April 24, 2015
Have you ever seen a child so deep into an activity that he ignores the world around? Bringing play into the classroom helps strengthen focus, independence, and problem solving, while also eliminating the fear of failure. Play can also help familiarize children with the world around them through social interactions and conflict resolution. The importance of play can be seen throughout nature (primarily mammals) and teaches those who participate key skills like what is safe and what is dangerous, solving problems using different processes, and most importantly, it sets up a foundation for learning new ideas. Learning through play opens the mind to new possibilities that were never thought possible before. Play should not stop once a child leaves kindergarten, rather, it should stay with him for the rest of his life.
In early childhood classes, we bring play into the classroom daily. In my class at City Academy, for instance, we rely heavily on manipulatives and kinesthetic learning through trial and error as well as self-correcting materials that ease the stress of incorrect solutions. Playful students quickly learn that it is more about the process than the product and that promotes chance taking and thoughtful hypotheses.
If you come into my class, you will see math at its absolute importance – real world math. Future engineers use LEGOs to construct detailed buildings and cars. Future artists use sand as a sculpting media. Future CEOs learn the importance of both leading and listening during partner play. The same life principles apply to adults who play so don’t procrastinate, play now!
Written by Noah Hollenkamp