Play Is Our Brains Favourite Way Of Learning
Fenwood House understands the value and importance of play in the first years of childhood development should never be underestimated, not only does play allow children to enjoy themselves and have fun, but it also allows them to grow and develop without ever even realising it. The importance of Play is formally recognised in the EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage Framework), play is highlighted as one of the characteristics of effective learning and as a vital component in early years development, hence the importance of play.
To further underline why we place such a great emphasis on Play we have listed below just a few of the proven benefits children will experience while enjoying learning through Play at Fenwood House.
Attention Holding
One of the biggest benefits of play in Early Years is that it holds children’s focus. It’s especially important to get children working on their key skills in a way that is easier for them to focus on. At such a young age, children’s attention spans are still developing. So, sometimes it might be hard for them to pay attention and learn the way older children or adults might. Just reading or going through worksheets won’t be enough to engage young children. This is one of the key values of play in Early Years settings.
Memorable Learning
Play is also a memorable activity. Children’s memories are still developing as they grow and learn a massive amount of new information every day. Play in the Early Years Foundation Stage gives children a chance to use all their senses and more of their brain to engage with a new idea. Plus, it gives children a chance to explore brand-new topics and ideas in their own way. The interactive nature of play gives them a deeper understanding of what they are learning. And as more senses are used, their brains are working harder and build more and more pathways. These pathways help to create memories and the more children use them, the stronger those memories are.
Physical Development
Play can support a variety of physical development skills, including both gross motor skills and fine motor skills. Children can enjoy moving, running, or jumping freely in lots of pretend or semi competitive games. They can also enjoy using a range of Fenwood resources, from climbing frames to slides to balance beams. This isn’t just a great exercise that helps them use some of their energy! It’s a great chance to develop their balancing, movement, and hand-eye coordination skills. Physical play also supports fine motor skills as well as gross ones, our wonderful play activities require children to manipulate smaller objects in specific ways, this might be colouring in a picture, dressing a doll in clothes, building with blocks, or even using tools on an activity tray. As children have fun with this, they are developing small muscles in their hands, they will use these for writing throughout their lives, as well as for a hundred more everyday tasks we take for granted.
Social Skills
Play in early years is the perfect time for children to start forming relationships, they get the chance to get to know one another and also learn new social skills. One of the other many benefits of play in early years is that it gives children a chance to spend time together working towards a common goal, they might be trying to tell a story together through role-play, trying to win a game as a team, or squish components together to make a dish in a mud kitchen. They also have an opportunity to practise their communication with each other while working towards their goals. They can also build on key skills like turn-taking and learning to treat others with kindness and respect.
Creativity
Some theories suggest that play helps people of all ages think more creatively, play often involves coming up with your own ideas and solutions when problem-solving. In a play activity like role-playing, children have to think about what their character would do, what others will do and work out how to tell a story together. Children can express their own creativity in art play too, or when using building blocks to create a structure. They have to work towards a goal they themselves can define and have to find ways around any hitches in their plan as they arise. This kind of creative thinking applies to adults as well as children and nurturing it through play in these first crucial years can help children carry thinking into adulthood.
Inclusivity
Play is an inherently inclusive activity, play boosts social skills while also giving children the chance to get involved together, it naturally fosters an attitude of equality and fairness where children are able to enjoy their time spent together whatever their backgrounds are. Every child may not find every activity accessible, but there will be activities that every child can participate in, this in turn will allow children to bond together over their similarities and will make everyone feel included. A large part of the Early Years Foundation Stage is teaching children about diversity and including others, play is a lovely way for them to practise this important value.
Fun
One of the biggest benefits of play in the Early Years is that it gives children the chance to have fun, it’s a chance for children to get their brains and bodies engaged in something they enjoy. Children are natural bags of energy, and play allows them to let off a bit of steam in a way that they enjoy.
Children can explore the activities and subjects that they are really passionate about, and they will get a big boost of endorphins in the process. These brain chemicals are a natural mood boost, helping children feel cheerful and at ease. Having fun with play encourages children’s love of learning and makes Fenwood Nurseries an inviting and positive place to be.
Taking our lead from just some of the many benefits of Play detailed above, Fenwood House have created age-appropriate Baby Rooms, Toddler Rooms, Pre-School Rooms, and Outdoor Areas with all the resources and activities needed to enable our children to fully realise their potential. These resources and activities promote looking, listening, touching, tasting, investigating, exploring, and experimenting. They include looking at interesting things such as birds, animals, plants, trees, shells, stones, boxes, or tubes. They involve listening to a range of sounds such as songs, rhymes, jingles, stories, and music. They are experiencing a variety of touch through different objects, hard, soft, bumpy, smooth, rough, cold, and warm. Exploring taste through a range of flavours and investigating things that open, close, float, sink, twist and turn. The opportunities are truly endless, this is one of the key reasons behind our Nursery Ethos – “Endless Opportunities For Every Child Every Day”.