AGH!! Aren’t you tired of all the endless discussion and argument over the value of play? I sure am.

Kids need Play!  Kids need Structure! Kids need to be Outdoors! Kids need to be Ready! Forest Schools! Recess! Free Play! WHAT ABOUT ACCOUNTABILITY?

Here’s the deal: Children from birth to about 8, learn BEST when they:

• Move Their Bodies
• Use Their Senses
• Manipulate Stuff in the Environment
• Construct and Destruct (Build & Break & Rebuild)
• Pretend
• Express Themselves in Every Way

In other words, PLAY.

There are two kinds of Play and BOTH are MANDATORY EVERY DAY!

There is FREE PLAY which is open-ended, child-chosen, adults-only-there-for-physical safety, get-your-wiggles-out recess; and there is PURPOSEFUL PLAY, which is child-centered, child-chosen, and child-led, but also includes an environment staged with a purpose and with the human factor of someone who can provide language, open-ended questions, and who can recognize the learning achieved through the play and match it to developmentally appropriate objectives (there’s your accountability).

It’s confusing because there is so much great learning happening in Free Play which sometimes goes unrecognized as valuable learning and because so many teachers now feel the need to “over purpose” Purposeful Play to make sure academic goals are being met. So, what’s a Teacher to do?

Treat Free Play with Respect. Do not interrupt its flow or try to guide it, but do observe it carefully and recognize when assessable learning of value happens.

Treat Purposeful Play (Center Time or Choice Time) like a Broadway Production.  The child is the playwright and the director. He makes the decisions about where he will play, who he will play with, and how the play moves along. The Teacher is the set designer, the prop master, and the guy who whispers cues from offstage (offering language, asking open-ended questions, encouraging, naming, recognizing, and assessing the learning through observation and mental notation).Was the production a success? This question is answered when child and teacher reflect on the play, recalling it through conversation, dictation, drawings, or journal after the curtain goes down. No need for a big critique – no raves and no bad reviews – not even an audience is necessary for this play to be a HUGE HIT.