The Power of Play-Based Learning in Preschool
When it comes to their children, Indian parents do not leave any stone unturned. According to a report by the World Economic Forum, Indian parents spend the most time helping their children with homework. All over India, 95% of parents help their children with their studies. This shows how most Indian parents bury their heads in textbooks to work on the endless projects given by the school to their kids, instead of the kid learning through new projects.
Choosing a preschool or a children’s play centre where rote learning or memorising is encouraged to get good grades or to get into good primary is perhaps not the best idea. This will just lead to preschoolers with poor learning skills.
So how exactly should you encourage healthy learning patterns in children? Play-based learning is the answer! Play means an enjoyable activity for children, with no end goal. In simple terms, play-based learning means children learning through playing like hiding, building, searching, games etc. Given the importance of play, the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights, also recognizes play as a right of every child.
Little Wings, one of the best play schools and preschools in South Bopal, emphasises play-based learning to lay the foundation for a child’s holistic growth & development.
Communication skills
While playing, children talk and listen to others, which polishes their communication skills and enhances their vocabulary. In these early years of education, when teachers in children’s play centres encourage conversation in a natural way, it can be especially effective as young children receive information and connect it with what they already know or with what they have just learned. Even singing or playing word games with their classmates can help the preschoolers increase their vocabulary and become more confident
Sometimes children play alone and talk with their toys or narrate an imaginary story while playing. “Hey my train is about to leave the station, cho-cho,” or something to that effect is what you might have overheard your child say. When they enact these multiple sides of the conversation, it encourages communication growth.
Motor skills
Young children have more than 600 muscles in their body and they actively use these muscles while climbing, running, playing ball games, jumping, throwing and dancing. Play based learning helps children enhance their hand-eye coordination, control over their muscles and helps them become more flexible.
On the one hand, activities like running, skipping, jumping, help children develop strong gross motor skills, activities like colouring and painting help them develop fine motor skills. When you see your child playing on a slide in the preschool or hopping on a monkey bar, it may seem like they are just enjoying themselves. However, their little body is doing a lot of work and strengthening their muscles. It makes children physically active from a very early stage.
