What’s fun can be educational for preschoolers

Play-based learning. That sounds terrific. After all, if play is an effective means for children to learn, well then, bring on the toys, games and puzzles. School is in session.

Truly, play benefits children in many different ways. In fact, play-based learning, which is defined by the Early Years Learning Framework (www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/) as “a context for learning through which children organize and make sense of their social worlds, as they actively engage with people, objects and representations,” has been shown to advance childhood development on various levels.

Play, says the National Association for the Education of Young Children, provides a way for children to manage stress and grow emotionally, as well as develop cognitive skills, physical abilities, vocabulary, social skills and literacy. Moreover, youngsters often practice and reinforce what they’ve learned through imaginative play (www.naeyc.org/play).

Studies on play’s close relationship to learning and development go back for decades. German research from the 1970s showed play had such a positive effect on childhood development that by the fourth grade German children that participated in play-oriented kindergarten were more advanced physically, socially, emotionally and cognitively than their peers whose early schooling was academic in nature. The evidence was so strong it prompted the country to switch from academic to play-oriented kindergarten classes (www.ed.gov.nl.ca/edu/earlychildhood/literature_review.pdf).

Preschool play

Ask a 4-year-old what her favorite part of her preschool class was on a given day and the response might be something like: “I played outside and saw birds. My teacher showed me them building a nest. Did you know birds aren’t mammals but we are? They lay eggs like chickens and we have eggs that are going to hatch in our classroom. It takes 21 days for an egg to hatch. I can show what 21 looks like on a calendar.”

Fun? Learning? Clearly, both. The reality is, through play-based learning, that child and her classmates learned many more things during the class’ outdoor “play” adventure than they would have by sitting at a table, completing a worksheet. Not only did it provide the opportunity for the teacher to use their bird sighting as a means to layer in learning, but the venture also gave the kids a way to build on their gross motor skills, such as balancing their bodies. It also opened ways for them to understand how to observe the world around them.

Ages and stages. For toddlers, play helps children develop social skills and language by interacting with others. Activities such as walking, running and climbing boost gross motor skills, while drawing with crayons or markers benefits fine motor development.

By the time children are 3 years old, they become more fully involved with their peers, further increasing their social development. Sharing toys with others in play teaches them how to take turns, resolve conflicts and get along. Doing a floor puzzle with a buddy, for example, teaches children not only how to fit pieces together, but also provides insight on spatial relationships and adds to fine motor development. It also educates children on how to work together and fosters communications skills, whether their talk relates to agreements or disagreements about how the puzzle is coming together.

With pre-kindergarteners, play-based learning is a big part of make-believe. Pretend fun is often a means for children to work out emotions relating to the pending birth of a new baby brother or sister. A child might, for example, cuddle a doll or otherwise pretend to be a big brother or sister, helping him adjust to his new role.

In addition to adding to fine-motor skills, drawing for fun provides lessons in literacy when pictures are sketched out to tell a story. Likewise, free-art takes working with glue, paper, cardboard and paint to a whole new level when the artwork is part of a bigger picture; for instance, cardboard armor that’s reminiscent of that which was worn by knights of long ago.

And, while something such as building shapes with marshmallows and toothpicks is sticky fun, the activity also fosters creativity and awareness about structure. Even coming together for library time offers an opportunity for a math lesson when the kids count up the number of boys and girls in the room, add the figures up and pull out that many chairs.

Outdoor play brings in science lessons. Observing a tree’s rough texture, for example, can turn into a discussion about tree bark, how trees grow and how their age is measured. From there, lessons on nurturing trees can be brought up, as well as facts on trees’ ability to produce oxygen, making kids see that trees are much more than a place for shade.

Embracing opportunities

At the Sol Silver Early Childhood Center in Poughkeepsie, play-based learning happens at all levels.

“By taking advantage of teachable opportunities during active play times at our center, all of our youngsters, from 18 months to 5 years old, learn and develop as they have fun,” said David Silver, whose late father is the namesake of the Sol Silver Early Childhood Center.

This spring each of the center’s toddler, 3-year-old, pre-K and kindergarten classrooms is hatching caterpillars from eggs to butterflies. While watching the transformation is fun and exciting, especially with magnifying glasses, the youngsters also are learning about insect life and practicing patience as they wait for the butterflies to arrive.

The early years are a time of rapid development. Play-based learning allows children to begin constructing ways to apply the world to their learning, allowing them to be curious life-long learners.

Lucia Swartz is director of the Sol Silver Early Childhood Center at the Hudson Valley Community Center in Poughkeepsie, a state licensed preschool that offers a variety of programs for children from 18 months to 6 years. For more information, call 845-471-0430; visit www.hvcommunitycenter.com/#!preschool/con8