Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/professional-learning-strategies-to-revive-play-in-the-classroom/5025510/
*Supporting graphics can be found in the pdf version of this article.
Early childhood classrooms abound with play. Outdoor play, sensory play, and learning areas, among others, each play a role in children’s early development. Typically, play can be grouped into four types: functional, physical, constructive and pretend. Each type of play lends to different learning and practice opportunities for children. For example, pretend play promotes self-regulation and symbolic thinking (Lindsey & Colwell, 2013; Bodrova, 2008), where physical play can promote peer-to-peer play initiation and healthy bodies (Lindsey & Colwell, 2013).
Learning centers, which are common across preschools, can account for 60 to 120 minutes of a typical classroom’s day, making them an ideal way to bolster playful learning (Bodrova & Leong, 2003; Farran & Son-Yarbrough, 2001). Centers can provide a critical space for constructive, pretend, and, sometimes, physical play. They provide opportunities for children to:
- learn in context;
- apply new knowledge to pretend play with peers;
- learn from peers;
- develop expressive language; and
- engage in low-stress interactions with others.
How can you get the biggest bang for your learning centers buck? To begin your journey, one playful step at a time, consider these professional learning and team-building strategies to engage teachers in playful learning that, ...