The Power of Play: Harnessing the Fun for Serious Learning
If you are reading this, you are likely well-aware of the whirlwind that teaching can be. Between meeting curriculum requirements, standardized testing pressures, and ensuring individual student progress, it can feel like there's barely enough time to catch your breath, let alone think about adding something like play into the school day. However, emerging research suggests that it might be just what our classrooms need to invigorate learning and nurture well-rounded, happy students. So, let's hit the pause button on our to-do lists and explore the power of play.
Play: An Essential Tool for Learning
The phrase "they're just playing" is often used to dismiss play as something frivolous, something that children do when they aren't doing anything serious. However, researchers like Jaak Panksepp, an Estonian neuroscientist and psychobiologist, and Peter Gray, a research professor of psychology at Boston College, would beg to differ. They argue that play is one of the most serious and crucial activities children can engage in. But why?
Jaak Panksepp, renowned for his work on the neural circuits of emotions in mammals, proposed the idea of "PLAY" as a primary emotional system in the brain. In his studies, he found that play is not a frivolous activity. On the contrary, it contributes to physical and social development, stimulates neurogenesis and neural plasticity, aids in the regulation of emotions, and even has an evolutionary function, preparing young animals for challenges they might face later in life.
Peter Gray, author of "Free to Learn: Why Unleashing the Instinct to Play Will Make Our Children Happier, More Self-Reliant, and Better Students for Life", echoes Panksepp's sentiments. He views play as a natural learning process, emphasizing its role in fostering curiosity, encouraging self-directed education, and aiding social and emotional development. Gray goes further to point out the impact of play deprivation on children's development and mental health, suggesting that a lack of play contributes to increases in anxiety, depression, suicide rates, and narcissism in young people.
What becomes clear from their work is that play is an integral part of learning and development. It's not just a nice-to-have, but a need-to-have.
Why Play Belongs in Our Schools
Our job as educators is to prepare our students for the real world. To do this effectively, we need to cultivate not only their academic knowledge but also their social skills, emotional resilience, creativity, and curiosity. This is where play comes into the picture.
Consider this: during play, children take on roles and enact real-world scenarios, thereby learning about social norms and relationships. Through this 'pretend play', they get to rehearse adult roles and responsibilities in a safe, low-stakes environment. They also navigate their way through complex social interactions, learning how to share, negotiate, cooperate, and empathize with others.
Play also encourages exploration and problem-solving. When children play with blocks, for instance, they're not just stacking shapes. They're learning about balance, gravity, symmetry, and much more. They're figuring out that one action (pushing a tower) leads to a result (the tower falling). This is learning at its best – self-directed, hands-on, and fun!
Play has also been linked to better mental health. Panksepp's work showed that young animals deprived of play become socially incompetent and display symptoms that resemble human mood disorders. The same applies to humans. In other words, play is not just about having fun; it's also about staying mentally healthy.
Finally, play can also aid in academic learning. It may not seem like it, but a child playing 'shop' is learning math (pricing items, giving change), literacy (reading product labels), and social studies (how the economy works). They're learning, and they're enjoying it – and isn't that the ultimate goal?
Bringing Play into the Classroom
With all this talk about the importance of play, the next logical question is, how can we integrate it into our classrooms? Here are a few suggestions:
Free Play: Designate time for free, unstructured play. This is when children can choose what they want to play and how they want to play it. You might be surprised at the creativity and innovation that emerge during this time.
Play-Based Learning Activities: Incorporate learning activities that incorporate play. This could be role-plays, simulations, games, or hands-on projects. The key is to align the play with the learning objectives.
Incorporate Physical Play: Active play, such as sports or movement-based games, not only benefits physical health but also contributes to cognitive development. It can even make learning more memorable.
Provide a Variety of Play Materials: Offer a range of materials for children to explore and manipulate. These could be blocks, costumes, art supplies, or science kits. Remember, the aim is to stimulate creativity, not to dictate how these materials should be used.
Value Play: Show students that you value play. Participate in their games, appreciate their creations, and discuss the skills they're developing. This communicates that play is important, which encourages them to engage in it more.
In conclusion, the journey of fostering a culture of play in the classroom may seem daunting, but it is worth it. As we embrace play as a crucial part of education, we can look forward to classrooms buzzing with engaged learners who are not only gaining knowledge but also developing their creativity, social skills, emotional resilience, and much more. Remember, they're not "just playing". They're learning in one of the most effective ways possible. So, let's break the mold and let them play!
Until next time,
Suzanne Blunt
P.S. As you embark on this exciting journey, remember that every small step counts. It doesn't have to be an all-or-nothing approach. Even incorporating a few minutes of play or having an impromptu guessing game or riddle each day can make a difference. Happy playing!
Examples of games in high school
Here are a few examples of games in high school that can help students to develop problem-solving, analytical skills that prepare them for the real-world
1. Chess: Chess is a strategic game that can teach high school students about planning, critical thinking, and foresight. Each move in a chess game has consequences, some immediate and others seen only several moves down the line. By learning to analyze these potential outcomes, students strengthen their problem-solving skills and the ability to foresee possible future scenarios. These are crucial skills for the real world, where actions have consequences and thinking ahead is essential. Additionally, playing chess requires students to understand and operate within a complex system of rules, similar to functioning within societal or organizational structures in the adult world.
2. Minecraft Education Edition: Minecraft is more than just a popular game; its Education Edition is designed specifically as a teaching tool. It allows students to build and navigate virtual worlds, promoting creativity, spatial reasoning, and complex problem-solving. In a history class, for example, students can recreate historical sites, encouraging them to analyze and synthesize information about architecture and culture. Similarly, in a science class, students can be tasked to solve challenges like building a sustainable ecosystem, which requires understanding and applying principles of biology and ecology. Such activities prepare students for real-world scenarios where they need to analyze data, understand systems, and devise solutions.
3. Escape Room Games: Escape room games, whether physical or virtual, require players to work collaboratively to solve a series of interconnected puzzles to achieve a goal, usually "escaping" within a set time. These games encourage critical thinking, problem-solving, and effective communication. They demand that students think analytically to make connections between clues and work together to devise strategies for solving complex multi-step problems. These are the very same skills required in many real-world situations, from strategizing in business to problem-solving in engineering or science, to collaborating effectively in any professional environment.
REFERENCES
Ainsworth, M.D.S., Blehar, M.C., Waters, E., & Wahl, S. (1978). Patterns of Attachment. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Ariès, P. (1996). Centuries of childhood. Pimlico.
Bartlett, S. (2002). Urban children and the physical environment. Paper presented at the Children and the City Conference, Amman, Jordan.
Ginsburg, K.R. (2007). The importance of play in promoting healthy child development and maintaining strong parent-child bonds. Pediatrics, 119(1), 182-191.
Gray, P. (2013). Free to Learn: Why Unleashing the Instinct to Play Will Make Our Children Happier, More Self-Reliant, and Better Students for Life. Basic Books.
Panksepp, J., & Biven, L. (2012). The Archaeology of Mind: Neuroevolutionary Origins of Human Emotions. W. W. Norton & Company
