Play! Play! Play!

For my play this week I used the Daily Create website and I had the website choose a challenge at random. I saw a perfect opportunity with this challenge to advocate for something I feel is extremely important for children to experience at school throughout early childhood. Play is one of those areas in education that we have fluctuated on over the years. For a couple years it is very popular and many districts make an effort to include it in their daily schedule and then we hit a span of years where it no longer made a priority. I have felt very fortunate to begin my teaching career in a time when my district has embraced all of the research on play in early childhood. It is expected that I include at least 45 minutes of play each day. We call it play to learn. As a kindergarten teacher I know how much children learn from play. My students are currently learning social skills, problem solving skills, and currently learning how a restaurant works with my dramatic play center. But as mother I can tell you about numerous things my 2 year old learned through play. She learned how to count to 5 first using rubber ducks in the bath. We then expanded to 10 using other bath toys. It is simple yet so powerful.

Over the last 4 years of teaching kindergarten I admit providing opportunities for structure within play has been a personal creative outlet for me. I enjoy making my classroom fun and playful. I take my donated kitchen and rotate what it is every couple months. First its a restaurant, then during the winter it is an auto body shop, and in spring it is a flower shop. Simple creations and recreations can go a long way.