How does play support children's learning?

During the first couple of years, there's no distinction between playing and learning. The more children play with the objects in the world, the more children learn about them. Take shapes, for example: children learn that some things roll, and some things don't; some things stack into neat piles, and others don't. And size: children learn that little things fit into big things, but that the opposite isn't true.

When a child plays, they use their body as well as their senses, emotions, language and imagination. This 'rich' mix of experiences helps their learning. Plenty of rich play experiences creates a strong network of pathways in a child's brain. Billions of connections form in your child's brain during the early years a 3-year-old's brain is 80% of its adult size. By repeating rich play experiences, the brain connections become even stronger.

Development and learning are the result of interactive processes. Play is a safe place for children to integrate what's going on in each domain, to help them understand the world, how to interact with others socially, how to express and control their emotions and how to develop their symbolic capabilities.

During play children

• Practice new skills, make mistakes, try new things and try solving problems in their own unique way.
• Express and represent their ideas, thoughts and feeling.
• Learn how to resolve conflicts and gain a sense of competence in a safe place.
• Develop their imaginations and creativity which contributes to their overall cognitive development and competence.

Socio dramatic play provides children the opportunity to expand their language and literacy skills, experiment with different styles of interacting with people, and try out different roles for their interactions with others.