Hi guys and gals. I'm an early education major. My class mates have been debating about the importance of play in a school setting for young children. Its a long going study that children learn through play. It can give them opportunity to explore what they know or not know. I totally support play in school, but some of my class mates don't think its that good. So I ask you what is you stand in this area?

And why on Earth do they think that? Play is a natural means of learning for offspring of most species and humans are no exception. School is a place of learning, there to prepare young minds for the future, therefore it would only make sense that children should be able to play there as well. Not to mention, young minds have a higher tendency to wander and I'm sure most of us know that sitting in class for hours can get boring. They need the activity to get oxygen flowing to their brains so that they can be attentive when they get back to class. They need the break so that they can be more focused--it's much easier to be interested in and pay attention to something after taking a break and coming back to it. I see absolutely no reason why children should not be allotted playtime during school.

I believe that play helps them learn. There are three types of learners. Visual, Hearing, and Kinetic. Visual leaners leanr by seeing it. They can read it from a book, look at pictures, and understand it. Hearing learners learn by...well, hearing. They can listen to a teacher, a cd, something, and they can learn from it. Kinetic learners learn by doing. Sure, a teacher can explain and draw pictures of how to mold the perfect bowl from clay, but some of them wont understand how until they do it themselves. Some children learn better by playing.

Example: You tell a child not to eat dirt. It's bad. But they don't understand. Instead, they play with the dirt, and eat it. They soon find out that it does not taste all that good, and they might even get sick by it. Now, this is not necessarily the best of examples because we all know that whether or not they find out it's bad, children will still go and eat the dirt or paste or whatever.

So yes, I believe children learn by playing.

Plus, if it is not fun, young children will not retain things as well.

Of course it helps them learn. it gets oxygen flowing to their brains and offers them a break from heavy study (as was said above)
And in my opinion, it teaches social skills and how to have fun.
to me, having fun is one of the most important skills, because life can be fun if you make it that way.

I think play is important, as long as the game is an educational one that ties into the lesson plan for the day. It would just be another way of reinforcing the lesson, and the more ways you can learn something, the more you will remember it. Repetition is necessary for learning, and play would make it fun.