Integrating Play into the Lives of Children

MISSON

The mission of the Play Symposium is to share accurate information about children’s play and physical activity with classroom teachers, community members, and parents. The importance of play and physical activity toward optimizing children’s learning and development is based in abundant research findings. In this era of high stakes testing, it is sometimes difficult for teachers to plan for unstructured play and outdoor recess during the school day. Parents as well have a difficult time providing their children with the essential unstructured outdoor play that was commonplace a generation ago. Fear of strangers, lack of quality play areas, and hurried schedules result in decreased time in neighborhood play.

In order to reconcile the decreases in school and neighborhood play, the Play Symposium provides relevant information and sharing opportunities to join together on behalf of children’s play and physical activity.

MORE THAN TEST SCORES

Learning for children has to be more than the achievement of test scores. True, test scores are an indicator of success, but it is only one factor. Learning should be more.

The school experience should help children to grow in positive social, emotional, and physical ways. Play can do this. And yes, play can simultaneously strengthen academic learning. This is the purpose of centers, manipulative, and interactive projects. Genuine learning is more than mere recitation; it is higher order thinking, conceptualizing, and implementing the scientific method.

You can not leave higher order thinking until Friday afternoon when the test preparation is completed. You can not drill skills and forsake children’s opportunities to summarize, interpret, and conceptualize learning. Finally, you can not ignore the need for children to ask as well as answer questions. Play allows children to think in complex ways, interpret and structure events in a variety of ways, and pose, test, and interpret their own questioning. These factors allow children to grow into both confident and competent adults. Can a single test do the same?

>> More:  | Play and Test Scores | Lifelong Learning | Play and Literacy Presentation | Classroom Implications  AAP News Release