Play Based Learning

Play based learning.
It's not new.
200 years ago (1817) Frobel opened his first kindergarten.

His aim was to unite school and life, giving children the tools to become “free-thinking, independent people,” free from the whims of fashion, society, and the stifling spirit of the age. Fröbel’s belief was that life and school should not be separate experiences: “School and life should become one!” Such ideas led him to create the first kindergarten, or “garden for children.”
FRÖBEL DAY – TWO HUNDRED YEARS IN KEILHAU, GERMANY

It's through play that we learn best. When something is interesting & relevant, we learn. When we are actively involved with something, we learn. When we create something new, we learn. By working with others we learn - a lot - about other people. We learn to communicate, problem solve and to wonder.

Children learn through play. There are times for unstructured, self-chosen play and there are times for the teacher to come together with a group or the class for some learning time together, that, if presented in a playful way, engages children in learning.

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Journals & Writing

We like to write about what interests us. It's the same for children. Journal writing time is an invitation for the children to draw something of interest to them. They tell me something about their pictures and I write it on the page. They see how writing happens by starting with an idea then seeing it get written down.

The Block House

To help keep "THE BLOCK HOUSE" safe we moved the shelf away from the wall to the other side of the carpet providing a new, and safer, space for the house to be built. The letters: THE BLOCK HOUSE were written on A4 paper and attached to the bulletin board. Some of the children were interested in the letters and matching them with the names of the children in the class. The letter "A" had to be added because there are 5 children who begin with the letter A in our classroom this year.

Yarn Trap

The yarn was used to make a trap. It was tied to a picture frame and a basket. Each was positioned on shelves across from one another. The children had to go "under" the trap to get to the carpet for whole class time. There was a lot of sharing of ideas, problem solving, and use of the positional language "over" and "under" and "around".

NZ Teacher

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