Play-based learning professional learning package

Play offers children opportunities to engage with the world around them. Being intrinsically motivated and freely chosen, it allows children control over their actions and their learning. Play also helps children develop their self-regulation and problem-solving capacity, and it enriches their vocabulary and language skills.

Today, nearly 200 years after Froebel first argued for its importance in children’s lives, play remains an essential part of effective early childhood learning. This is reflected in the Early Years Learning Framework when it describes play as a ‘context for learning through which children organise and make sense of their social worlds, as they actively engage with people, objects and representations’.

This course will examine:

• what play is and why it is important in early childhood
• how significant play is for children’s learning and development
• the role of educators in supporting effective play-based learning
• how educators can balance intentional teaching with play-based approaches in a variety of early childhood settings
• the characteristics of play as well as the many aspects of play to be considered and planned for
• how to develop an argument in support of play-based programs.

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Play-based learning is a cornerstone of early childhood education. In recent years, the concept of intentional teaching has also gained momentum. This on-demand webinar discusses a new approach to balancing open-ended play with intentional teaching, using the Pedagogical Play-framework. According to the framework, three main types of play—open-ended, modelled and purposefully framed—can be used in multiple combinations to support young children’s learning.

This on-demand webinar will:

• help you understand the Pedagogical Play-framework and the relationship between open-ended, modelled and purposefully framed play
• introduce you to the theoretical ideas in the work of Vygotsky that underpin the Pedagogical Play-framework.

Get this webinar as a part of an annual subscription.

This introductory course is about the importance of outdoor learning in young children’s lives. It will inspire you to create an outdoor learning environment full of wonder, curiosity and active play that will stimulate healthy risk-taking and support the development of skills such as agency, self- resilience and confidence. The course will also explain the role of active play in the outdoors and help you facilitate experiences based on children’s interests and needs. You will discover theories and approaches to planning in outdoor learning environments and find out how to overcome challenges in different service settings and locations. You will also be introduced to the concept of ‘going beyond the gate’ and how to embed this into your early learning curriculum.

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According to architect Christopher Day, a building for small children must be magical and full of reverent wonder, like an ancient fairy tale.

The physical environment—often known as the ‘third teacher’—is a key factor underpinning good practice, and the way in which it is organised can shape children’s behaviour as learners. A carefully planned and well-organised environment can offer a range of learning experiences for children and adults alike.

In this on-demand webinar, Dr Luke Touhill talks about creating effective early learning environments that can capture the image of the child and shape the behaviour of both children and adults. He also examines what makes a successful learning environment.

In this course, you will:

• reflect on the thinking that goes behind the environments educators provide
• understand how the environment you provide reflects and supports your image of the child
• discover the ways in which the physical environment shapes the behaviour of children and adults.

Get this webinar as a part of an annual subscription.

Engineering creativity in loose parts play involves open-ended and easily manipulated materials that children can use to construct, deconstruct and transport, both to support them in developing working theories of the physical world and to augment their social and imaginative play.

Since Simon Nicholson first formally described this natural aspect of children’s play in 1971, understandings of loose parts play have widened and diversified. In contemporary research, it is considered to be completely without boundaries and mix easily with other kinds of learning.

This webcast will examine many practical examples of loose parts play using materials that are recovered, upcycled or drawn from nature. These include opportunities for loose parts play in infant and toddler spaces and in symbolic and imaginative play.

Special emphasis will be placed on provisions that are environmentally responsible, encourage co-operation and problem-solving, and are cheap as chips!

Learning outcomes

In this course, you will:

• Consider the notion of loose parts play.
• Examine practical instances of loose parts play.
• Consider loose parts play with young infants through to school-age children.
• View both Australian and international perspectives and practical implementation of loose parts play.

Get this module as a part of an annual subscription.