Talking with Parents about Play and Learning
You are here
The beginning of the school year is a great time to help preschoolers鈥� families understand the connections between play and their children鈥檚 learning and development.
Parents rarely question the role of play in their infants鈥� and toddlers鈥� learning. But as young children enter preschool, a shift takes place. Parents seem to start doubting the learning aspects of play. They look instead to 鈥渁cademics鈥濃�攄irect instruction, workbooks, and children sitting still in the classroom.
We can help families understand why play is critical for preschoolers鈥� learning and development鈥攁nd how play sets children up for future school success. We also need to let families know that teachers intentionally design play activities with specific learning goals in mind.
Daily opportunities for children to learn through play are engaging, essential, and meaningful!
When you describe play and learning, help families understand unfamiliar words and terms. Try to avoid complicated vocabulary.
Learning and development: 听Skills, knowledge, and what 听children can do and understand
Cognitive skills
Play helps children develop听cognitive skills鈥攖hought processes of learning. These include remembering, problem solving, making decisions, processing information, and learning language.
During play, children develop foundational understanding in math, science, and social studies. Here are some examples.
Math:听When children are shoppers or cashiers in a pretend grocery store, or when they build in the block area, they use numbers (鈥淚t costs three cents鈥�), explore measurement (鈥淢y tower is taller than yours鈥�), and develop problem-solving abilities (鈥淧ut the big blocks on the bottom so your wall won鈥檛 fall down鈥�).
Science:听Children use science concepts like prediction when they experiment at the sand and water table. (鈥淚 think two scoops of sand will fill the bucket.鈥�)
Social studies:听As children take on different roles in the dramatic play area, they practice being parents (鈥淚t鈥檚 bedtime. Let鈥檚 put on your pajamas and we鈥檒l read a book.鈥�) and learn about community helpers, like health care professionals (鈥淧ut your arm here so I can take an X-ray鈥�) and postal workers (鈥淚 have a package for you in my truck鈥�).
Language and literacy
Children develop early reading, vocabulary, and writing skills by telling familiar stories to stuffed animals (鈥淥nce upon a time, there were three bears鈥�), using the names of different dinosaurs as they play with figures (鈥淭he brontosaurus ate all the leaves on that tree!鈥�), and creating a menu for an imaginary restaurant (鈥淲rite听pizza听first鈥攊t starts with听P鈥�).
Social skills
During play, children learn to interact with others. They talk, collaborate, and pretend together. They might be workers in a veterinarian鈥檚 office (鈥淟et鈥檚 put the dog on the scale.鈥�), shoppers at a farmers鈥� market (鈥淐an you help me? I need to buy an apple.鈥�), or workers on a street repair crew (鈥淐an I hold the stop sign while you and Denise fix the potholes?鈥�).
Emotional skills
Children are beginning to recognize and talk about emotions. As they play in different scenarios鈥攁 birthday party (鈥淚鈥檓 really excited about blowing out the candles.鈥�) or a doctor visit (鈥淲ill I get a shot? I feel scared.鈥�)鈥攖hey are able to relax, focus, feel successful, and express their feelings of happiness, frustration, surprise, anger, or delight.
Physical abilities
Children develop their small and large motor skills during play. They stack blocks, complete puzzles, and paint pictures (small motor). They run on the playground, dance to music, and learn to hop (large motor).
Types of play
Social play
Solitary play:听A child plays alone (one child takes care of a doll by himself).
Parallel play:听Children play side by side during an activity without interacting (two children stand next to each other at the water table but don鈥檛 talk or use materials together).
Cooperative play:听Children plan, discuss, and implement their play together (two or three children build a highway out of blocks).
Dramatic play
Symbolic play:听Children use one object to represent another object during play (a child holds a block up to her ear as a phone and starts talking).
Sociodramatic play:听Children take on roles (a child crawls on the ground and barks, pretending to be the family dog).
Other types of play
Functional play:听Children explore using multiple senses (a child touches, smells鈥攁nd even sometimes tastes鈥攈omemade playdough).
Constructive play:听After exploring a material, children plan and begin to use the material as part of their play (children roll and squish playdough, then make pretend pancakes with it).
Observe images or activities together with parents
It鈥檚 helpful for families to understand how specific, common play scenarios support learning. For example, at a parent night, show photographs or a video clip of children playing. Observe with parents and analyze the children pretending to be firefighters. One child rings a bell as two others put on firefighter hats and coats. They rush over to the block center carrying a plastic hose and put out the fire. One firefighter helps take some children to safety.
Help parents examine听learning:
- Children use听vocabulary听to play out the firefighting scene (fire alarm, helmet, rescue).
- Community helpers (including firefighters) is a typical听social studies听topic in the early years.
Help parents examine听development:
- Children act out emotions such as excitement or fear. (social and emotional)
- Children use their small motor skills to button or zip firefighter clothing. (physical)
What children learn through play in different centers
Blocks
Children have hands-on mathematics experiences. They learn to count, compare, add, subtract, balance, and use geometry language (cube, cylinder). They develop cognitive skills (determining which blocks to stack and how high they can go), small motor skills (stacking blocks), language skills (talking about building structures with playmates), and social skills (taking turns).
Dramatic play
Children engage in a variety of social studies topics, such as neighborhoods, family, self, and community. They learn new vocabulary and may write signs or menus. They develop language skills (speaking clearly to be understood), social skills (negotiating for roles to play such as teacher, child, or parent), and motor skills (writing with a pencil or marker).
Water table play
Children learn science concepts like physics (flow and motion of water). They develop cognitive skills (predicting how much water will fill a container), small motor skills (pouring water through a funnel), and social skills (cooperating with other children to fill all the containers).
Suggest key play materials for home
Help families understand how a few important materials can offer opportunities for play. Families can use everyday items for play at home, or they can buy similar materials.
- Blocks:听Cardboard boxes can be used as blocks, unit blocks, tabletop blocks, or hollow blocks.
- Dramatic play furniture and props:听Large cardboard boxes (microwave size or bigger) can be made into a pretend stove, a cradle, or basic child-sized kitchen furniture (sink, table, refrigerator). Dolls, wooden spoons, and storage containers can be used as additional props.
- Water table props:听Small cups, water wheels, pots and pans, measuring cups and spoons, funnels, and balls can be used in the bathtub.
- Art supplies:听Watercolor paints, washable tempera paints, paper, crayons, markers, paintbrushes, toothbrushes, potato mashers, clay, and playdough can all be used to make art.
Tips for Helping Families Understand the Value of Play
Here are nine suggestions for communicating the importance of play to families. You鈥檒l find explanations and examples of these ideas in the article.
听
- Use words that will help parents understand play, learning, and development.
- Describe different types of play to expand families鈥� understanding of what play is.
- Offer opportunities to analyze the connections between play, learning, and development.
- Provide time for parents to observe play, engage in play, and reflect on learning and development.
- Post images of children playing and learning鈥攂oth indoors and out. Label them with information about what the children are learning.
- Use newsletters or blogs to reinforce the connections between center activities and learning.
- Become more comfortable talking about play and learning. Practice with a colleague.
- Explain key play materials in your preschool setting and how to use them at home.
- Provide books, articles, and other resources during enrollment, then share more at parent meetings and home visits.
STANDARDS 2: CURRICULUM
2A:听Essential Characteristics
Photograph: Courtesy of听Lakshini Wijeweera