The Value Of Play

Children love to play. Play is often seen as the work of childhood or our brain’s favourite way of learning.

As educators and parents, it’s important to understand the value of play in relation to children’s development and learning. Understanding that play is not simply leisure, fun or amusement separate from learning or a distraction from learning. Play is so much more and essentially the building blocks for lifelong learning.

Play helps children explore their world, learn about their world and develop their physical, social, cognitive, language and emotional abilities and skills.

Play involving physical movements supports children develop gross motor skills such as crawling, walking, running, climbing, jumping and dancing. Children practice fine motor skills when using their hands to manipulate objects. It’s these fine motor skills that will support children’s writing abilities when at school. Play helps children develop fundamental movement skills that strengthen bones and muscles, support balance and coordination that ultimately supports healthy lifestyles later in life.

Play can be solitary when children are younger and then as they start to grow, play will become a social experience. When children play with other children they are learning all about the intricacies of social interaction. They will master skills such as sharing, cooperating, negotiating, turn-taking and teamwork.  They will learn about how to develop and maintain friendships, how to participate in group games and follow rules, how to resolve conflicts with peers and how to be simply be themselves in relation to others. All the skills we know are necessary as adults functioning within jobs, professions and workplaces.

Play promotes cognitive skills as children are often decision makers within their play. Children have endless opportunities to develop their language and communication (both verbal and non-verbal) as they interact with others.  Play supports critical thinking, memory recall, attention to detail and concentration. Through play children have the creativity and flexibility to learn about letters, numbers, shapes, colours and other literacy and mathematical concepts, instead of traditional rote learning which is focused on memory and repetition.

The emotional benefits of play are infinite. Play provides opportunities for enjoyment in life. With ongoing research on mental health and wellbeing, its recognised now more than ever the importance of play and leisure and how this contributes to feelings of happiness. Through play children can explore and understand their own feelings and develop empathy for those around them. Play supports children to develop their own identities, their self-esteem and self-worth. As they master new skills, children will learn to overcome challenges, face their fears and develop their confidence.

Children have a right to play. Through play, children will learn and develop holistically and authentically growing and developing into capable and knowledgeable individuals mastering skills and abilities that will benefit them throughout life.

Where Curiosity meets Learning, our learning hubs at Sage early learning centre, create inviting play spaces for children throughout our environment, encouraging exploration and enrichment across all developmental domains.

At Sage Early Learning Centre, our childcare educators encourage Play through incursions and excursions.