Play Like a Champion

The power of play is underestimated and overlooked far too often in education and even in the home. During early childhood years, nothing is more important. Play is an organic way for children to work through real-life concepts and social norms. It is also used to practice academic content. When given the proper support, a child will strengthen their skills in every single developmental domain during play. This post will serve as a guideline for parents of pre-school age children (birth – 5 years) on how to use play to support healthy development in their little one.

**Disclaimer** If you are a working parent, following the guidelines outlined in this post will be taxing because it is full-time job. Luckily, you have options. Early childhood educators are trained to meet the academic, social/emotional, physical, and language needs of your little one. But, not all childcare facilities are made equal. Find a quality center and be sure to spend quality time with your child on your time off.

However, if you are a homemaker, stay-at-home parent, or whichever title you prefer, this blog is perfect for you! Understand that Rome was not built in a day and your work with your child will not necessarily see instant results. You will have to make adjustments as you learn more about your child’s interests and resources that are available to you. Be patient and take pride in the progress your little one makes. In the classroom, teachers use pre- and post- assessments to measure growth. In an informal setting like the home, I suggest recording your child at play every four to six weeks. This will allow you to see your child’s growth and make adjustments when needed.

There are seven basic principles to using play as a vehicle for learning:

1) Limit Screen Time

2) Increase Face-to-Face Time

3) Take Interest in Their Interest

4) Determine Your Focus

5) Use Appropriate Materials

6) Know When to Stop

7) Seal the Deal

1) Limit Screen Time

Turn off the television, tablet, phone, and even the radio. The American Academy of Pediatrics found that children with excessive screen time at 2 years old could be expected to have lower developmental outcomes at 3 and 5 years old (e.g. delayed speech, poor fine motor skills, shorter attention span etc.) It is recommended that no more than an hour of the day should consist of screen time for children less than 5 years of age.

Even having music playing in the background while playing is not recommended. Of course music is a great tool for learning language and concepts, but when used in isolation, without reinforcers like a teacher, books, or real-life experiences, it has a limited impact. In 2016, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison found that background noise may hinder toddlers’ ability to learn new words. On our fifth principle, Use Appropriate Materials, we will discuss how music can be used constructively during play.

2) Increase Face-to-Face time

This point cannot be overstated. Quality interaction with another person gives play sustenance. Ideally, children have an array of play partners with varying abilities. A younger peer teaches children important social skills like empathy and instills confidence in the older child as they demonstrate their competence. Likewise, when children have older peers advance skills are modeled for them.

Being an adult, you are one of the most mature playmates you child will ever experience. By participating in play with your child, you are modeling appropriate sentence structure, muscle usage, social responses, and building vocabulary. Plus, I have found that children are always most excited and eager to play when their caregiver joins in the fun.

3) Take Interest in Their Interests

According to the Summit Medical Group, a normal attention span is 3 to 5 minutes per year of a child’s age. However, in my experience, when a child is not interested in the topic or content, the surrounding play will not hold their attention for this suggested time. Exposure is the name of the game when it comes to determining your little one’s interests. Every child is different and, as such, we cannot assume that they will like animals or the circus, dolls or superheroes, swimming or coloring, the playground or the library. However, the child should experience all of these things, and much more. Once you have identified 3-5 of your little one’s interests, you are ready to engage in quality play.

4) Determine Your Focus

Overall, there are two major academic content areas and five overall developmental domains. While there are some activities like project-based learning that address all these areas at once, most play will only hit a handful at a time. When you pre-determine your learning objective, it gives your play purpose and focus.

Content Areas

-Reading: In the early years, reading is developed in the form of pre-literacy skills, which refers to learning that happens prior to actually reading words. You can work on understanding how a book works (e.g. finding the cover, turning the pages, retelling the story, etc.). You can also work on identifying and writing letters, letter sounds, blending sounds, and sight words. Some activities that build pre-literacy skills are hunting for letters in old magazines or making a grocery list.

-Math: Like with reading, pre-numeracy is the precursor of mathematics. Pre-numeracy skills include counting, subitizing, estimating, patterns, spatial reasoning, and measuring with an unconventional unit of measure like paper clips. Some activities that build mathematical skills are stacking blocks, making jewelry, or playing jump rope.

Developmental Domains

-Cognitive: This domain is often what we thing of when we evaluate how children perform in school. The skills in this domain include recall, planning, and problem solving. Activities that can help build this domain are puzzles, board and card games.

-Language: Language refers to how we use and understand verbal and written communication. In my opinion, this domain is the only one that you cannot escape and grows constantly. However, there are certain activities that lend themselves to more robust language skills like reading a book and discussing its contents or singing nursery rhymes.

-Motor Skills: Motor skills are skills performed by the body’s gross motor (large) and fine motor (small) muscles. Personally, I value this domain a great deal and feel as if the fine motor muscles, in particular, are often overlooked in formal and informal learning settings. However, in my professional teaching experience, poorly developed fine motor muscles lead to poor penmanship and work ethic with sloppy, rushed work. Some activities that build motor skills are hanging on the monkey bars, playing a sport, or creating an obstacle course.