How to Start with Play Based Learning
Are you interested in play based or inquiry learning but don’t know where to start?
In this blog post you will find out all the benefits of play based learning. You will also discover some practical play based learning examples you can use in your classroom and some tips on how you can easily get started with learning through play in your classroom today.
When I first started teaching (many years ago) play based learning in kindergarten was the norm. Our early childhood classrooms were full of engaging hands-on and age-appropriate learning invitations. It was a play based curriculum and was very much child led. Our daily observations informed our planning and our reporting.
Back in the good old days, children were never given a graded report card. A child could not fail preschool. Teachers simply reported their observations and each child’s developmental milestones were accepted and celebrated.
As with most things in our education system, it seems to have gone full circle and play based learning seems to be gaining some momentum – thank goodness!!
There is plenty of research around play-based learning and how it enhances children’s academic and developmental learning outcomes. In fact, the current research has found play based and inquiry learning is vital if you want to set children up for success in both their future schooling and in their later adult life.
Skills Every Child Will Need to Succeed in 21st century | Dr. Laura A. Jana | TEDxChandigarh
What is Play Based Learning?
Have you heard that play is the work of the child? Play is not only fun but it has behavioural, social, and psychomotor rewards too. Play is how children learn about their world. Play and learning go hand-in-hand.
But what exactly is play based learning?
As we all need to meet curriculum standards and benchmarks, play based learning in the classroom cannot just be a free for all type of play. Effective play based learning needs to be thoughtfully planned and executed by the teacher.
Play based learning is a context for learning where children can explore, experiment, discover and solve problems in imaginative and playful ways.
It is not just a free for all where children do whatever they like all day. An effective play-based learning approach requires both child-led and teacher-designed learning opportunities.
The teacher supports children’s development by providing investigative learning invitations which aim to foster personalised cognitive and social/emotional growth.
For example, when children are playing with blocks, you can ask questions which encourage problem solving and mathematical skills and concepts. You could add some paper and pens to the blocks so your children will be prompted to draw and write and develop literacy skills.
The resources offered in a play based learning environment have an influence over the type of learning which happens there. Most play based pedagogies suggest the resources you offer should be open ended in nature. You can read more about how to create and resource educational play environments here:
CLICK to read Environment as the Third Teacher Blog Post
BLOG POST - Environment as the Third Teacher If you are interested in transforming your learning environment into a play based space, read this blog post for tips and ideas on how you can do it.
CLICK to read Loose Parts Resources Blog Post
BLOG POST - Loose Parts Resources Discover what the best play based learning resources are and why you need them in your classroom in this blog post. You can also download a FREE list of over 150 open ended resources so you can set up age appropriate investigation areas and learning invitations in your early years setting.
Why is Play Based Learning Important?
I’m sure you have heard that children learn through play. Have you heard that children learn BEST through play? No doubt you know play comes naturally to children and that it is highly engaging but is it really the best way for children to learn?
There are many benefits to play based learning. You should definitely be including this highly engaging and extremely effective form of learning in your school day.
Just like traditional approaches, play-based learning is focused on teaching and learning. Your curriculum goals and benchmarks will still be reached. In fact, the mandated curriculum PLUS so much more can easily be covered.
Through a play based pedagogy, you can personalise and differentiate the learning. You will be able to build on your children’s interests and developmental needs and levels.
If you adopt a play based learning pedagogy, your children will engage in types of play that reflect their level of cognitive development. Every child will be met with learning opportunities that suit their individual developmental needs.
Engagement is increased in a play based pedagogy. Play based learning uses a child’s natural curiosity for exploration and discovery. Your children will be highly engaged because their learning experiences become purposeful.
Your children will feel successful and see themselves as learners in a play based learning environment. There is no right or wrong way to learn and work so your children will have no sense of failure.
As each cohort is so different, you will no doubt have children in your class working below and above your curriculum expectations. You can easily cater for each individual child through play based learning. There is no sense of failure because everyone is working at their developmental level.
