There’s a wealth of science behind our understanding of learning through play: studies in teaching and learning, play, and neuroscience. Here are three key things to take from the research.
1. Children are born to learn through play - Playful experiences offer a unique context for supportive and rich learning in early childhood. These enable the responsive social interactions with caregivers that help build healthy brain connections.
2. Children should be in charge of their play - Children achieve a richer understanding by connecting the concepts and skills they are learning with real world examples. Playful experiences help engage in this type of deeper learning, applying knowledge to different situations and sparking new ideas at home and in school.
3. Children should know what collaboration and human connections is - Today’s world is constantly changing. Play helps children learn how to collaborate, innovate and problem-solve, which are skill sets they’ll need to thrive in uncertainty and to create opportunities for themselves and their communities.
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