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 You: What did you do today? Your child: Play.
You: That’s it? Your Child: Yes.
Sound familiar? Did you ever wonder if all your kid does all day at BFS is play? In fact, yes, that is a big part of their day, and often the most compelling part to them. All skills, physical, cognitive, language and social, are developed and strengthened when young children interact with materials, peers, and the environment through self-directed exploration.
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 When you look in our classrooms, and see children building with blocks and Legos, they are developing math and spatial concepts. When a child dresses up in the pretend area, they are utilizing verbal skills and learning to negotiate with peers. A child squishing play dough and flubber is establishing the fine motor control and finger/hand strength necessary for writing. A child climbing the monkey bars in the playground is strengthening gross motor skills. There is no true distinction for the young child between play and learning.
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“You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.”
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 Magna Tiles are one of the most popular open-ended materials in our classroom chosen for free-play time. There are often not enough squares to go around to all children using them, as they are crucial for particular structures. Necessity is the mother of invention, and as such, there is a constant rediscovery by children in our classrooms that 2 certain sized triangles of the tiles, fit together to make a square. This discovery always brings delight and quite a feeling of accomplishment.
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 Every year, our teachers refrain from “teaching” the children this fact, instead allowing it to unfold through playful exploration. In her influential 2006 book, “The Way the Brain Learns Best," Dr. Elaine Johnson notes that when children feel this delight and sense of success, their brain cells establish permanent connections between the activity and the positive feelings. When their learning activities result in negative feedback, such as boredom or frustration, their brain cells establish permanent negative associations. We want our children to love learning, and therefore create classroom environments that allow them to have plenty of self-directed experiences, as true play demands.
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 Parents, caregivers and educators may embrace the early childhood tenet that “play is the work of the child” when we can make a clear connection to academic learning. We are comfortable with forms of play where it is clear that children are learning new concepts, consolidating existing learning, or practicing a skill. These are indeed very important forms of play; but, play has many different motivations and manifestations. Play is also a way of building or strengthening a relationship with another child; or, it may simply be for outright fun and enjoyment! Sometimes when children submerge themselves into silliness and laughter, being utterly goofy, adults are overwhelmed. Yet we know that multiple studies show that laughter is a powerful antidote to stress, pain, and conflict. These easy moments of pure joy attained by children playing together are setting the stage for positive, happy interactions with peers at all stages of life.
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Play is a useful tool that gives young children the opportunity to work through what they see and hear, yet not fully understand.
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 Play can also serve the very important purpose of helping children make sense of the, often times, confusing world around them. Young children live in the same world we live in, seeing and hearing all forms of media representations. They pick up on the dynamics of our adult relationships without having the stock of experience and nuanced understanding that come from that. Play is a useful tool that gives young children the opportunity to work through what they see and hear, yet not fully understand. It allows them to explore their own interpretations of situations, events, experiences, and expectations. Themes and ideas such as pretend weapon play, bad guys versus bad guys, mean mommies/daddies, etc., often emerge. While we may have the instinct to redirect this play, it might actually prevent a child from understanding, or even releasing, what they have seen, heard and experienced.
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 When we refrain from automatically redirecting or labeling certain play as bad or inappropriate, and instead listen and observe, asking non-judgmental questions, we give ourselves, as caregivers and teachers, the opportunity to understand our children and their thoughts; often in a way that won’t be so easily accessible to us when our children ages and this shifts to other more concrete forms of play..
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Let’s celebrate where are 2 to 5 year olds are right now. Let’s embrace their amazing capacity for joy and experiential learning, and lets set the stage for play in all of its forms and manifestations.
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Links to Share
Like BFS, these organizations and blogs treasure this amazing time of life and growth, and seek to safeguard it and defend it from the many encroachments into their freedom to play.
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