Introduction

In one of our classes, we learned about gamification. So, let’s do that this our class today since we will be
discussing play-based learning. So, we will play, a BRING ME GAME zoom edition. I’ll you 1 minutes to get any
item that you think I may ask. The mechanics of this games is this. You will have to turn off you camera.

One common quotation most of us may have known is “Work without play makes Jack a dull boy.” This connotes
how important play is in one life regardless of age.
Since the early 2000s, there has been a shift towards recommending the use of play-based learning in early
education curricula across several different countries, including Canada, Sweden, China, United Arab Emirates,
and New Zealand.
In our discussion we will walk through the key issues surrounding the pedagogy of play-based learning, including
the history of play, defining types of play, perspectives and recent findings regarding the benefits of play, and if
time allows, we will also tackle on the stages of play.

Play Over the Centuries

Play has a long history. It manifested its presence in prehistoric times in the form of dice, gaming boards, and
possibly…football, as some footprints discovered in Namibia suggest.

• In ancient Greece, the value of play and its fundamental role in child development was discussed by great
philosophers like Plato and Aristotle. Yo-yos, marbles, and knucklebones, which were made from actual
sheep legs, were particularly popular games of the time.
• The same was true for Rome, where children engaged in various forms of play, from war games and
wrestling for the boys to playing with rag dolls for the girls. Even during the Middle Ages, where children
were often expected to work, they still managed to play with handmade toys, or acted out stories.
• During the Renaissance period, ideas like play-based pedagogy and learning through first-hand experience
were introduced by famous thinkers of the era.
• These ideas were further developed in the centuries that followed. In 1837, the German pedagogue,
Froebel, founded the first Kindergarten, where activities like singing and self-directed play took place, and
in the early 20th century, the industrial revolution introduced factory-made games such as Monopoly, a
version of ‘Life’, and jigsaw puzzles. Playgrounds grew popular too, as urbanization raised concerns
regarding the safety of children playing on the streets.
• Play has always been a significant part of human life at all ages and cultures throughout history but play-
based learning gathered momentum in the 20th century through the early work of Montessori and
Dewey. Play can be unstructured or guided, allowing children to play freely or with learning objectives
scaffolded by adults.
What Is Play-Based Learning? An Overview

• Play-based learning is normally centered in early childhood and primary education, with the guiding
principle that children can learn from and make sense of the world around them through play.
• There are different biological, historical, societal, educational, and developmental origins of play, and
while play is difficult to define, it undeniably has a role in social and emotional development, and the
physical development of the brain. Play is a joyful and satisfying experience, one considered so important
 for human development that the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights has declared play as
a right of every child. Play focuses on means, not ends: it is process-oriented, and there are many
cognitive, behavioral, social, and emotional gains from experiencing play.
2 types of Play
Within studies that have examined the benefits of play-based learning, two different types of play have been the
primary focus: free play, which is directed by the children themselves, and guided play, which is play that has
some level of teacher guidance or involvement.

• Free play is typically described as play that is child-directed, voluntary, internally motivated, and
pleasurable. One type of free play frequently endorsed is sociodramatic play, where groups of children
practice imaginative role-playing through creating and following social rules such as pretending to be
different family members.

• On the other hand, the term guided play refers to play activities with some level of adult involvement to
embed or extend additional learning opportunities within the play itself. A range of terminology has been
used to refer to types of guided play activities (e.g., centre-based learning, purposefully framed play;
however, one distinction that can be made is who has control over the play activity:
“Examples of guidance adults can use during play include:
o Asking prompting questions.
o Modelling developmentally appropriate language.
o Introducing new materials during play to extend thinking.
o Encouraging communication between children.”

• According to Erica Danniels, et all, although the hypothesis that play fulfills a fundamental role in child
development has been contested, there is a growing body of evidence in favour of the use of play-based
learning to support multiple areas of development and learning. However, there is also a lack of
agreement among both researchers and educators regarding the role and value of different types of play
in the classroom.
PRO'S AND CON'S OF PLAY-BASED LEARNING
• There are many pros and con's of play-based learning, and also many myths about what play-based learning and
intentional play are. Here are some of the pro's and con's that I can found while researching about play-based
learning.

THE PRO'S THE CON'S

• Children get to choose their own activities • Children may not be exposed directly to learning
and topics and this keeps them interested letters, numbers, or scientific concepts
• Contributes to kindergarten readiness: • Children may not score as highly on standardized
• Play helps develop social skills and children testing (until after first grade)-
with social skills are more successful in • Teachers are doing less formal lesson, and more
centers and intentional play which require more
academics later on
set-up
• Children in play-based programs score better
on measures of self-regulation, cognitive
flexibility, and working memory (Diamond et
al. 2007). Self-regulation and impulse control
is predictive of later academic success

Stages of Play
In 1929, Mildred Parten published her thesis in which she outlined the 6 stages of play. These are play stages that children
pass through in their first 5 years of age. Children go through each stage in a linear developmental pattern.

Parten’s 6 stages of play are:

• Unoccupied Play.
• Solitary Play.
• Onlooker Play.
• Parallel Play.
• Associative Play.
• Cooperative Play.

1. Unoccupied Play (Birth – 3 Months)

Unoccupied play can be observed from the earliest months in life. It is defined as sensory activities that lack focus
or narrative.
Key characteristics include:

• Lack of social interaction.

• Lack of sustained focus.
• No clear story lines during play.
• Language use is non-existent or very limited.