Skilled play based teachers are able to design learning environments and investigation areas which are linked to their curriculum learning intentions.
Play based investigation time is a chance for your children to explore, revise and practise the skills they have learned in your explicit teaching lessons. As an example, you can see how I link the ACARA science curriculum outcomes to our play based learning opportunities HERE in this blog post: Teaching Science in Early Childhood
Play based learning not only provides a chance for your children to learn and practice the mandated academic curriculum learning intentions, but it is also a motivating force for your children to master their social and emotional learning too.
Through play based learning, your children will develop many social skills. Children are consistently communicating, cooperating, sharing and responding to ideas, negotiating, and resolving conflicts.
When children have the opportunity to learn through play, they will develop resilience and grow positive attitudes towards learning. Skills including imagination, curiosity, enthusiasm, and persistence will be practiced over and over.
As your children interact with the environment and the people and resources contained within it, the higher-level thinking skills which are essential for the 21st century will be practiced and learned too.
You will observe an increase in the ability of your children to focus and concentrate as they master the skills of creativity, problem solving, analysing, evaluating and applying their knowledge.
Play is Children’s Work. It is Learning.
Play based learning helps children
develop cognitive skills
learn new information
acquire and practice social skills
develop effective communication skills
learn self-regulation skills
develop the ability to resolve conflicts
work on problem-solving skills
understand how to cooperate with others
learn about themselves and their place in the world
explore roles, interests, skills, and relationships
Another important benefit of a play based learning pedagogy is the amazing growth in oral language you will see. Play based learning research indicates the increased complexity of language and learning processes used by children in play-based programs is linked to important literacy skills. These include understanding the structure of words and the meanings of words.
You might like to check out this investigation into the effect of play-based instruction on the development of play skills and oral language. This study found children’s vocabulary and ability to tell a story was higher in a play-based classroom than a traditional classroom.
Of course, explicit teaching and direct instruction are still vitally important and very necessary in a play based classroom. It’s all about creating a balance and an integrated method of teaching. Your children will still need explicit teaching lessons.
The research suggests however, that the many benefits of a quality play-based pedagogy means you should definitely be including play based learning in a dedicated part of your school day.
Play based learning is a valuable pedagogy. It is NOT a Friday afternoon reward for good behaviour or an activity set up to occupy your early finishers or even an opportunity to keep your children busy while you administer one-on-one assessments or targeted teaching.
What Does a Typical School Day Look Like in a Play Based Classroom?
I love visiting other teachers’ classrooms and checking out the way they organise their school day. If you are interested in learning a little about a typical day in my play based classroom, read on…
Morning Session: We all meet on the carpet space for a class morning session or morning meeting. We discuss the calendar and the upcoming day’s timetable. The children are reminded of their class jobs, we mark the roll and add a counter to our 100 days of school record. Then we discuss the curriculum learning intentions for that school day. These learning intentions will be a focus in the play based learning time (investigations) and in our explicit teaching lessons later in the day.
Tuning – In: After we discuss the learning intentions, we talk to our focus children and finish our tuning-in session with a short discussion of our daily photographer and reporter tasks. If you would like to learn more about our play based tuning-in session and the focus children, reporter and photographer roles, check out this blog post: How To Run A Tuning-in Session
Investigations: Investigation time runs for at least 45 minutes. This is our play based learning time. We have a variety of play based learning activities or learning invitations and learning provocations already set up throughout our room. Most, if not all of the investigation areas and learning invitations are directly related to our curriculum learning intentions. You can discover how to set up a purposeful learning provocation here: 3 Steps to Setting Up a Learning Provocation
Children choose where they plan to start working during the upcoming investigations session and what they will be working on. You can get a detailed picture of our set up in this blog post: The 10 Essential Areas of A Play Based Classroom
Reflection and Re-set: At the end of our investigation time, I call all the children to meet on the carpet again. We don’t tidy up yet. We just get together to discuss the learning that has happened.
