What is Play-Based Learning at County School?

"There must be provision for the child to have contact with nature; to understand and appreciate the order, the harmony and the beauty in nature." -Maria Montessori

Place-based Learning at The County School

Veteran Early Childhood Teacher Karen Chiaia spent the 2023-24 academic year participating in the Madison Kindergarten Symposium. The textbook, Purposeful Play: A Teachers Guide to Ignite Deep & Joyful Learning Across the Day by Allison Porcelli, Cheryl Tyler, and Kristine Mraz guided their conversations throughout the year. The group met monthly, discussing the book and sharing their pedagogical approaches to learning. They talked about how it is important for children to take risks, feel safe, and learn through play. Of note, they discussed how, in general, education’s approach to play has changed in that it is not regarded as important as it was when these teachers were children. Now play is scheduled. Kids are programmed. The teachers felt it was their responsibility to educate not just their students, but the parents as well, to explain to them that there is intention behind the play. Through play, children learn how to identify patterns, do math, communicate, articulate what they are doing.

What is Play-Based Learning?

Play-based learning is an educational approach that incorporates play as a key part of the learning process. play-based learning is based on the idea that children learn best when they are actively engaged and exploring in a heads-on enjoyable and meaningful way.

Knowing that play builds imagination and creativity, fosters cognitive growth, delivers emotional and behavioral benefits, improves literacy, encourages independence, and promotes physical fitness, Karen intentionally sets up the play areas of their classrooms (stations of blocks, housekeeping, sensory table, and music). They recognize that play is essential for children's development.

Benefits of Play Based Learning

It helps them learn about themselves and the world around them. Through the three stages of play (solitary, parallel, and cooperative), children engage in activities that enhance:

problem-solving,
language development,
creativity,
collaboration, and
mental flexibility.

These skills contributing significantly to their cognitive development. Even more, play also teaches children to plan, organize, regulate emotions, and get along with others. By experiencing new activities and practicing existing skills, play helps strengthen brain connections, fostering overall growth and development.

Play Based Learning Activities

Play-based learning includes self-selected, unstructured, fun and process activities. Types of these play-based learning include the following:

Sensory Play These activities that involve touch, smell, taste, sight and hearing. This type of play helps with sensory exploration, developing self-confidence, learning consequences of actions as well as hand-eye coordination and physical strength using materials such as sand, aqua beads, water, and play dough.
Role-Playing and Dress-Up Such play helps to give children a sense of the adult world as well as to and boost social interaction. Dress-Up also helps to teach children self-sustainability of dressing themselves.
Drawing and Art Activities This is a great way to encourage sensory exploration, and pre-writing skills as well as developing self-expression. Children might be asked to draw pictures with different mediums, paint objects or “write” letters.
Cognitive Play Helps with dexterity, hand-eye coordination, logical reasoning, ordering, and shape recognition. They might use blocks, sorting puzzles, and shape sorters.
Nature Play Teaches consequences of activities, motor skills as well as risk-taking. Children are running, jumping, climbing, swinging, and exploring outside.

Play-Based Learning at County School Happens Outside

This is where the ladybugs come in. Karen pairs place-based learning in the Country School’s Children’s Garden with purposeful play to craft a year-long magical educational experience for their students, an adventure filled with discovery and exploration. Their unit began in the fall, with students observing nature's transition, marveling at the changing leaves and preparing the garden beds for winter. Even in winter, there was much to discover. The students tiptoed on the garden's snowy blanket, comparing the sleeping plants to their lively summer selves, learning to appreciate the beauty of every season. As spring arrived, they observed the miracle of new life: shoots peeking through the soil, bugs scurrying, and a colorful landscape emerging. Each visit to the Children’s Garden was filled with learning opportunities, from understanding seasonal changes to observing the wonders of nature.

For Karen Chiaia, exploring the Children’s Garden with her PreK students became a captivating journey of discovery. Learning took place outside their classroom walls, on outdoor adventures. As they navigated the garden, students encountered a vibrant ecosystem teeming with life and natural wonders. They observed bees diligently pollinating flowers, ladybugs feasting on aphids, butterflies flitting among plants, and ants bustling along their pathways. They witnessed the life cycle of plants firsthand, from seeds germinating into seedlings to flowers blooming and attracting pollinators. These hands-on learning experiences not only deepened their understanding of the environment but also instilled a profound sense of curiosity and appreciation for the natural world. The students were filled with questions.

Example of Play Based Learning in the Classroom

Back in the classroom, the PreKers immersed themselves in discussions inspired by their observations. Working together, they created charts and lists to compare the garden's seasonal transformations. These eager students wanted to contribute to the garden's growth, so they studied the magic of life contained within a tiny seed. Their curiosity and excitement fueled their learning. They selected bean seeds to nurture and tend and created the perfect environment for their seeds to flourish. Soon they began to understand the balance required to support life's earliest stages. Learning was sneaking up on these young learners through their inquisitiveness and enthusiasm.

Their garden bloomed before their eyes, and so did the students’ understanding of its vibrant ecosystem. They spotted worms, bugs, and insects, learning about their roles in the garden's delicate balance. Determined to protect their bean plants, they discovered the ladybug's appetite for aphids, making the bug the students’ answer to pest control. They began to raise ladybugs in their classroom. Ladybugs serve as invaluable allies in the garden, acting as natural partners that contribute to its health and vitality. These creatures, hailed as symbols of luck by many, play a pivotal role in maintaining a flourishing garden ecosystem.

While observing the life cycle of their red-spotted friends, the PreK students engaged in creative art activities, read books, held discussions, and conducted research. They added painted ladybug rocks, a custom sign, and stepping stones to their PreK garden plot. For the culminating activity of their play-based Learning journey, on the last day of school they released their ladybugs into the garden, where they would play an important role in its continued growth and health.

Why Your Students Should Participate in Play-Based Learning

Through this project, PreK students engaged in a vibrant learning journey that immersed them in their local environment. By exploring the garden's seasonal changes, planting seeds, and observing wildlife, young learners develop a deep connection to nature. Hands-on activities, like caring for plants and discovering insects, spark their curiosity and foster a sense of responsibility for the environment. Through integrating place-based learning and purposeful play, PreKers gain valuable skills in critical thinking and problem-solving, all while cultivating a love for the natural world.

The children’s excitement helped make this learning successful and memorable. They were engaged throughout the unit, watching the stages of the ladybugs, making connections from their world to the unit, sharing stories with their parents about the days’ activities, and partnering with parents who would send in books and even allow their children to come to school dressed. The PreK students were insatiable with their questions as they connected place-based and playful learning to real life.

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