Play and Learn

Playful approaches to learning enable children to discover through engagement with their worlds.

Primarily, play is encouraged because of its developmental and cognitive benefits.

In order to create engaging learning environments, educators need to encourage children to actively engage with toys, everyday materials and one another. Through these resource-rich, contextualized lessons, children are given every opportunity to construct knowledge during their experiences. I have experienced my girls enjoying and immersed in such play-based learning. My 5-year-old daughter learned how to do addition by playing a game of cards with her grandmother in summer.

Here are some benefits:

·       Children learn through discovery rather than being 'told' facts. This enables deeper, contextualized learning where children don't just learn what is true but why it is true.

·       Children enjoy play, which can enhance motivation, engagement and focus during learning.

·       Incidental learning occurs during play, e.g. a task's knowledge objective may only be achievable through collaboration and groupwork, leading to both cognitive and social learning occurring at once.

·       Children's creativity is encouraged as they use play scenarios to apply their imagination, practice fantasies and see if their thoughts and ideas work.

·       Physical play promotes health and physical development, including both fine and gross motor skills

Some of the examples of play-based learning:

·       Rhyming with name like Sam rhymes with ham

·       Using dice to add two numbers

·       Making a book for numbers, alphabets , spellings

·       Creating a suitcase for places within Canada in social sciences

·       Making a balloon car

·       Building with boxes

·       Play dough writing

·       Using flashcards to learn spell

·       Building a ramp or a marble maze

·       Using nature to learn about building and materials

The benefits of play for learning are not exclusively experienced by young children, which may justify the use of play for teaching adolescents and even in adult learning.

Want to learn more about the benefits of play and having fun? - Click here >>>>> PLAYING LEARNING

Courtesy of  ShwetaT@NU