How Do Children Learn Through Play?

All work and no play makes children tired, worn out and upset. So, why is play so important? Why can’t children just jump straight into learning? Or why can’t they just spend all day watching tv? In todays blog we are going to shed some light on the importance of play for children and how day care in Capalaba  incorporate it into the learning experience. 

Understanding learning with play

The term “meaningful play” was coined only recently, but it explains something that is quite inherent in human growth. “Play”, as we all know, is any activity that most children love to do, anywhere from dress ups and hopscotch to drawing and painting. So, there’s a lot of different types. But “meaningful play” combines enjoyment with a learning experience. Typically, such play doesn’t follow any script; the child is the active participant making most of the choices. But meaningful play means that while they are enjoying themselves, they end up learning something from it. At Eskay Kids (day care centre in Capalaba) meaningful play is used to allow children to socialise, create their own journey and learn about themselves. 

Why it is necessary?

Adults learn any skill by following a set pattern and/or a rational, logical way of thinking. In contrast, children learn anything through their intuition. They observe things, make broad correlations in their minds, and learn from these observations. A major portion of a child’s learning experience sprouts from his imagination. Children are much more prone to imagining things than adults and children are the most imaginative when they play.

During play, children develop muscle coordination, reflexes, and brain function. It is a time when their minds are attuned for high creativity and imagination. Most children display more focus during play than study hours as they learn critical thinking, develop language skills, increase their knowledge base and develop motor functions – all while being completely oblivious. On the other hand, children who don’t play at all tend to have slow growth in one or more departments, particularly the creative section. 

Maximising learning through play

Now that we know how important play is for a child’s learning growth, the question is: how exactly early childhood education Eskay Kids in Capalaba could achieve that? There is no single answer to this, but here are a few tried-and-tested tips for the best results:

• Give wings to the imagination of children. Encourage them to ask many questions and prompt them to find answers on their own. If X happened, why did it happen? Create an environment where children can not only wonder aloud but also try to seek the answers.
• Introduce activities in the classroom that employ maximum use of creativity. As mentioned earlier, children have heightened focus during playtime, so make use of that. Think of activities which the children can enjoy, but where they also might learn something new. 
• The traditional method of teaching, where everything was according to a fixed syllabus, is now obsolete. Teachers should keep things flexible, having the privilege to set the agenda as per the needs of their class. Children cannot enjoy intuitive play when teachers are worrying about a syllabus to follow. 
• Introduce drama to the children – the use of hand gestures and emotions will work to express new ideas. Turn a subject into an enjoyable quest, and the children are bound to happily finish it. 

When schools and Kindy’s combine learning with play, children always emerge into more creative, brighter and happier versions of themselves.