Should You Be Encouraging Play-Based Learning?

As parents, we’re continually seeking ways to help our children and one which is proving popular nowadays is play-based learning. We already know that children learn best through play, but is this something we should be actively encouraging? Today Squoodles family, we investigate what is play-based learning, and the benefits it provides.

I don’t know about you, but I remember school being a lot more hands-on when I was five. There was time to play with the musical instruments, construct ships and dollhouses from boxes and experiment with the playdough. I used paint often to create pictures to hang on the fridge at home and spent hours playing in the water trough.

As the school curriculum changed, so did the expectations and beliefs about what was best for kids to do at school. The days of play were left behind at kindergartens and when kids turned five, they were expected to transition immediately into serious scholars.

Well, researchers are now thinking that schools in the good old days got it right, and many are choosing to incorporate play-based learning back into the classroom. But what exactly does that involve?

What is Play-Based Learning?

Play-based learning includes both teacher supported and child initiated learning. Using the child’s motivation to experiment and engage with different materials, learning through play encourages more experimentation and helps them feel more comfortable. That’s just the icing on the cake when it comes to its benefits though, as others include:

• Encouraging language skill development – kids talk about what they are doing, and engage with their peers more.
• Supporting pre-literacy skill development, especially when practising rhyme and repetition through music. This can be singing, listening to nursery rhymes or even playing with musical instruments.
• Build social skills, such as sharing and turn taking.
• Develop emotional skills, feeling connected with others doing the same activity.
• Discover cause and effect – while it’s not nice to hit yourself on the finger with a hammer, once you know why it hurts, you’re unlikely to do it again.
• Stress relief – calm play helps kids wind down when things get too much. Playing is a very comforting and familiar activity for kids.
• Encourage creativity – playing encourages our kids to use their imagination, try different things and express their creativity. Dress ups are a wonderful prop you can encourage this with.

Here at Squoodles, we firmly encourage kids to have fun and play as much as possible. From educational puzzles through to science experiment kids, our online toy store really has it all! Come and have some fun picking out some toys to help you child learn today.