Play-Based Learning

In a play-based preschool: The teacher sets the stage with engaging materials and supplies for fun activities. They make very conscious choices about what activities to offer so there are options that help children grow in all areas of development and build all types of intelligence. There are fresh new activities each day, but there is also a lot of consistency where some of the same materials may be available for many weeks straight. This respects what we know about brain development – children need a combination of novelty (new experiences) and repetition (the chance to do things again and again to master them) in order to learn. 

During free choice time, the children explore through play: observing, experiencing, wondering and discovering. The teacher is nearby to observe, ask questions, make suggestions, or play along. But each child decides which activities to do, which toys to play with, what to do with them, and for how long. Play is spontaneous, fun and creative, and the focus in on process, not product. Play is done for its own sake, not to accomplish a task. It involves lots of exploring of possibilities, experiments, trial and error, and repetition which reinforces learning. It builds fluid intelligence and flexible thinking.

Children move freely between stations. Some children will spend an entire class at one station if it’s really captured their attention. Some will flit between all the stations, trying everything out. A child might be playing alone for a long time, or they might be in the midst of group play. That freedom to move helps them self-regulate based on their mood and their energy level, lets them opt in or out of social play, lets them focus on what they most want/need to learn and allows for lots of practice with decision-making. 

Typical activity centers include:

• blocks and other building toys

• sensory bins, water tables and light tables to explore with all of their senses

• art process activities like play-dough and painting at the easel

• craft projects where children practice following directions to create a specific product

• book corner, writing center, puzzles, and board games to learn pre-academic skills

• doll houses, dress-up clothes, and toy kitchens to tell stories and role play things they see in daily life and things they can only imagine

• large motor activities like climbers, tumbling mats and riding trikes to build physical strength and skills

• a snack station where they learn to prepare their own food and clean up after themselves

• a nature and science station for learning about the world around them

See examples of stations and learn what children learn at each.

You might envision “teaching” as a teacher sitting at the front of a classroom, teaching one skill to everyone at once. There is absolutely a time and place for this sort of direct instruction – it’s the best way to teach some specific skills or facts. However, during this time, as the teacher is active, the children are often passive. Some may be very engaged in the learning, some may be distracted. Some may have already mastered the material that is being taught, and some may not yet be ready for it.

During free choice time in a play-based school, the teacher’s role is very different and much more individualized to the learner. As the children play, the teacher moves around the room, facilitating play and extending learning. There might be two children working on cutting paper for a craft – one has mastered scissors, the other has not, so the teacher offers guidance to the child who needs it. If a child is building with blocks, the teacher might ask open-ended questions to extend the child’s learning, or scaffold learning by making a few suggestions about how to build a stronger foundation for their block tower. If children are engaged in pretend play in the “kitchen”, the teacher might pretend to be a customer at a restaurant and place an order, and encourage the children to write it down and to count the pretend money. If the children are trying to build something, they'll often hit challenges that block their progress. The teacher can work with them to build their problem-solving skills or provide additional tools or supplies that help them accomplish their self-determined goals. Sometimes the teacher just follows along with child-led play, which is a great way to practice communication skills. Sometimes the teacher will encourage the child to move on and try new activities if they feel like one has been mastered.

In our co-op, the support of the parents working in the classroom helps free up our teachers to do lots of individualized learning support with all of the children in order to stretch all the learning experiences to their full potential.

See lots of photos from our classroom and play-based learning in action in our gallery and on our Facebook page.