Features
The power of play By Third Grade Lead Teacher Caroline Dwight and Pre-K Associate Teacher Kim Martin
To fulfill Trinity School’s mission, we strive to provide deep and joyful educational experiences, ensure those experiences are developmentally appropriate, and connect those experiences to what is important in the life of a child. This core foundation for learning attracted us as teachers to Trinity and is what keeps us searching for more playful and meaningful activities. Through grade-level events and schoolwide activities, our students gain an understanding of their place in our community and their place in the world, all while playing! Play is one of the most crucial elements of human development. Playful, continuous interaction with the world allows children to develop voices to speak, legs to skip, and minds to think. When we notice students digging in the sandbox, pretending to be math teachers, and alternating hand beats on a drum, we can’t help but think of the neural pathways being brought to life through these meaningful play experiences. Educational play empowers students in
Pre-K students Scarlett Grace and Ellie engage in sand play together, growing peer relationships and sociability and increasing sensory skills.
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their learning and deepens their educational experiences, core pillars that support Trinity’s mission of each child reaching his or her unique potential as a responsible, productive, and compassionate member of our school and the greater community. Play is how our students connect to their peers, their classrooms, their school, and their world. Early Learner pirates declare, “Ahoy, matey!” Pre-K Olympians dart across finish lines. Kindergartners travel around the world, and First Graders bring animals to life. Each of these precious, joyful events fosters a sense of community and belonging while strengthening spatial awareness, scientific investigations, making friends, reading, and writing. Our young learners spend as much time as possible exploring in Trinity’s Discovery Woods. Playing in nature is integral for all Trinity students and allows them to connect to the world around them in structured and unstructured ways. From observing what the changing seasons bring to splashing through the creek, their outdoor play experiences grow their confidence and creativity. Early Learners Lead Teacher Pam Lauer says, “Play in nature is more about observations and having the time to make discoveries. It is hands-on learning and experiments to test ideas and predictions.”