Examples of unoccupied play include:

• A child picking up, shaking, then discarding objects in their vicinity.

• A child hitting and giggling at a play mobile in a cot.
• These forms of play may seem un-educational at first, but have an important developmental purpose.
In the first few months of life children’s unoccupied play helps them orient themselves in the world. They learn
to master their limbs and motor skills. They develop depth perception, tactile skills, and object permanence.
2. Solitary Play
(3 months – 2 ½ years)
Solitary play follows on from unoccupied play. It is play that involves a child playing alone and with little interest
in toys outside of their immediate vicinity.
It is more focused and sustained than unoccupied play.
During this stage, children will still have little interest in adults or other children during their play.
Key characteristics include:
• Increased focus and sustained attention on toys.
• Emerging play narratives, such as use of symbolic play (using objects to represent other objects, such as
push around a block to represent a car).
• Disinterest in other children or adults during play.

• Unstructured play, lacking clear goals.

Examples of solitary play include:
• Two children playing with their toys but never looking at or showing any interest in each other.
• A child who has developed the ability to sustain interest in one toy for more than 60 seconds.
• An older child going for a walk through the park, exploring their surrounds.
Even after a child has gotten older and mastered more advanced forms of play, solitary play continues to be
employed. Even in adulthood, we play alone to recharge, reflect and explore new ideas on our own.
Jean Piaget, a key education theorist, believes solitary play is vital for children to learn. Piaget labeled children
‘lone scientists’, exploring their environments through trial-and-error and discovery.
Related Article: 15 Parallel Play Examples
3. Onlooker Play
(2 ½ years – 3 ½ years)
Onlooker play is the first sign of children showing interest in the play behaviors of other children.
During this stage, children will observe other children’s play without getting involved themselves. They will often
sit within earshot so they can hear other children’s play conversations.
Key characteristics include:
• Children showing interest in other children’s play.
• Withholding from play due to fear, disinterest, or hesitation.
Examples of onlooker play include:
 • Younger children in a multi-age Montessori classrooms will observe older children at play, but not get
involved in the ‘big kids games’.
• Adults watching a sporting event.
• A shy child watching others play without getting involved herself due to timidness.
Listening and observing are powerful forms of learning. Albert Bandura, for example, showed the power of
observation through his bobo doll experiments. In these experiments, children would observe adults playing with
dolls. Children who saw children being aggressive toward the dolls were subsequently more aggressive
themselves when they played with the dolls.
4. Parallel Play
(3 ½ years – 4 years)
Parallel play follows onlooker play. It involves children playing in proximity to one another but not together. They
will tend to share resources and observe one another from a distance. However, they will not share the same
game play or goals while playing.

Key characteristics include:

• Playing in the same room and with the same resources, but not together.
• Independent exploration and discovery.
• Observing and mimicking.
• Having separate goals and focuses during play.
• Minimal communication with other children.
Examples of parallel play include:
• A brother and sister playing with the same Lego set, but constructing different buildings.
• Children sharing brushes and paints, but painting on different canvases.
• Early play dates where parents bring their children to play together. These dates are usually about getting
children more comfortable with peers of the same age, but younger children will often not start playing
together too well.
5. Associative Play
(4 – 4 ½ years)
Associative play emerges when children begin acknowledging one another and working side-by-side, but not
necessarily together.
Associative play differs from parallel play because children begin to share, acknowledge, copy and work with one
another.
However, it is not quite the next stage (cooperative play) because children do not yet share common goals during
play – in other words, they’re not yet playing ‘together’ in any cohesive way.
Key characteristics include:
 • Negotiating the sharing of resources.
• Emerging chatter and language skills. Children ask each other questions about their play.
• Children are still playing independently with different objectives and strategies.
• Mimicking and observing continue to occur, but at a closer distance.
Examples of associative play include:
• Children asking one another questions about their play, what they’re doing, and how they’re doing it. The
children are nonetheless working on different tasks.
• Children realizing there are limited resources in the play area, so negotiating with one another for which
resources to use.
6. Cooperative Play
(4 ½ years and up)
Cooperative play emerges shortly after associative play and represents fully integrated social group play.
During this stage, expect to see children playing together and sharing the same game. The children will have the
same goals, assign one another roles in the game, and collaborate to achieve their set gameplay goals.
This stage represents the achievement of socialization, but social skills will still be developing. Children may need
support, guided practice and scaffolding to help them develop positive social skills such as sharing, compromise,
and turn-taking.
Key characteristics include:
• Children work together on a shared game.
• Children share a common objective during game play.
• Children have team roles or personas during game play.
• There can be an element of compromise and sacrifice for the common good of the game.

Examples of cooperative play include:

• Imaginative play, where children take on the roles of their favorite movie characters to act out a scene or
create their own new scene.
• Board games where children need to take turns in order for the game to proceed according to shared and
agreed upon rules.
• Organized sports.
Cooperative play is underpinned by the social constructivist learning theory. Key theorists from this approach
include Barbara Rogoff and Lev Vygotsky. The central idea in this theory is that social interaction helps students
to progress in their thinking. When students discuss things in groups, they get to see ideas from different
perspectives and have their own ideas challenged and refined.
https://kreativeteaching.weebly.com/blog/pros-and-cons-of-play-based-learning
https://www.child-encyclopedia.com/play-based-learning/according-experts/defining-play-based-learning
https://theeducationhub.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Play-based-learning-.pdf