Importance of Play

Learning through play

Play is one of the main ways in which children learn and develop. It helps to build self worth by giving a child a sense of his or her own abilities and to feel good about themselves. Because it’s fun, children often become very absorbed in what they are doing. 

Play is very important to a child’s development, it is an integral part of a child’s Early Years Foundation Stage and supports their learning journey too. Young children can develop many skills through the power of play. They may develop their language skills, emotions, creativity and social skills. Play helps to nurture imagination and give a child a sense of adventure. Through this, they can learn essential skills such as problem solving, working with others, sharing and much more.

In turn, this helps them develop the ability to concentrate. Providing children with a range of playthings will help them learn in a number of ways:

• Sand and water play can be an early introduction to science and maths, eg learning that water is fluid, not solid, and that it can be measured in different sized containers.
• Playing with dough or clay, drawing and painting pictures, dressing up, playing with dolls can encourage creativity, imagination and expression of feelings.
• Building blocks, jigsaws and shape sorters can help with recognising different shapes and sizes, putting things in order and developing logic.
• Playing ball games, dancing, running, climbing all help to develop body movement, strength, flexibility and co-ordination skills. 
• Games help with turn taking, sharing and mixing with others.
• Singing, playing simple music instruments help to develop rhythm, listening and hearing.

It’s important that learning is fun at this age. It needs to be about doing things with them that they like. They might find unusual ways of doing things – for a toddler, building blocks aren’t just for making towers, and paint can be used without a brush! Show them how things work, but if they want to experiment, let them.

Don’t push your child too hard. Children develop in their own ways and in their own time. Try not to compare them to other children.

You can also encourage reading, by reading to and with them. Look at the pictures together; this will help younger children make sense of the words.

It’s also good to talk to them a lot, about everyday things while you are cooking or cleaning. This will give you a chance to teach them how things work and they will be able to ask you questions. Get ready for lots of “why’s?”