Can Children Really Learn Through Just Playing?
Because what exactly are they learning.
When I first heard that children learn the best through play, I was like what exactly are they learning?
How to destroy things?
How to throw a tantrum when another kid takes something from them?
At least that was what I thought my kid was learning.
But then as I started diving more and more into some activities that I could do with my 18-month-old at the time, I realized a lot of those centered around play.
Which when you really think about it makes sense.
It is tough to get an 18-month-old to sit still just long enough to get through a book, so if you are trying to teach them anything, it has while they are playing
It has to be treated like a game and something fun that they can be apart of.
I noticed with my older daughter that she was mimicking the things I did and was fascinated by anything that looked remotely fun.
Which could be something as simple as washing dishes.
To her, this was a sink full of water to play in.
Or just getting a crayon and drawing on a piece of paper.
Once again, she was so fascinated by seeing what she drew that it would lead her to draw and scribble even more.
I know as an adult, washing dishes and writing are simple tasks that we do on a daily that we don’t think much about, but to a kid, it feels so much more than that.
And while they engage in these playful acts, they are learning about how things work in the world.
By letting my child play in the sink and “act” like she is washing dishes, she is learning that we clean our plates after we get done cooking and eating our food.
By letting her draw and scribble on paper, she will gradually learn how to write and be able to communicate through writing.
Other things that my daughters love to play with are puzzles and blocks.
She will attempt to match the pieces of the puzzle together and stack the blocks on top of each other.
Sometimes, she would even group some of the blocks that were some of the same color together.
As a parent looking in, it is so cool to see your child figuring things out and developing even more.
Another thing that my daughter likes to play with is pretty much anything outside, such as leaves, dirt, and rocks.
Like most toddlers, the outside is such a cool place full of these things that have to touched.
Even moments like these can turned into learning moments.
Such as stating how things feel, mimicking the noises that they hear while they are outside, and even naming what they see and smell.
The cool part about being outside with your little ones is that you can really indulge all of your senses.
So once I realized that you can really teach your children while they are playing, I jumped right into it.
Besides at 18-months-old, that is most of them are wanting to do anyway.
I made a post on some the play-based learning activities that I did with my 18-month-old toddler that you can check out through the link below.
I also dive more into play-based learning and how to get started.
I will catch you all next time!
Read More: Play-Based Learning Activities For Toddlers
Love,
Just Jass