Piaget’s theories of cognitive development have influenced our modern play pedagogies. Piaget and play based learning seem to go together quite well because Piagetian theories reinforce the idea that children learn through play.

This blog post will examine ways you can apply Piaget’s stages of cognitive development in your play-based learning classroom. You will discover some practical play-based learning ideas for children in each of Piaget’s four stages of cognitive development.

If you would like to learn more about Jean Piaget and his theories on cognitive development in children, check out this Blog Post: Stages of Development–Piaget

Piaget’s Four Stages of Cognitive Development

Piaget's theory of cognitive development proposes 4 stages of development.

• Sensorimotor stage: birth to 2 years

• Preoperational stage: ages 2 to 7

• Concrete operational stage: ages 7 to 11

• Formal operational stage: ages 12 and up

Piaget suggested these stages occur in this order and as children develop, they will not skip a stage but progressively move through each one. He observed visible changes in children as they pass through each stage. We can see the stages as a staircase because each stage builds on the stage before it.

If you are interested in learning more about Piaget’s four stages of cognitive development and how they relate to his developmental stages of play, you might like to read this Blog Post: Developmental Stages of Play - Piaget. Piaget devised a series of developmental stages of play. You can observe them throughout his four stages of cognitive development.

Overall, when applying Piaget’s stages in your early childhood pedagogy, keep in mind that the children in your class can work in any of the stages regardless of their age. Teachers need to be offering learning opportunities which cater to the child’s developmental level and not their age.

For young children starting preschool or kindergarten, Piaget’s theories align more with a play-based pedagogy. According to Piaget, children need learning environments, curriculum, materials, and lessons which provide opportunities for hands-on exploration, and authentic interactions with the actual world.

Ideas for Educators with Children in the Sensorimotor Stage

• Provide exploratory play experiences using authentic, real-world objects.

• Provide play provocations which stimulate the five senses.

• Implement age-appropriate routines. Predictable routines will help to develop communication skills.

Ideas for Educators with Children in the Preoperational Stage

• Piaget observed children in this stage learn best through hands-on activities. Encourage children to interact with their environments and the resources within it actively.

• Give short instructions, using actions and words.

• Children in this stage are egocentric so do not expect them to consistently see the world from another’s point of view.

• Encourage children to move beyond their egocentric thinking by playing with dress-up costumes and encouraging the children to take on the roles of other characters.

• Provide plenty of dramatic play experiences.

• Remember, children might have different meanings for the same word or different words for the same meaning. It is important to take time to clarify confusing conversations.

• Explicitly teach new vocabulary and word meanings. Children in the preoperational stage often expect others to understand words they have invented.

• Ask questions to provoke thought and encourage them to come up with their own ideas.

• Point out new things in the world around them and encourage the children to pose questions about those things.

• Create learning provocations which invite children to manipulate shape changing resources like playdough, sand, or water. These types of resources can help children move towards the concept of conservation.

• Relate lessons and topics to your local environment and the personal experiences and interests of the children in your class.

• Avoid using worksheets or paper and pencil activities to introduce or consolidate new knowledge. Children in this stage primarily learn by doing.

• Use concrete props and visual aids whenever possible.

Ideas for Educators with Children in the Concrete Operational Stage

• Children in this stage appreciate rules as they are moving from their logical, egocentric thinking to a more analytical, rule-regulated types of thinking. Procedural activities like cooking are excellent for encouraging their cognitive development. 

• Encourage children to create timelines, 3D models and science experiments for them to experience and manipulate abstract concepts.

• Provide a variety of measuring cups (in different shapes) for children to explore measuring the same quantities but with different utensils.

• Use familiar experiences (like word problems in maths) to represent complex ideas.

• Use brain teasers and riddles to foster analytical thinking.

• Use analogies to show children the relationship between new ideas and their already acquired knowledge.

• Provide reading books with only a few characters.

• Provide opportunities for children to manipulate concrete objects when they are learning about and testing new ideas.

• Give children opportunities to practice classifying objects with only three of four variables at a time.

• Focus on asking the children open-ended questions to provoke thought and higher order thinking.

Ideas for Educators with Children in the Formal Operational Stage

• Offer step-by-step explanations of concepts and use charts and other visual aids to demonstrate desired learning.

• Classify and group information using graphic organisers so children can assimilate new information with their prior knowledge.

• Explore hypothetical situations related to current events or social issues.

• Broaden children’s conceptual knowledge whenever possible. If you are discussing recycling, for example, discuss the other strategies we can use to care for the environment.

4 Teaching Takeaways from Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development

1.    Focus on the process of children's thinking, not just its products. So often we just check for the correct answer instead of exploring the thinking processes a child has used to get that answer. Piaget suggests relevant learning experiences will build on a child’s current level of cognitive functioning. If you want to provide relevant and effective learning experiences, you must focus on the child’s thinking processes. When you understand a child’s thinking processes, you can see how and why the child came up with their answers. Then you will be able to provide relevant learning experiences.

2.    Recognise the crucial role active, self-initiated interaction plays in learning. In a Piagetian classroom, children are given opportunities to discover themselves through hands-on interactions with the environment. You will not see an emphasis on didactic teaching and the presentation of ready-made knowledge. Instead, Piagetian teachers provide a rich variety of activities that encourage children to interact directly with their physical world.

3.    Stop using strategies aimed at making children adult like in their thinking. This takeaway refers to the common educational goal of speeding up child development. Piaget believed that attempting to accelerate children's growth through the developmental stages could be worse than no teaching at all. He warned educators against strategies designed to advance children because they would lead to superficial acceptance of adult formulas rather than true cognitive understanding.

4.    Accept the individual differences in children’s developmental progress. Piaget believed all children go through the same developmental sequence, but they very often do so at different rates. Because of this, teachers should design learning experiences for individuals and groups of children rather than for the whole class group. This also has implications for assessment and grading. If we are to expect individual differences, we should not relate assessments to the performances of same-age peers. Instead, we should design our assessments in relation to each child’s own previous level of development.

One of the most important takeaways of Piaget's theory is that creating knowledge and intelligence is an inherently active process. The children in your class should be constantly investigating and experimenting as they build their understanding of how the world works.

You can easily apply Piaget’s stages of cognitive development in a play-based learning environment. If you liked this post on Piaget and Play Based Learning, you might like to check out my other blog posts here on my blog because my blog is ALL about play based learning!!

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