The Power of Play and its impact on early childhood learning

Learn from different early childhood theorists what play is all about, why play is so important, and how it helps to enhance young children's learning and development from birth.

Our first creative technique is designed to open up the imagination and, using nothing but a piece of paper and a drawing tool, build powerful bridges of communication between a child and an adult.

Our second creative technique will help you understand your children's perceptions of things, and will help your younger children articulate the ideas behind their play.

Our third playful technique explores a series of enquiry questions that are designed to facilitate, scaffold, extend and challenge children's play, and above all, transform it into something more meaningful for the child, and something that may not have happened without the support of these interventions.

Our fourth and final technique takes educators and children outside to explore ways to play using natural objects and materials. This approach will also make use of the three previous techniques, enabling you to put all your learning into practice as you go.

Here we describe how to use Earlyarts' Play Styles Observation Toolkit in a way that is easy to put into practice immediately with your children.

In revisiting the key points from this training, we hope you will take away a mindset and a toolkit bursting with ideas to help your children become more purposeful and immersed in their play.

Fell free to add your name and date of completion. Please contact us if you need your name typed on the certificate.