"Play
is the most useful tool for preparing children for the future and its tasks."
-Bruno
Bettelheim, The Importance of Play
While
children are actively engaged in play they are learning. They are gaining knowledge through their own
experience and discovery. There are so
many skills to be learned through hands-on exploration. Articulating this to the parents is so
important. I hope we come to a point
where we do not have to justify play.
Playing is children's "hands on" experience. Through play, they are putting their practices of what is being taught into action. Playing is more than having fun.Children master how to share, how to follow the rules; their social skills are developed, and they learn how to physically get along with others. Is there another forum, other than play, that these skills can be developed?
ReplyDeletePlay is one of a childs most important part of their day. Children learn by doing, by hands on experience. They learn through dramatic play, or by running, manipulatives, art, all these experiences are crucial to their development. I completely agree with this quote, thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteLisa, I love this quote! I completely agree with your statment of gaining knowledge through play. In the preschool I previously worked at we used a curriculum called Links to Learning. Its mission was to foster children’s growth and development through play. A brief example would be through our dramatic play area. We would transform it every 2 weeks to fit the theme of those weeks. We had themes such as a dentist office, veterinary office, a day at the beach, a grocery store, a hospital, etc. The children would experience and learn so much with just one theme.
ReplyDelete