What are people’s views on the importance of play in developing children’s independent learning?
When people are asked about the importance of play in the early years, there are always many views expressed, some saying that this is crucial and others saying that children should be exposed to a more formal way of teaching and learning. Many employees working in childcare would argue that when children are fully immersed in play they are at the heart of learning.
In order for children to learn and develop, this is best done through play. It is early practitioners responsibility to use their skills and knowledge to provide a play-based learning environment, building on and incorporating children’s interests. By providing children with a range of play-based opportunities this can help develop children’s independent learning. As children can make choices as to what they want to play with, and practitioners can model and scaffold learning.
When following a play-based approach the learning environment can often look very busy and hectic, however if looking very closely the array of learning opportunities can be easily identified. When playing children are often fully immersed in their play and will spend a considerable of time engrossed in their learning. If practitioners begin to tidy away some of the resources this can often hinder children’s learning; practitioners time should be spent on observing the play and looking at ways to move the learning on.
As the importance of play should not be underestimated, it is early years practitioners responsibility to ensure play is at the heart of teaching and learning in order to develop children’s independent learning.