanding of play massively. See link for more infohttps://www.early-education.org.uk/about-froebel

Why is play so Important? Kindergartens stress the importance of play which is the natural means by which young human beings have always explored, experimented and developed understanding of their social and material environment. Along side adult support and guidance, child self directed play is now recognised as critical to the development of….. Physicial co-ordination (ability to focus attention and control behaviour.) Emotional strengths (can do attitude, resilience and patience.) Social competence (getting along with peers) Cognitive capacities (use of language to express and explore ideas, develop a common sense understanding, which enables to problem solve .)

How does play continue to challenge children in their learning? Take example of Finland……Finland has been noted on many occasion to have one of the worlds best education systems, and as a result has a high % of people employed, and an extremely low % of crime and people living in poverty. Could this be a result of how they support their children’s development in the early years? Finnish children are not expected to be able to write or read until they are seven years old. They are not held back from learning to do these things, most of the children in Finnish schools start reading and writing, and doing calculations before they move on to primary school, and are supported by early years practitioners. However, most of the emphasis is on their play experiences and the reading, writing and calculating at this early stage is mostly done in very small groups and very often done orally.

Doris Fromberg- What we should see in the Early Years environment. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhpM_jbVopo Doris Pronin Fromberg is Professor and past-chairperson of the Department of Curriculum and Teaching at Hofstra University, where she also serves as Director of Early Childhood Teacher Education. She serves on the New York State Governor's Early Childhood Advisory Council and on the editorial boards of professional journals.

How does play continue to challenge in P1 or P2? Progression in play reflects the observation and assessment of children’s knowledge, skills and attitudes in order to provide developmentally appropriate experiences. Children come to pre- school already as skilled learners. Through our observations, assessment and professional judgement we gain valuable insights into how each one learns best. This continues into P1, P2 etc… This information informs our planning to meet the needs of each individual child. Progression in play comes about as a result of a real understanding of the interests, needs and experiences of the child. As practitioners, we need to understand that there must be a progression in the provision of activities to meet the developmental needs of children.

Structured or Unstructured play? Structured or goal-oriented play involves following rules or instructions to reach a particular goal. Popular structured play activities ideas for children include: Following directions to assemble a toy, model airplane or Lego theme set Organised sports, such as soccer, Red Rover or tag Card games or board games involving rules Unstructured play, sometimes called free play, is creative and improvised with no set goal and unlimited possibilities. Great ideas for free play activities for  include: Playing with blocks Colouring, drawing or painting on blank paper Inventing games to play, or running around in a playground Both categories of play are important for instilling a child with a sense of curiosity and purposeful learning. When a child is involved in a structured play activity, they are learning how to recognise patterns and meet a pre-established goal in the most efficient or effective way. In contrast, unstructured play is about learning how to create from scratch and explore possibilities. Both structured and unstructured play are important for a children’s wellbeing and growth. A healthy, balanced play diet will have an equal focus on helping a child develop logical and creative thinking skills.

Examples of play in the classroom? Loose Parts

Role Play

Water play