Kids & Company Blog

The Benefits of Play Based Learning

As learning styles and teaching techniques are vast, many parents ask about the learning opportunities within child care. Though there are numerous curriculum options, it is evident that children learn best by playing with each other, this is called Play Based Learning.
The example that I often find myself using is a scenario where two toddlers are fighting over a truck. Typically, if a parent or nanny observed this fight, their instinct would be to approach the children, take the truck away and hand it to the child who had the truck first, stating “she had it first!”. An ECE teacher or their assistant would go over to the crying child and say “use your words and tell your friends ‘no’, please don’t take my truck”. This helps develop healthy self esteem as the child feels empowered to deal with their own social issues.

I have been following the stories in the Globe and Mail this month about All-day Kindergarten and the benefits of play based learning. A key message that radiates from these articles is that social skills such as self regulation (how to get along with your friends) leads not only to good self esteem, but motivated learners.

Evidently play based learning is becoming more prominent in the education world, and the children can only benefit from this. What experiences have you had with you child and their learning?