Selecting the right nursery programme for your child is a task fraught with choices. Among other things, you need to decide what kind of learning approach you want for your child.
Of late, we’ve been seeing a lot of people opt for play-based learning in particular. If you’re interested in this approach as well, you should have a core understanding of how it benefits your child’s growth.
But first, what is it? Play-based learning is a child-centred approach where the child learns through engaging and enjoyable play instead of traditional lessons.
In play-based learning, children are allowed to explore, create, and discover at their own pace. This gives them both freedom and agency in their own growth, which can have myriad benefits:
1. Encourages cognitive development
Play-based learning is very effective at stimulating cognitive growth through hands-on experience. If you’re familiar with classic activities like building blocks or role-playing games, those are examples of activities in play-based learning.
Those activities can help children build problem-solving and creative skills. Indeed, some research has shown that certain skills are better built via play, e.g. mathematical and spatial ones.
Using this approach also enhances memory and focus. Children are more likely to retain information when actively engaged and interested in what they’re doing, after all.
2. Builds social skills and emotional intelligence
Nursery programmes that incorporate play-based learning also offer many social play activities. Thiis gives children opportunities for interaction, collaboration, and communication.
Group activities or team games are mainstays in nurseries that focus on play-based learning, for example. The same goes for roleplay, which is often reliant on a full cast of characters working together.
These interactions aren’t just about giving children fun activities. They also nurture their social abilities by teaching them to work with and empathise with others. At the same time, they get an introduction to many social skills (like conflict resolution) that they’ll need later.
3. Promotes physical development
A lot of play-based learning involves actual physical activity. This gives children chances to develop a bevy of both fine and gross motor skills.
Think of team sports or games that offer running, jumping, or throwing, for example. Or play that involves manipulating small items or playing catch.
These are all beneficial for a child’s physical development. Doubly so if the nursery you’re considering integrates some element of outdoor exploration or play with the physical activities.
That’s because outdoor play can be marvellous at stimulating a child’s senses as well as introducing children to the notion of discovering the natural environment.
4. Fosters independence
Play-based learning empowers children to decide where their own learning journey should go. They have to make certain choices during activities, for example, from choosing toys to figuring out the best way to solve a problem.
This fosters their nascent independence and helps them build confidence in themselves. At the same time, it introduces them to the ideas of consequence and responsibility for outcomes.
5. Builds a lifelong love for learning
The trick to building a love of learning is simple: give children reason to love it! Play does that by making education a fun process instead of a gruelling one.
In play-based nurseries, curiosity is celebrated and children find joy in activities where they learn. This sets the tone for the rest of their learning, helping them see it as something they can love instead of something they should dread.
