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What is Learning through Play and what are the benefits?

Lindsey Mackrill —

“Play and learning are like the two wings of a butterfly – one cannot exist without the other.” Carla Rinaldi President of Reggio Children

What is learning through play?

Learning through play is a pedagogical approach where play is the valued mode of learning – where children can explore, experiment, discover, and solve problems in imaginative and playful ways.

What are the benefits of learning through play?

Learning through play can help schools realise the vision of The New Zealand Curriculum to develop confident, connected, actively involved, lifelong learners. Almost all of the values and key competencies in The New Zealand Curriculum can be developed through a play-based approach to learning. A range of learning areas can be explored with connections made across learning areas as well as to home and the wider world. Learning through play also provides the opportunity to extend the use of Te Whāriki curriculum into the early years of schooling.

Today’s world is constantly changing. Play helps children learn how to collaborate, innovate and problem-solve, which are skill-sets they’ll need to thrive in uncertainty and to create opportunities for themselves and their communities. (The Lego Foundation, 2019)

Learning through play is described as combining playful child-directed activity with teacher or adult supported or guided learning objectives (Weisberg, Hirsh-Pasek & Golinkoff, 2013).

Learning through play incorporates;

  • free or voluntary play

  • guided play

  • outdoor play

  • collaborative play

  • learning through games

  • physical play

  • and digital play, among others.

The evidence supporting learning through play’s positive impact on child development is strong. Yet many education systems have reduced opportunities for playful learning and increased emphasis on didactic and structured approaches to learning for school readiness and achievement (Jay & Knaus, 2018). This recalibration is needless, as experts have established that learning through play supports the development of early literacy and numeracy skills in an integrated approach, while also cultivating children’s social, emotional, physical, and creative skills (Marbina, Church & Tayler, 2011)

To find out more about Learning through Play visit: https://www.legofoundation.com/en/