Play is an important part of learning from birth onwards and is the primary way children learn.

Play Outcome 2 Lisa Jones

PLAY AND LEARNING

Play is an important part of learning from birth onwards and is the primary way children learn. Play helps us to learn throughout life, we play because it is fun. Through play children explore their bodies, relationships with parents and others and the world around them. If we make learning fun a child will learn more.

Through play children are learning skills for life and learning that learning is fun. In addition to exploration and relationship development play helps children develop verbal and logical skills for example in the house corner. Through touching, manipulating, exploring and testing children find out about the world around them and therefore adults should provide plenty opportunities to do all of them. Children imitate adults through play and therefore learn what it means to be a caregiver, doctor, fire fighter and so on. During play children learn to solve problems and work co-operatively with others.

First stage of play is simple exploration or manipulation of play material i.e. scribbling with crayons, feeling sand or ringing a bell. Symbolic play or pre-operational stage as Piaget labels it, is when a child uses an object as symbols for something else. A well-planned program will provide suitable challenging activities to adhere to the 3-5 curriculum. Knowledge & Understanding of the world, emotional, social & personal skills, physical development & movement, expressive & aesthetic, communication & language.

Play makes a powerful contribution to learning it provides opportunities to