The importance of play

Many activities done in early childhood education classrooms are play-based, and many people wonder, "How are children learning if they play all day?"

How do children learn through play?  What are they learning?

• Social skills: children play games and in centers with each other, which helps them develop socially.  Through playing with others, children also learn skills such as taking turns, and that games have rules.  They also begin to learn how to take the perspective of others.
• Cognitive skills, such as reasoning, comprehension, and gaining knowledge: By working with multiple materials in different settings and situations, children experiment and begin to learn new ideas.  An example of this is our water table.  The children do enjoy splashing around in the water, but they are also learning how water runs, drips, flows, and feels.  They are able to see how water looks in different containers, and how it goes through a funnel.  As they play, they learn about water, which leads them to more questions and more experimentation.
• Motor skills: There are two kinds of motor skills.  Gross motor skills use large muscle to do things like crawl, walk, kick, and balance.  Fine motor skills use smaller muscles to do things like cut with scissors, draw, and tie shoes.  By using different materials and engaging in different activities, children are able to develop both fine and gross motor skills.  Through the art center, they are able to finger paint and cut out pictures.  When we play outside, they are able to run, and throw and kick balls.  

Early education teachers often dedicate large sections of time (30-60 minutes) throughout the day to allow children to play, both indoor and outdoors.  By letting the children play for a longer period of time, they become more involved in what they are doing, and learn more, but do not get bored.  Though it may go against what we as adults have learned, play is vital for a young child's development, and I encourage you to continue your child's play activities at home!

An article explaining this more in-depth is posted under "Articles and Information for Parents."