One of my missions is to reclaim children’s right to learn through play.
But how can we balance the pressure to be the sage on the stage and ensure children have desired experiences…AND be the guide on the side…or what I like to term, an ideal play partner?
It’s a good question…
Most of us believe in the power of play…but feel conflicted in how we spend our time with children.
Click here for a review of the evidence.
This tug-of-war is real…and it’s due to one of the biggest paradoxes in early care and education, which is the charge to intentionally teach while allowing children to be immersed in sustained periods of time.
How do we do both?
Watch is video about the power of play, the paradox of teaching through play, and the complexity of learning to play (17:25). Download the play progression shared in the video here.
To make thing even more complicated, there are times when we are a willing and able play partner, but the child isn’t all that interested in playing with us, the child plays in a repetitive way that feel “non-functional”, or the child starts to play with other children, only to things escalate to the point of a knock down drag out fight over a lego?!?
How can we be a good play partner in these situations?
Here’s what will help!
- Learn to be a play partner – watch is video guide, which was originally developed for families, yet is helpful for any adult who wants to be a better play partner [YouTube video] – build children’s play skills (pg.4) [pdf]
- Help children who struggle to play (5:09) [video] by learning how to teach in the messy middle (9:10) [video] – Three actionable steps when children struggle (pg. 4) [pdf]
- Help children stay in the green zone by “teaching before the peak” – watch this training guide on how [YouTube video]
Want even more solutions?
- Help others better understand the power of play by sharing this infographic [request free download]
- Stay inspired by reading quotes from our e-book on the power of play [pdf]
What about solutions for children with ASD?
- Check out these resources from autism expert Barb Avila from Synergy Autism Center
- Training video about social engagement for children with ASD [YouTube]; video covers the following:
- Developmental progression of social reciprocity
- How to support curiosity to you
- Explanation of the “window of tolerance”
- Hierarchy of social engagement
- Specific things to support homeostasis, the difference between silent and active proximity, C2U, curiosity to others, and active engagement
- Real-time critique of a teacher joining a child’s play – watch and then review tips [YouTube]
- General tips about entering a child’s play
- First goal (for a week or so) proximity first. Just come over quietly and be next to the child without talking or adding to their play. They may need to trust that not everyone who is going to get into their space is going to overwhelm them. So that would be step 1 of joining his play: simply deliberately sit near without parallel playing or talking or anything. To keep yourselves busy, you can count to 100 in your head (or similar) and when you reach that number, walk away. Seriously. We want them to be curious about you rather than pushing you away because he assumes you are going to overwhelm him.
- Next step after trust building for proximity would be for the person near to be able to play in parallel without any expectations of their active participation (another week or two).
- Now once you have established that the child can have you near and active, without wandering off – or you are in a situation where you are having them sit to participate in something, I’d recommend a couple of things: (1) adding in small bits; (2) adding each bit or elaboration when he is seeking it/curious about you.
- General tips about entering a child’s play
- Misc. Resources
- Podcasts related to play [link]
- Learning through play [pdf]
- How play is making a comeback in Kinder [link]
- How to use play to promote language development [pdf]
- Summary of the research to support play [pdf] [link to original source]
- Why play matters [KPF blog]
- Play infographic [pdf]
- 9 Things You Need to Know About Play (and Preventing Challenging Behavior!) [blog]
- Play skill rubric [pdf]
- Interaction with objects [pdf]
- Training video about social engagement for children with ASD [YouTube]; video covers the following:
