Play is the Work of the Child

 
Peek into any kindergarten classroom at my school during whole group instruction. One of my kindergarten teacher colleagues claims she teaches her whole group instruction to more arguing feet and butts than faces. As any kindergarten teacher can tell you, it is hard to keep five and six year olds actively engaged for a whole group lesson. They have short attention spans, wiggly bodies, and a natural drive to socialize. 

Kindergarten students have less time for developmentally appropriate play in the classroom as instruction becomes more rigorous, despite research that play is how young children learn best. Minnesota has recently released more rigorous math and science standards as well as signing into law the new science of reading READ Act.  A push in many states is that all students are ready for kindergarten at the age of five. Research though says that school readiness mainly depends on the development of the children's ability to regulate their emotions and control their attention. More than ever, we need to find ways to put play back into the classroom to offset the rigorous curriculums. Study after study says the way for young children to learn is through play-based learning, often referred to as purposeful play.

Young children are very tactile and sensory seeking. In my classroom I have a large sensory table. Many think of sensory tables as a giant sandbox, with little importance in an elementary classroom. Even my most reluctant readers and writers are willing to engage in learning when it involves the sensory table. Reading and writing task cards are printed on engaging colorful cards and hidden in tubs of black beans, crinkled paper, of even dirt. The children forget that it is work as they complete their tasks. In this task, students were harvesting carrot high frequency words and recording them on their clipboards. 

The sensory table is always available during free choice time and my friends that need a tactile sensory break are naturally drawn to the sensory table. 

Purposeful play and fine motor skills go hand in hand. Fine motor skills and fingers are strengthened in kindergarten. Tiny hands and fingers easily become fatigued. Instead of just writing with pencil and paper, we use shaving cream to practice our letters, numbers, and spelling. It quickly becomes a game instead of an avoided task.

Moving an activity from the table to the floor and putting it on a work mat can turn any activity into play. Peek into any Montessori classroom and you will see shelves of tactile objects that are attractive to a young child. Examples includes moveable alphabet pieces for spelling words, tiny objects for counting, buttons for math work, and eye-catching cards. When work is turned into play, children are willing to do the activity again and again, strengthening their knowledge and understanding.  All of these activities were incorporated into my traditional kindergarten classroom.

Moveable alphabet and short i. Child spells short i words, reads the words aloud, and writes them. Two person work practicing positive relationships and turn taking.

 Word building -at family. Student arranges picture cards and then spells the word with the cards. Words are then written with pencil and paper and read aloud to a peer and teacher.

Decorating gingerbread. Ordering numbers 1-20, and counting buttons for one to one correspondence

    Baking ten frame. Children practice subitizing and counting, identifying numbers, and number words.

Pigs in the pen. One to one correspondence of teen numbers and identifying the pattern of adding one to a number.

This Little Piggy Went to Market Addition. Using pigs to add two groups of numbers.

One of the children's favorite aspect of play-based learning is getting socialize and to work with friends. They are able to work on socializing, building relationships, problem solving, and practicing social emotional learning skills.  

Number Matching Game. Students take turns flipping cards and making matches.