How To Create The Right Setup For
Learning Through Play
by Christiaan Ribbens, Alexa van de Wall and Yvonne Overmaat EDUCATIONAL PLAY is so powerful that a student does not experience or see the activity of learning as work or simply not fun. Hearing a student say “I don’t want to go back inside for class!” after playing Mathematics games outdoors for a full hour on the Yalp Memo activity zone shows how amazing the results can be when creating the right conditions for educational play. The Memo developed by Yalp, part of the Finnish based Lappset, started as a playground equipment product directed at Finnish primary schools, known for having one of the best educational sys-
tems in the world. Children here have little homework and there’s only a single mandatory test at the age of 16. Play is an essential child’s right in the Finnish Law on Early Childhood Education. It encourages 15 minutes of play for every 45 minutes of instructional learning. The expectations for a piece of playground equipment here are so much higher, to not only deliver on play value but also educational value. So how do you meet the wishes and desires of these highly revered educators? The key lies not only in the content but in how we create the perfect context for educational play.
8 PLAY AND PLAYGROUND MAGAZINE SUMMER 2020
By looking at worldwide educational systems, listening, and talking to many educators all around the world, we see that there are different methods and ways of teaching. 21st-century skills and STE(A)M are two often heard of teaching approaches on top of all the standard school curriculums and teaching methods. The content, order, and ways the topics are presented can be completely different even between two educators using the same methods. A fixed list or way to offer content is not the answer. Offering the content in a combination of physical, social, and free play with eduwww.playgroundprofessionals.com/magazine