This is the perfect time for a short impromptu lesson reflecting something I have observed during the session that I feel would benefit the whole class. It might be a demonstration of a strategy I noticed a child using or a discussion around a social skill we are learning to master.
After our reflection, the children are given about 10 minutes to go back to the investigation areas and re-set them ready for investigations the next day.
Explicit Literacy Lesson: We usually have about 30 minutes before first break, so I have timetabled in a quiet activity like independent writing, reading or sometimes math work during this time. This 30 minute timeslot is quite calm and quiet as the children are very settled after their highly interactive investigations session.
This timeslot would also be a fantastic opportunity to schedule daily writing practice in the form of journal writing. The children could draw and write about their investigation session while it is fresh in their minds.
First Break
Middle Session: Our middle session is 2 hours long. We have an hour of teacher directed literacy lessons and activities and then an hour of teacher directed math lessons and activities. Each hour usually has a 15 minute warm-up or explicit teaching lesson followed by 45 minutes of hands-on activities (group rotations).
This session and the explicit teacher directed lessons and activities are always related to our curriculum learning intentions which we discussed earlier in the morning session.
These explicit lessons and activities also relate to the morning learning invitations the children were working on during their play based investigations time.
Second Break
Last Session: Our last session of the day is only 45 minutes long. This session is usually quite fast paced to help keep the children engaged and on task. We start the session with a short calming down activity and a story. Again, these are linked to our curriculum learning intentions.
Then we have a quick movement break before a teacher directed science lesson. All my science lessons are in the form of highly engaging PowerPoint presentations. They have been carefully planned to teach ALL the expected ACARA science curriculum content descriptors. You can find out more about these lessons HERE in my store.
After our science lesson we have time for a quick interactive literacy game before the bell rings.
So much learning happens in our school day and the tight schedule certainly helps our school days to be super productive. The day goes super quickly!!
If you would like to learn more about my planning, you can download a fully editable timetable for both Prep/Foundation and Year One from my Free Resource Library HERE. These downloads are Microsoft Word documents and are my real timetables from Week 4, Term 1.
How to Introduce Play Based Learning
Now you know what play based learning is, how important it is for the children in your class and how I timetable 45 minutes of play into every one of our school days, you might be interested to discover how you can get started with play based learning and investigations in your classroom.
Here are a few tips and ideas so you can get started learning through play in your classroom today.
Routines and Procedures
Ideally you would want to start play based learning right at the beginning of the school year – yes! On the very first day of school!!
Of course, classroom routines and procedures should be the focus in those first few weeks of back to school. The routines and procedures of your play based investigation times are equally important. To ensure your children meet behaviour expectations and get the most from their investigation sessions, it is very important your play based learning rules and procedures are crystal clear. Your children should understand their roles and what is expected of them.
Teacher Observations
The primary role of the teacher in any play based classroom is that of observer. During play based learning you can really get to know your children and what their interests and developmental needs are.
Take the opportunity to make observations of each child. Note who they are working with, what they are doing, where they choose to work and for how long. Make notes about possible future resources and learning invitations which will suit the individual needs of your children. Use your observations to inform your lesson planning and assessments.
You might like to use my observation checklist. This is the one I use for the first couple of weeks at the start of every school year. You can download it for FREE here.
Only Basic Resources – LESS IS MORE!
Start the year with simple, open ended learning invitations. Open ended resources (like loose parts) are always age appropriate. They are the best type of resource because every child, no matter their developmental level, can purposefully and successfully work with open ended materials.
You can find out all about these wonderful open ended resources and download a FREE list here on this blog post: Loose Parts Resources
Hot Tip: Offer only a few resources at each investigation area. You want your investigations to be very quick and easy to reset. Use those first couple of weeks to observe the way the children interact with the resources and then use these observations to decide on which new resources you will offer.
As the year progresses, you will learn more and more about your children and about play based learning as a pedagogy. Your growing knowledge will be reflected in your learning invitations and you will notice them becoming increasingly more complex.
