Do children learn from play?
For most of my children’s lives, I have been a working mom. On my way to work, I dropped them off at day care (that’s what we called it back in the day) and picked them up on my way home. Then it was homework, dinner, dishes, baths, stories and bed, it was a balancing act for sure, but that is a topic for another blog.
I was one of those parents that said, “I want my child to learn things, not just play.” Or, I would ask during an interview with a Center Director, “Do you teach them letters and numbers here or do they just play?” When I went back to school to study Early Childhood Education, I was shocked and amazed to find out how much children actually learn through play. Could this be true? How come no one ever told me these things? Don’t get me wrong, I still think school readiness is important, but it was hard to argue with the research children need to have certain “pre” skills before what adults characteristically think of as “learning” can take place.
Take blocks for example, you may be surprised at how much children learn from block play. When children play with blocks, cars and trucks, they not only learn concepts of shape, size, length location…(spatial awareness) which are all reading and math skills, they also learn to create and repeat patterns, another math skill. They learn to exercise their imagination, explain ideas, cooperate with others, to solve problems, and to see themselves from a different perspective, as if they were a giant. When children play with blocks, they are developing socially, physically, intellectually and creatively.
On a social level, blocks encourage children to work together in a group, cooperate and even make friends. When playing with blocks, children can use their imagination to come up with unique designs or build objects that they see in real life like cars, planes or tall buildings. Children learn to share and work together to solve problems.
On a physical level, reaching for blocks and fitting them together helps children build strength in their fingers and hands and increase eye hand coordination. Block play helps 2 year olds develop their sense of which shapes will fit where and to understand different perspectives. These skills will help them to read maps and follow directions when they are older. For Kindergartners and School Age children, block play helps develop skills in design, visual representation, stability and balance.
Intellectually, Blocks are so great for children to develop across just about every academic subject. Young children develop their vocabularies by describing their creations. By grouping adding, subtracting and eventually multiplying with blocks preschoolers and kindergartners are developing math skills. Older children experiment with gravity, balance and even geometry.
On a creative level, the possibilities are positively endless. Block play offers children the opportunity to make their own designs and take pride in their creations. They use blocks for pretend play and become actors in their own large block structures. Children love to create the “tallest towers in the world”, knocking them down and building them again, teaching them cause and effect.
So you see, while it may look like they are just playing and the room may be a complete mess, they are actually having fun while learning a wide variety of skills that they will need later on life.
Check out this article for more information on children and play!
Until Next time,
Never stop learning…
