27/02/2023
How do children actually learn through play by Block Table?
We’ve all heard that children learn through play. It sounds straightforward enough that most of us never really consider what it actually means for a child to learn through play.
Play is spontaneous, flexible, and responsive and is different for each child and each age group. Simply put, play is a child engaging in an activity whilst having fun. They are motivated and able to concentrate longer than they would on other tasks, and they are typically the driving force. Children won’t play if they’re not interested.
You’ll notice that children undergo phases in their play. These stages usually correspond with age and happen in the same order. Different theorists have different names for the stages of play, but the order comes down to:
1. Sensory and exploratory play: toddlers touch, mouth, and throw objects. They engage in trial and error, and repetition of similar actions.
2. Constructive and imaginative play: young children create and build, with art, toys, or natural materials. They begin to construct imagined worlds, which they can also share with others, for dolls and figurines.
3. Dramatic play: children embody characters and roles, socially or by themselves. Dress-ups and props facilitate this play but are not essential.
4. Structured play with rules: children learn an instrument, or how to play complex strategy games like Chess, or physical sports like basketball.
Block Table & Blocks
Despite the different types of play, children of varied age groups can engage with the same toys and materials and get meaningful play from them. A toddler and a preschooler can play with the same blocks, but the learning that is taking place looks different and has a different purpose. A toddler will pick up a block and maybe put it in their mouth, bang it on the floor, or attempt to connect it with another block. Toddlers are often playing to familiarise themselves with new objects and to see how those objects interact with each other, whilst also developing their motor control, and strength.
construction set
If you look at a four-year-old with the same blocks you will likely see them plan a building, and then start working on that building. Let’s say it’s a tower. They will aim to build a tower as tall as they can, and when it falls over they will start again, using the knowledge they have gained from the first attempt to plan for the next. They are repeating and problem-solving, two key learning styles, while having fun playing with blocks.
Fundamentally, play appeals to children’s innate sense of curiosity – and a lot of skills that come about from this are foundational cognitive skills. Foundational skills such as problem-solving, experimenting and hypothesizing, researching, and inquiry. Not only this, but while children are developing these skills they’re also building creativity, persistence, and a sense of capability. This is all supported by the fact that play takes away the pressure that children can often feel when put on the spot - in play, children will take risks and attempt actions that they wouldn’t otherwise.
This isn’t all to say that play is the only way that children learn. Think of play as a platform that allows children to work through their ideas, skills, and conceptual understanding based on their experiences and knowledge base. Learning to write the letters of their name is not play in and of itself, but when they have drawn an artwork and need to label it, it becomes part of their play. Not only that, but the hand strength, coordination, and understanding that images symbolize meaning are the underpinning tenets of literacy, the category under which name writing falls.
We hope to choose the right toy for your kid’s changing age helps in developing it correctly. always click on our official website (umisun.com) and keep playing and having fun.
