Learning Through Play

To an adult play may seem like a lot of nonsense and children making a mess; to a child play is everything.  Play is the basis on which children begin to build their knowledge and understand how the world around them works.  So why are schools taking away playtime in favor of more academic activities like math and writing worksheets?  Worksheets are not going to teach children how to function in the world.  There have been so many studies about whether having playtime benefits children or not.  Almost every study has had the same results, that children learn best through play and by doing. 

           In May there was an article printed in the New York Times called "Let The Kids Learn Through Play,"  which focused on how children are effected by both learning through teacher directed practices and through play.  In most cases children who are just sitting at a table writing their letters over and over again are not getting as much out of their education as the students who are playing.  Sure after a while the children who are copying their letters will have them memorized but the way they learned was not an authentic way of learning to a child.  However if children use different materials, like playdough, to make letters they have an easier time learning the alphabet.  Children will incorporate whatever they are learning into their games, reinforcing the knowledge that they have recently learned.

          Children become accustomed to the world by bringing current events into their games.  While playing children are getting the opportunity to experiment with behaviors and social norms that are used in the world around them.  Children will often incorporate anything they hear on the news or what their parents are talking about into their games as well.  The little ones do this to comprehend how the world works and the consequences of different actions.  It is so important to allow children time to play in the classroom because it allows children to build upon their knowledge in a way that makes sense to the individual child.