Play is the work of children and that's what this year's Make Children First Family Calendar is all about. Local kids & local talent bring this year's theme to life. If you don't already have a copy visit the library or the Health Unit to pick up your free copy.
Learning Through Play
By Brenda West
The 2010 Family Calendar has now been released. We hope families have their copies by now, but if you don’t, there are extra copies at the Health Unit and the Library. Inside you will find local children learning through play.
With the support of Port Alberni Parks and Recreation and Success by Six, The Alberni Valley Make Children First Network (MCFN) has now published their fifth family calendar.
Play is the work of children. They only really commit to playing with things they love. We know children learn best when they play but many of us adults limit what we think they learn to academic learning.
“Advertising helps feed into this kind of narrow focus when it shows young children joyfully learning to read or sort shapes or count by playing alone, with an electronic toy gadget.” All parents have only the best intentions for their children and do anything to help their children along. It’s easy to get caught up in “nothing but the best” to make our children smarter and stronger faster.
The MCFN Calendar Crew, would suggest it’s much simpler than that. A shovel with sand, a funnel and water, sticks and mud…Hmmm, what could our children learn? More often than not, they’re playing with other children and have to find ways to “communicate, respond, negotiate, problem solve and evaluate. Extraordinary learning happens during seemingly ordinary moments of play!”
Finland and Switzerland, countries who far surpass Canada in their investments in the Early Years, don’t even try to “go academic” until age seven. Instead, children are encouraged to explore, be curious and enjoy “unplugged” play. The BC Early Learning Framework promotes play experiences that optimize healthy physical and intellectual development. Play allows children to follow their natural curiosity as they make sense of the world around them.
Eye contact, cuddles, songs and rhymes begin babies on the path of feeling safe; safe enough to roll over to get that toy later on. As children grow, plastic containers and canned goods become castles and rockets; huge cardboard boxes become stores or a mechanic’s garage. Helping can be a form of play and learning if we make it fun…setting the table, raking leaves, and matching socks.
Outside, a bridge over a stream, a path covered with slugs and mushrooms, or puddles and fallen leaves help children explore natural settings, seasons, weather and momentum. Running, climbing and jumping show children the limits of their bodies and the realities of environment. Created games of “finding the pirate’s treasure” at the park or “I’m painting the fence” at home build imagination.
Parents have their ideas of what children need to learn and how to teach them but play is the one area of life in which children can take the lead. Keep it simple, follow their lead and you will be giving them the gift of life-long learning.
Quotes and much of this article are based on a team effort that resulted in the text within the 2010 MCFN Family Calendar. Thank you “Calendar Crew”!
