All Work and No Play

By: Megan

If you take a look into most 1^st grade classrooms, what do you think you would see? Most likely you would see children sitting at desks, completing worksheets. Classrooms in America are increasingly concerned with improving test scores, preparation for college and eventually the job market. However, is it really necessary to take play away from the curriculum in elementary school classrooms? There is a way to incorporate play into the curriculum and also have valuable learning experiences.

Whenever people hear the word “play”, they automatically assume that there is no educational value and little learning. Parents of children in classrooms want to see results, and teachers are expected to give them clear outcomes. In order to accommodate parents’ growing need for results, teachers resort to using worksheets. The worksheets that are given do not challenge students to think critically or increase their knowledge. Students are able to spit back meaningless facts without being able to truly show what they have learned. Using play in the classroom seems like a really big undertaking, which would be difficult to show growth. However, there is research that shows play is beneficial. According to Developmentally Appropriate Practice teachers have a very crucial role in play. It is our job to make sure that the play in the classroom has meaning and is beneficial. If a teacher doesn’t set up the play in a dynamic way, his or her students most likely will not take much away from it. Teachers take the time to set up meaningful experiences; the students will construct their own learning experiences.

Though, students need the opportunity to learn through exploration. By incorporating play into your curriculum, you allow your students to build their own understanding of what they are learning. Some educator’s think that play has to look a certain way, and that every child will take away the same points. In reality, play can look very different based on the age level, school expectations, and classroom structure. In some classrooms, there will be dramatic play centers and hands on art, but other classrooms will have math games and science explorations. Both examples are ways that teachers can include play in their classrooms. As a teacher, we are expected to make sure that children are learning, but it is important that we don’t take their discovery away just because we need to show results. For our children, we need to make every effort to preserve play in the classroom so that kids can continue to be kids.

References

Copple, C. (2009). Developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programs serving children from birth through age 8 (3rd ed., p. 47,48). Washington, D.C.: National Association for the Education of Young Children.