Play is a fundamental part of learning in Kindergarten at ASH. In the Kindergarten classrooms of Ms. Kerri and Ms. Sarah, “free choice time” is when some of our youngest students explore play with different friends and materials.

 

This is where a train track building game might become an exploration of mathematics and design; and a pretend supermarket can inspire language. As Ms. Sarah and Ms. Kerri share, “play helps develop the persistence, creativity and flexible thinking that underpin lifelong learning.”

 

 

For children entering a new school community, play can be an especially powerful bridge to friendship. A child who may not yet feel comfortable joining a large conversation can begin by building alongside another child or joining an imaginative game. “A shared activity can become the beginning of a friendship.”

 

As children play together, they practise taking turns, sharing ideas, resolving disagreements and working towards common goals. Just as importantly, they discover that they have something valuable to contribute. Whether they bring a new idea to a game, share a song from home or help solve a problem, children begin to see themselves as capable members of their community.

 

 

Play also provides a natural environment for communication in ASH’s multilingual and multicultural community. “Children do not need to share the same first language to play together,” Ms. Kerri and Ms. Sarah explained. For children learning in more than one language, play offers opportunities to use language naturally and with purpose. They might explain the rules of a game, negotiate roles in an imaginary restaurant or describe what they are building.

 

Sometimes, children combine languages, gestures and other forms of expression to make themselves understood. In these moments, communication becomes less about getting the words exactly right and more about connecting with others. Play creates space for children’s home languages and cultural experiences to become part of the shared classroom community.

 

 

Teachers play an important role by carefully observing when to step in and when to give children space. They may introduce vocabulary, ask a question or offer new material, while ensuring children retain ownership of their ideas and discoveries.

 

Perhaps one of the most rewarding parts of play is seeing so many different kinds of learning unfold at the same time. During play, teachers can witness children making progress in ways that are deeply personal and meaningful: creating huts for stuffed-toy beavers and working together to make them just right; developing intricate storylines around the dollhouse or play kitchen; expressing ideas through drawing and painting; or carefully organising boxes of dinosaurs and animals into their own categories.

 

In these moments, we see children thinking. We witness them communicating, creating, organising, negotiating and solving problems; as well as how their confidence grows, and how their interests and personalities are beginning to emerge.

 

At ASH, play is much more than a part of the Kindergarten day. It is a window into how children learn, connect and grow; and often gives us the opportunity to step back, observe and celebrate the many ways each child is finding their place in our community.