the Power of Play
the primary way young children naturally explore and understand the world around them.
What is Play
Play-based learning fosters these skills by encouraging children to negotiate, collaborate, and resolve conflicts.
What are social skills?
Rather than directing children’s play, educators and parents should take on this role to support curiosity and exploration.
What is a facilitator?
According to Teacher Tom, play is not just for children but serves as this in all human relationships.
What is a means of connection?
Neuroscientific research shows that play helps build these critical connections in the brain, strengthening learning and memory.
What are neural pathways?
In his blog post, Teacher Tom describes play as this, emphasizing its role in developing social and cognitive skills.
What is the “only way to learn about each other”?
In the video, Fred Rogers highlights the importance of this emotion in a child's learning, showing how they make sense of the world through it.
What is curiosity?
According to the video, this emotion is crucial for children to feel safe and secure enough to engage in deep learning through play.
What is love?
Fred Rogers’ video suggests that when children feel understood and supported, they are more likely to develop this essential quality for lifelong learning.
What is confidence?
Engaging in imaginative play helps children develop this cognitive skill, allowing them to plan, focus, and control impulses.
What is executive function?
According to Fred Rogers in the video, this is not a break from learning but rather the foundation of children’s understanding.
What is Play?
Teacher Tom’s blog discusses how children use this activity to test limits, solve problems, and explore relationships.
What is free play?
Teacher Tom emphasizes that adults should avoid interfering in children's play unless absolutely necessary, allowing them to learn this valuable skill.
What is problem-solving?
Gabrielli’s blog post describes how storytelling and shared experiences weave together to form this in a community.
This stress hormone, which can interfere with learning, is shown to decrease when children engage in joyful, self-directed play.
What is cortisol?
This type of learning, emphasized in the blog posts and video, is unstructured and driven by the child’s curiosity.
What is play-based learning?
Through play, children naturally develop an understanding of abstract concepts like fairness, leadership, and these guiding principles of behavior.
What are ethics and morality?
Gabrielli’s reflection on weaving and unraveling suggests that adults should embrace this mindset, understanding that learning is an ongoing, non-linear process.
What is flexibility?
By engaging in imaginative play, children experiment with different perspectives and develop this important social skill.
What is empathy?
Studies suggest that play-based learning enhances this type of intelligence, which includes problem-solving, adaptability, and creativity.
What is fluid intelligence?
Julie Gabrielli’s blog post suggests that this metaphor, common in many traditions, describes how knowledge and community are built and unbuilt over time.
What is weaving and unraveling?
Gabrielli’s post connects play and creativity to the process of rebuilding after this type of event, both personally and collectively.
What is a crisis?
In play-based learning, adults should provide an environment that encourages this kind of thinking, allowing children to explore multiple solutions.
What is creativity?
In all three sources, play is described as essential not just for education but for this broader aspect of human life.
What is personal growth?
The process of learning through play supports the brain’s ability to do this, meaning it can adapt and reorganize based on experiences.
What is neuroplasticity?