A Mandate for Playful Learning in Preschool

Should We Let them Play? Three Key Benefits of Play to Improve Early Childhood Programs

“…Play is a foundation for the development of oral language skills that children need in order to later extend to actual reading skills (Hirsh-Pasek et al, 2009). Language and literacy are the main focus in young children"s experiences (Bridges et al, 2012).…”

Was the Professional Development I Conducted in South Africa Evident in Teachers’ Practices Many Years Later?

“…The benefits of play and creative programs for young children are well supported by research (Hirsh-Pasek, Golinkoff, Berk, & Singer, 2009). One example was provided in a blog I wrote recently about the importance of play and music programs (see Bugos & DeMarie, 2017) for children's development of inhibition (sometimes labeled impulse control) for the American Psychological Association.…”

Pretend Play as a Context for Learning New Information

“…Following this Vygotskian view, some researchers, educators, and policy makers have campaigned for an increase in the amount of preschool time spent on play in general (Ginsburg et al, 2007;Hirsh-Pasek, Golinkoff, Berk, & Singer, 2008;Zigler & Bishop-Josef, 2004), and pretend play more specifically (Bodrova, 2008;Diamond, Barnett, Thomas, & Munro, 2007;Kaufman, Singer, & Singer, 2012). Those who campaign for more play in early education argue that it benefits the development of a variety of cognitive and socio-emotional skills, and that it is a more developmentally appropriate approach to preschool education than direct instruction.…”

“…Proponents of the play-based approach to early education believe that establishing good reasoning, self-regulation and social skills early on is crucial to later academic achievement (Bodrova, 2008;Hirsh-Pasek et al, 2008;Kaufman et al, 2012), but time spent on these skills could take time away from academic subjects, such as math and reading. However, a middle ground may exist if pretend play can benefit the learning of academic material.…”