Amy Woodgate | Head of Junior and Middle Schools

‘Children are biologically wired to play.  Play is very serious business for them.’

Maggie Dent (Australian educator and author)

Time over recent months spent close to home has likely given our boys and girls many opportunities to play.  As Maggie Dent states, they are wired to play, no matter what their age.

Play is…

• A Year 1 girl designing and building a Lego tower to act out the rhyme ‘Jack be nimble’
• A Year 7 boy trying different ways to solve a visual puzzle
• Students from different grades joining together to play basketball on the courts, making up rules as they go along without the involvement of an adult
• A Middle School Humanities class taking on roles as members of the Australian Government and demonstrating arguing a Bill in their unit about Democracy
• A group of Year 3 students being gently guided by their teacher to play a maths number game
• A group of Prep students taking on the role of archaeologists to dig for hidden artefacts in the sandpit
• A teacher singing a reworked version her favourite rock ballad to spark a class’ interest in a Maths concept
• A teenage boy pulling apart the engine of a broken down dirt bike to see how it works and how it can be put back together
• A Year 5 girl completely engrossed in a ‘passion project’ during a time of independent discovery

I’m sure that there are many other examples of play that you can list you’ve observed in your boys and girls inside and outside of the home that sit closely alongside the many types of play we observe here at school in our indoor and outdoor learning spaces.

Play is more than just free play.  It is a purposeful form of learning that is intrinsically motivated and sees children and young people actively engaged in discovery.  Play can be self-guided by the child or scaffolded by a supportive adult.  Whether structured or unstructured, indoors or outdoors, playful experiences foster creativity, curiosity and imagination.  Play can be silent and solitary or loud and interactive.  It can be messy and it can be joyful.

In their recent book, Let the Children Play, renowned Finnish Educator Pasi Sahlberg and academic William Doyle dedicate an entire chapter to the learning power of play.  They describe the importance of play to healthy brain development, as well as development of imagination, dexterity and physical, cognitive and emotional strength.  Play is how our children from an early age learn to interact with the world around them.

Play at any age provides children with opportunities to explore the world in their own terms.  It nurtures self-esteem and self-regulation, whilst developing problem solving skills, an understanding of social rules when interacting with others and enhancing cognitive understanding.  Physical play can build strength, coordination and fitness, as well as a sense of accomplishment when skills and challenges are mastered.

‘Play is not a luxury but rather a crucial dynamic of healthy physical, intellectual and social-emotional development at all age levels.’

David Elkind (American child psychologist)

It is important that we prioritise time for play for our boys and girls to allow them to be thinkers, innovators and collaborators.  Play does not replace formal learning, it is learning.  As the title of the book suggests…. ‘let the children play’!