Play, Learning and Intentionality

Play is the fundamental way children learn, but it is not automatic.  Play itself is learned.  Young children observe others, such as siblings, neighbors or classmates. In the absence of playmates, children rely on adults for opportunities to interact with the world.  This observation, made by Deborah Leong, professor of Emertia of Psychology at Metropolitan State College in Denver,  is illustrated when a younger sibling attempts skills the older sibling just acquired.  Similarly, the parent who reports, “He doesn’t really know how to play with other kids.  He spends most of his time with us.”

So now that you know your child has his little scientist glasses on, observing you and others around him, making sense of the world and how to interact in it, how will you fill your day?  What opportunities for learning will you introduce in your child’s play?

Of course, many sources discuss “teachable moments.”  These are the times when your child is quiet and interested in what you have to say.  When you can pour knowledge directly onto your little one’s sponge of a brain.  Moments like these are found at the grocery store when a child asks, “Where does milk come from?” and you can actually answer him because he is sitting in the cart, attending to your every word. 

But you can’t count on teachable moments to appear out of no where.  What if they never come? What if I’m changing the baby’s diaper the moment my daughter wants to discuss quantum physics?  As parents, we must plan for teachable moments.  The National Association of the Education of Young Children refers to intentionality as the processes in which the teacher sets up her environment, curriculum, schedule and playtime with the intentions of instructing a particular topic.

When using intentionality in your parenting, children will of course take the lessons beyond what you had planned. That is the marvel of the creative mind.  An example of intentionality is when a parent takes her child to KinderJam.  You intend that the KJ class will include letters and numbers in an exciting way.  You are prepared to help your child count the 5 monkeys on his finger and to search letters on a letter mat.  The teachable moment  is when, for the first time, your child finds the letter G and says, “G is for Grandma.” You will be there to add, “That’s right! G has 2 sounds.  G in Grandma and G in Giraffe.  Do you remember going to the zoo and seeing a giraffe with Grandma?”  

Always remember that you are your child’s first and best teacher.  The bond you have with your little one qualifies you in a unique way to customize every learning opportunity just for her.  Treat playtime as learning time and have as much of it as possible!