Play-based learning can set a child up for success at school and beyond. According to Frost (1992), play is the chief vehicle for the development of imagination, intelligence, language, social skills and thinking skills. From my own experience, I strongly believe that play affects and contributes to critical thinking. This is because when the child is playing, the child will be better at making reflection, solving problems, and making wise decisions. Besides that, play-based learning allows children to explore, experiment, discover, and solve problems in imaginative and playful ways. Other than that, play-based increases the children’s motivation and curiosity to learn.  They will get the opportunity to build new knowledge by expanding and reconstructing their prior knowledge. Play-based is divided into two; children learn while playing independently and involves the teacher’s guidance and involvement. A teacher’s role in this approach is to encourage children’s learning and inquiry by asking questions that will lead the children to think at a higher level. By doing this, the children will take charge of their own learning and keep them engaged throughout the lesson. The children will develop their social, emotional and language competencies by learning while playing with peers. This is because during play with peers the children will lead and follow rules, solve conflicts, role play and cooperate with peers. 

Most importantly, play based is essential for vocabulary acquisition and development. As a child engages with learning while playing, the child will talk to himself/herself, talk to peers, listen to instructions, repeat the words, and name the objects. In this way, a child can encounter new vocabulary and will be more confident in applying the vocabulary in daily conversation. Teachers play an important role in developing children’s vocabulary knowledge through a play-based approach. Teachers must observe, listen, and respond to what the children are saying. Then, the teacher should support and guide the children’s vocabulary development by participating in their play. Besides that, the teacher must use the children’s prior knowledge to extend their vocabulary. For example, if the child says, “this is butterfly”, the teacher should extend the sentence by saying, “this butterfly is colourful and beautiful”. This way will introduce the children to two new non-familiar words for them; colourful and beautiful. Even after the teacher withdraws from the play, the children will be using these words with their peers.

Based on Vygotsky’s theory, play promotes cognitive, social and emotional development in every child. Vygotsky (1978) sees play as a transitional stage, where the development of imagination occurs. He also believes that play contributes to the development of higher mental functions by promoting internal behaviour. Vygotsky’s finding about Zon of proximal development ( ZPD) explains that a child will perform better if guided by adults or a more knowledgeable person. This helps the changes of cognitive in the children. In the interdependence of social activity, children can acquire higher-order thinking (Hausfather, 1996, para. 17). Vygotsky encouraged the development of higher thinking and critical thinking in education. He believed that if different situations were designed so that the children ulitize their critical thinking skills and gain new knowledge.

For experimental activities such as ice cube melting experiments; The teachers should encourage the children to think by asking why the ice cubes are melting after taking out from the fridge? How to make the ice cubes melt faster? The children will improve their thinking level by answering open-ended questions. Other than that, food tasting, memory games and prediction games are other ways to boost their critical thinking. Based on Rogers and Sawyer (1988), until at least the age of nine children’s cognitive structure functions best in this unified mode. Therefore, we should include playing in the early years.

In a nutshell, learning will be more fun, exciting and effective if there is play. Play guide the children to grab information, sharpen their senses, and classify their environment all while using these concrete hands-on manipulatives. Self-directed learning allows the children to self-correct while working with the material and doing prepared activities. This encourages the child to process the information for themselves and find the solution to the problem which will lead to improved problem-solving skills.

References

Maheshwari, M. (2017). Importance of play school in child development. International Journal of Scientific Research and Management. https://doi.org/10.18535/ijsrm/v5i6.10

Kingdon, Z. (2020). Introduction. A Vygotskian Analysis of Children’s Play Behaviours, 1-5. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429027369-1

Laura E. Berk. (2018, February). The role of make-believe play in development of self-regulation. Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development. https://www.child-encyclopedia.com/play-based-learning/according-experts/role-make-believe-play-development-self-regulation

Fleer, M. (2020). Digital peer play: Meta-imaginary play embedded in early childhood play-based settings. International Perspectives on Early Childhood Education and Development, 45-59. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42331-5_4

Written by Sindhu Selvanathan