The Power of Play in Kindergarten

By Lauren So, Kindergarten Teacher

When you walk into a Kindergarten classroom at VCS, you’ll often see what appears to be children simply playing. And indeed, our youngest students spend time every day building with blocks, Legos, and Magna-Tiles; acting out dramatic scenarios; designing doll fashions; or other activities that may look like just fun to the untrained eye. But those who understand the power of play in early childhood recognize that both free play and guided play create important opportunities for students to increase their social, language/literacy, cognitive, and physical development.

Here are some of the critical early childhood development areas that are supported by play:

• Social skills, such as listening to directions, focusing attention, and resolving conflicts.

• Gross and fine motor skills.

• Language and literacy skills; students expand their vocabularies interacting with adults during play and refine their speech sounds by listening to others.

• Executive functioning skills, such as working memory, flexible thinking, and self-regulation, all of which are necessary for young children to learn, solve problems, follow directions, and focus attention.

• Early math skills, such as spatial concepts.

• Confidence, which can help students engage in more active play.

One of the ways I harness the benefits of play in my Kindergarten classroom is by ensuring the toys available are open-ended, meaning they can be used by children in many different ways. Close-ended toys like puzzles, board games, and electronic toys have a definite beginning and end, whereas materials like wooden blocks, Legos, or plain dolls promote creativity by relying on the child’s imagination.

Incorporating play into academic learning is equally important. For example, my students this year loved StoryMaking, which promotes early literacy through inquiry-based play that combines retelling, story creation, the Maker Movement, and the Reggio theory. At the beginning of the year, the students are introduced to loose parts and materials. They select some objects and props to independently explore, using them as inspiration to develop an imaginative story they then share with their classmates. As students become more comfortable with the StoryMaking process of Imagine, Play, Make, and Share, they begin to view themselves as sculptors, collagists, artists, and writers, and they are able to transition to writing their stories down on paper with confidence.

Similarly, when introducing a new math material, like geoblocks, my students’ Math teacher will engage them in an open-ended converstion, allowing them to share their thoughts and ideas without pressure. How are the students thinking about using this material? This approach empowers the children to showcase their creativity and build on their critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

Looking back on my own early school years, I remember learning in a whole-group setting with worksheets, pencils, and paper. This traditional method of learning felt limited and discouraging, exactly the opposite of the kind of fun that comes to mind when we imagine play. Luckily, today’s research into early childhood education clearly indicates that the dictionary definition of Play as an activity engaged in “for enjoyment and recreation rather than a serious or practical purpose” is actually quite misleading; in my Kindergarten classroom and many others across the world, enjoyment and recreation hold an essential place in the pursuit of all serious and practical purposes, and is in fact a serious and practical endeavor all its own.

Much has been said about the leadership role of 8th Grade students at VCS, but opportunities for leadership form an important piece of the student experience at every grade level. Examples abound: the Bridge Program, Book Buddies, K/1st Grade Choice Time, mixed-grade Recess, and the all-new Lower School Assemblies, to name a few. These experiences and many others begin preparing students to serve as leaders in the community long before their 8th Grade year—and equip them with the communication and advocacy skills to act as leaders long after they leave VCS.