Learning Through Play and Discovery

Information is available in abundance, but finding a starting point for knowledge acquisition can be overwhelming. An entry point needs to be established. Entry points typically start with questioning what’s around us. The types of questions that we ask determine the type of information that we seek and absorb. An educator’s primary objective should be to impart critical thinking skills by teaching their students how to question the world around them. This is imperative for fostering innovation and problem-solving in the next generation.

Children learn through play and discovery. They learn by imagining and doing. By the age of 2, children start to express themselves by using their imagination and curiosity. Using their imagination helps children to develop skills in many areas such as language development, social-emotional, and critical thinking. Have you ever observed a child playing with their action figures and creating an entire storyline, with each action figure having a role? That child is utilizing their imagination to project what they know and understand. Through play, they are able to unpack what they know and they are ultimately able to question things that they do not understand which creates an entry point for learning new things as well as finding answers to complex questions.

According to Jean Piaget, “Play is the answer to how anything new comes about.” In short, this quote suggests that children represent their understanding of new information through play. Piaget’s thoughts imply that as children grow and develop cognitively, play helps them to codify new correlations and theories. Children not only use play to showcase what they may have learned but to also experiment and test what they know. Play is not only recreational but it also is key in the cognitive development of children. We can learn a lot about a child based on how they play.