To play is to engage

To play is to engage

Importance of letting children play

One of the overriding things which came to mind when reflecting on a summer term of remote learning was how much the older children in Pre-Prep had benefitted from the increased opportunities to engage in all types of play.  During my daily catch ups on Teams, I was always hearing about and seeing amongst others the latest dens that had been built or the improvements made to the teddies’ accommodation.  It was strikingly obvious how the children were enjoying developing ideas, turning them upside down, experimenting with them and often arriving at something amazing and inspiring. However, they were not doing this with any specific outcome in mind but for its own sake and the enjoyment and satisfaction it brought them.

There is much research evidence which shows that play is at the heart of emotional wellbeing and good mental health.  Free play is critical to the balanced development of children and young people.  It supports adapting and responding to cultural change and helps to fuel creativity and the capacity to learn.  Covid19 has given us all no option but to adapt and while everyone seemed delighted to be coming back to School inevitably it was going to be different and certainly more restrictive.

In P3 we felt it was important that the children were provided with plenty of opportunities to reconnect with each other in as unrestricted environment as possible. The first morning we put out a range of games and construction equipment including a large quantity of Lego and it was this which the children were drawn to like bees to a honey pot.  Soon they were chatting way, catching up with each other while busily playing. We decided to continue with this morning routine of free play until the children were settled back into the usual routine.  However, as the days passed, we observed that the children settled much better to more formal work if they had had the opportunity for some free play first, so this became part of the daily routine. As time went on, we observed that the children were basing much of their play around our Roman topic and were using it as an unconscious opportunity to achieve a richer understanding of their learning and to connect the skills and concepts they were learning with real world examples. 

These playful experiences were helping them to engage in this type of deeper learning, applying knowledge to different situations and sparking new ideas not only in the classroom but outside during breaks too where chariot racing and gladiator contests became popular!  Over time we added to the play resources on offer by investing in some Roman figure playmobile, foam builders’ bricks and a big box of Kapla.  Initially these were ignored but with a bit of hands-off encouragement were soon being used to build detailed models of the Circus Maximus, Roman houses, bathhouses, forts, Hadrian’s wall and a range of battle formations. I was constantly being called over to take a photo of the latest creation to put up on the washing line whilst being given in depth and enthusiastic guided tours! 

Looking back over the role play has played in the children’s learning over the past term it has undoubtably allowed them to be actively engaged in their learning and made it both hands-on and minds-on. They have had the opportunity to be interactive in trying out and revising hypotheses which has encouraged flexible thinking, critical and creative thinking, and perseverance. They have been socially interactive and developed understanding on how to communicate more effectively with others. They have experienced pleasure, enjoyment and joy in achieving. They have had meaningful learning experiences where they have been able to connect new facts and ideas to their own experiences.

In these uncertain and ever-changing times where remote learning is again a reality the opportunity is there to exploit play opportunities to both the advantage of children and parents. Not all play has to be on a large scale, daydreaming while sitting in a cardboard box or throwing stones into a puddle can provide important benefits to children.  Next time you are witnessing your children at play, have a look and see if you can detect the benefits.  Whether it seems menial, engaging, exciting, irritating or even downright dangerous it probably has an abundance of benefits to be observed.

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To play is to engage

Importance of letting children play

One of the overriding things which came to mind when reflecting on a summer term of remote learning was how much the older children in Pre-Prep had benefitted from the increased opportunities to engage in all types of play. During my daily catch ups on Teams, I was always hearing about and seeing amongst others the latest dens that had been built or the improvements made to the teddies’ accommodation. It was strikingly obvious how the children were enjoying developing ideas, turning them upside down, experimenting with them and often arriving at something amazing and inspiring. However, they were not doing this with any specific outcome in mind but for its own sake and the enjoyment and satisfaction it brought them.

There is much research evidence which shows that play is at the heart of emotional wellbeing and good mental health. Free play is critical to the balanced development of children and young people. It supports adapting and responding to cultural change and helps to fuel creativity and the capacity to learn. Covid19 has given us all no option but to adapt and while everyone seemed delighted to be coming back to School inevitably it was going to be different and certainly more restrictive.

In P3 we felt it was important that the children were provided with plenty of opportunities to reconnect with each other in as unrestricted environment as possible. The first morning we put out a range of games and construction equipment including a large quantity of Lego and it was this which the children were drawn to like bees to a honey pot. Soon they were chatting way, catching up with each other while busily playing. We decided to continue with this morning routine of free play until the children were settled back into the usual routine. However, as the days passed, we observed that the children settled much better to more formal work if they had had the opportunity for some free play first, so this became part of the daily routine. As time went on, we observed that the children were basing much of their play around our Roman topic and were using it as an unconscious opportunity to achieve a richer understanding of their learning and to connect the skills and concepts they were learning with real world examples

These playful experiences were helping them to engage in this type of deeper learning, applying knowledge to different situations and sparking new ideas not only in the classroom but outside during breaks too where chariot racing and gladiator contests became popular!  Over time we added to the play resources on offer by investing in some Roman figure playmobile, foam builders’ bricks and a big box of Kapla.  Initially these were ignored but with a bit of hands-off encouragement were soon being used to build detailed models of the Circus Maximus, Roman houses, bathhouses, forts, Hadrian’s wall and a range of battle formations. I was constantly being called over to take a photo of the latest creation to put up on the washing line whilst being given in depth and enthusiastic guided tours! 

Looking back over the role play has played in the children’s learning over the past term it has undoubtably allowed them to be actively engaged in their learning and made it both hands-on and minds-on. They have had the opportunity to be interactive in trying out and revising hypotheses which has encouraged flexible thinking, critical and creative thinking, and perseverance. They have been socially interactive and developed understanding on how to communicate more effectively with others. They have experienced pleasure, enjoyment and joy in achieving. They have had meaningful learning experiences where they have been able to connect new facts and ideas to their own experiences.

In these uncertain and ever-changing times where remote learning is again a reality the opportunity is there to exploit play opportunities to both the advantage of children and parents. Not all play has to be on a large scale, daydreaming while sitting in a cardboard box or throwing stones into a puddle can provide important benefits to children.  Next time you are witnessing your children at play, have a look and see if you can detect the benefits.  Whether it seems menial, engaging, exciting, irritating or even downright dangerous it probably has an abundance of benefits to be observed.

17.11.2

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