education

Early childhood teachers who intentionally support children’s play do so through participation, attitude, providing ample space and time, and advocacy. Participation Participate with children as they play. Because play is a deeply personal experience for children, teachers can get to know each child as a unique individual through shared play while building a foundation for […]

A teacher’s recipe for supporting play   P Participation Participate with children as they play. Observe children’s play as both a participant and a bystander. A Attitude Value play through attitude and action. Think of innovative ways to extend children’s play experiences. S Space Provide ample space for indoor and outdoor play. Design flexible environments

Supporting Play in Early Learning Environments Finding ways to support children’s play in early learning environments, both indoors and outdoors, is an important skill for early childhood educators (Community Playthings, 2009). What can teachers do to support children’s play? Is there a magic trick or special recipe for supporting play in the classroom? Though the

Supporting Play in Early Learning Environments Finding ways to support children’s play in early learning environments, both indoors and outdoors, is an important skill for early childhood educators (Community Playthings, 2009). What can teachers do to support children’s play? Is there a magic trick or special recipe for supporting play in the classroom? Though the

Supporting Play in Early Learning Environments Finding ways to support children’s play in early learning environments, both indoors and outdoors, is an important skill for early childhood educators (Community Playthings, 2009). What can teachers do to support children’s play? Is there a magic trick or special recipe for supporting play in the classroom? Though the

How Play is at Risk in the Twenty-first Century For most of the twentieth century, children in the United States had frequent opportunities for unstructured or free play (Chudacoff, 2007). As the twentieth century came to a close, many of those opportunities for free, unstructured play had been replaced by formal play activities arranged by

The Teacher’s Role in Supporting Play arly childhood educators wishing to support children’s play need to first be aware of societal factors placing child-directed play at risk. Second, they should be able to differentiate play from other types of children’s activities. Third, they need to understand and employ a variety of strategies that support and

A Relay Race for Everyone   Angela is a second-grade teacher who long ago learned that each year would require careful observation of the children’s development into the concrete operational stage. This not only applied to the cognitive aspects of learning, but to playing games as well. Relay races seemed the best way to introduce

Constructive Play According to Smilansky (1968), constructive play is undertaken by children because they desire to produce some type of product or structure. Therefore, constructive play is considered to be goal-directed play. A wide variety of materials can be used for construction such as large or small wooden blocks, boards, and plastic blocks or shapes.

Smell the Roses   Five-year-old Mai Li decided to tag along with her father when he went to the flower store to purchase flowers for her grandmother. It was her first visit there, and, Mai Li was amazed by the wonderful smell of so many flowers. A pretty woman wearing a dark green apron with