For young children, playtime can come in many forms — from playground games, building blocks, dolls and action-figures, to even the infamous imaginary friend. Nonetheless, regardless of what the medium is, children play to experience and bring meaning to their own world. Obviously, play is an important part of a child’s home and social life, however, does play have a place in a child’s education? According to early childhood education experts and researchers, Dr Elena Bodrova and Dr Deborah J Leong, it absolutely does. “Our research shows that an emphasis on play does not detract from academic learning, but actually enables children to learn. Through mature play, children learn the very foundational skills that will prepare them for the academic challenges that lie ahead.”

So, knowing the importance of play for the development of young children, should teachers allow children the freedom of unregulated play in the classroom? Elizabeth Randall, Early Childhood Education (ECE) superintendent at Yew Chung International School of Shanghai (YCIS), says not entirely. She explains, “Just putting young children into a play situation will not provide them with a significant learning experience if adults are not involved. Facilitating children to participate in their own learning through play is focused work for teachers with the objective of truly giving their students a quality learning experience.” In order to provide a valuable educational experience for children, educators must be actively involved in the play process and must recognize and encourage children’s own interests, and must provide an enabling environment that is filled with resources that help students learn, grow, and develop.

Active involvement in learning

Opportunities to inquire, wonder, discover, and experiment all help lead children to become critical-thinkers and problem-solvers. At YCIS, play is at the heart of the kindergarten program for students aged 2 to 5, and the program sets the foundation for successful lifelong learning. The school views play as a “two-way street,” as both the children and the teachers take an active role in play and interaction as a vehicle for learning. Randall explains, “‘How’ children learn is a very important part of our teacher’s influence in the classroom. Children are natural and competent learners, and effective learning happens when children are able to interact with people and things that they find interesting and meaningful.”

Delivering an emergent curriculum

To support developing and inquiring minds, and to lay a foundation for successful learning, a play-based classroom should focus on the primary areas that children will continue learning for the rest of their lives; personally, socially, and emotionally. At YCIS, the unique inquiry-based learning approach has been continuously developed over the years with input from cutting-edge researchers. In each kindergarten classroom, two co-teachers, one Western and one Chinese teacher, are equally responsible for reflective and responsive curriculum planning and implementation. At YCIS, kindergarten students build an understanding of mathematical and scientific concepts, as well as establish a base in language and literacy skills in English and Chinese, but the children are not passive receivers of the curriculum. Randall continues, “The exploring, discovering, and problem-solving found through play allows children to self-initiate their own passion for learning about themselves and the world around them.” Therefore, facilitating a responsive and dynamic curriculum that emerges from children’s own interests, wonders, discoveries, and ongoing experiences in their life, as well as their spontaneous explorations is a responsibility of the classroom teachers.

Creating enabling environments

The learning environment itself plays an important role in a meaningful and educational play experience in order to support children’s natural curiosities. It’s also critical that a child’s own uniqueness is recognized, and that they have access to multiple play choices and materials. For instance, one child might be naturally drawn to artistic expression, while another child might prefer to explore through role-playing. Both children may draw similar observations or conclusions about a topic, but the method by which they arrive at their deduction is reflective of their own unique learning style.

At YCIS, the learning environment is an essential component of the curriculum, and the indoor and outdoor play environments provide consistent and continuous opportunities for exploration. As an example, a kindergarten class at the school’s Hongqiao campus recently explored air, land, and sea transportation after learning about space travel. The class began their learning by continuing their interest in spaceships, and then started to question how other types of transportation work. Recognizing the students’ interests, the co-teachers supported this with a variety of ways to explore and learn about transportation through role-playing, outdoor play, art construction, and singing. Some children sparked an interest in water transportation and carried out role-play scenarios using rowboats. Other children used various types of art materials to create different modes of transportation, including airplanes, boats, submarines, and rockets. The co-teachers assisted all of the children as they created an ocean scene on the classroom walls in the role-play area to visualize what it would be like to work inside a submarine. The co-teachers also reinforced students’ interests by providing and reading books, hosting activities, and conducting scientific experiments that revolved around transportation. With the support and guidance from their co-teachers, the students actively participated in their own learning, and were given a quality and in-depth exploration into their own interests through multiple avenues.

Play-based classrooms with dynamic and emerging curriculum, like all of the ECE classrooms at YCIS, help fuel young students’ natural desire to discover. With teachers supporting them as they play, children can make meaningful educational connections in a deep and lasting way, developing their joy of learning that will continue on through primary and secondary school, and beyond.