What Does Learning Through Play Mean?
Learning through play is a popular teaching approach in early childhood education, for the development of physical, social, cognitive, and language skills.
The most crucial period of development for children is from birth to eight years old. During this time, the child learns social, cognitive, and language skills and how to manage emotions. Play is an important way through which a child can learn these skills and gain essential knowledge.
Learning through play provides the child with hands-on experience to learn, which is also fun and engaging for them. Different kinds of play activities may range from free play, where the child has the agency in their learning experience and structured and guided play where the teacher controls the play experience through establishing rules.
Why Is It Important?
Children understand and make sense of their environment through play. It also gives meaning to their experiences as they connect things they have learned to different contexts. It helps the child to express and expand their knowledge.
There are several reasons why it is crucial for teachers to integrate play in the curriculum:
- It is exciting and enjoyable for children. Children love to play, and it gives them the motivation to learn as well.
- Play gives children agency and control over their learning experience. This allows them to explore things on their own and deepens their engagement and understanding.
- It can target the development of various skills at a time, including physical, cognitive, social, and language skills.
- It is an interactive way to learn and as children learn and discover new things through play, it also deepens their understanding of it.
- Playing collaboratively with other children can help in building communication and social skills. They understand how to interact with each other and work in a group.
- As children form relationships with one another through play, it also develops their emotional maturity. They learn to share and work collaboratively.
Hence learning through play is an important aspect of early years education. Children become an active part of their learning process, which gives them the agency to make decisions and control their experience. It helps them build their social and emotional skills and increases their confidence.
Read More: Best Educational Games For Early Childhood Learners
Learn With WonderGames
WonderTree recognizes the importance of learning through play and our games allow children a sense of autonomy over their learning journey. WonderGames make the learning experience engaging for children and keeps them motivated and eager to learn through play.
Our games target development of motor, cognitive, social and language skills of children. It also has an in-built reporting feature that tracks the progress of each child.
Our Augmented reality games provide an immersive experience for the child, keeping them engaged throughout.
Download WonderGames for free now!