Let your children and your observations guide you.
Play Based Learning Invitations to Start the Year
Science/Nature table: 5 senses text, small nature journal, smelling sachets, touch boards, feely box, eye mask, sound tubes, small basket of items from nature (seed pods, shells, feathers)
Maths: Counting text, finger and counting rhymes on cards, number poster, Calendar, wooden numerals, small selection of concrete objects (counters, teddy bears, bundling sticks, unifix), board game, dice, numbered cups
Blocks Area: text about animals & living things, big wooden blocks, basket of wooden people, basket of animals, small fake grass squares, a few small pieces of fabric, pinecones, big wooden dice
Sensory Playdough: playdough, face parts story stones - eyes, lips, nose, feelings text and posters, rolling pin, safety knives, placemats
Art Collage - scissors, glue, paper shapes, paddle pop sticks, wool, cotton wool, a couple of magazines, small selection of coloured and plain paper
Dramatic Play Home corner – a couple of texts about families, play kitchen, cutlery, plates & saucepans, small table & chairs, toy food, telephone and telephone numbers, play clock, vase of flowers, cookbook, tablecloth, play fridge, shelf,
Dramatic Play Doll house - a couple of texts about families, doll house furniture, dolls
Reading Area: A selection of about 20 picture books related to starting school, the 5 senses, counting, shapes & numbers, living things, families, friends & feelings
Writing Table – picture dictionaries, selection of plain and lined paper, pencils, crayons, magnetic letters, small magnetic whiteboards
Light Table – text about patterns, small selection of transparent loose parts in a divided tray (gems, counters, numbers & dominoes), sorting dishes or cups
Art Painting— texts and posters about feelings, acrylic mirror, watercolour paint palette, selection of different sized brushes, water bottle, black marker
Tinkering— duplo
Loose parts - texts about faces and feelings, empty picture frames, small selection of a few of each: wooden circle rings, corks, coloured wool pieces, buttons, wooden discs, stones, fabric scraps. OR loose parts with pattern mats and sorting bowls.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD my play-based learning pdf to print out the detailed guide and examples of play based learning invitations you can use for starting the school year.
Don’t Skip Tuning-in & Reflection
These components of a play based program are very important. When you discuss the learning that is expected during a tuning-in session and the learning that has happened during a reflection session, you are demonstrating to your children that you have taken an interest in their play and that investigations are valuable learning times.
A tuning-in session is an opportunity for you to explicitly discuss and explain the class learning intentions and behaviour expectations. It is also a designated time for you to learn more about each child as they have their turn to be a focus child. Make sure to check out this blog post: How To Run A Tuning-in Session
A reflection session is an optimal teaching opportunity where you can discuss learning, expectations and reflect together. Discuss what worked well and what needs to improve. Use this time to teach necessary routines and skills.
Investigations in the first few weeks are all about observation and training. You will probably need to teach your children how to use the resources respectfully, how to interact with each other, and establish rules and routines. Taking the time to establish these now will help to make sure your play based learning sessions will run smoothly in the future.
How to get into Play-Based Learning: Part 1 - What is Play?
What if my children are wasting time?
In a play based pedagogy no child is going to be wasting learning time. No child will be interested in doing work below their developmental level. That would be boring!!
Your children will naturally extend themselves. They cannot help but learn through their natural curiosity and play.
Remember… The goal of early childhood education should be to activate the child’s own natural desire to learn. (Maria Montessori)
What should I be teaching at investigation time?
Your role is to observe your students. Discover their interests, their academic and social/emotional needs and to then use this information to provide more play based learning invitations specifically designed for the children in your class.
As you become more skilled and begin to trust the process, you will find yourself using your observations to help you effectively differentiate your explicit teaching lessons and further inform your planning and assessments.
Once you start your play based learning journey, I know you and your children will find it so rewarding. Stay in touch and let me know how you are going!! I am always looking for ways I can promote play based learning and help teachers like you on your journey.
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