Click here to find out the benefits of learning through play. You'll gain tips on improving development and build your own learning through play lessons.

Fun counting activities to make learning enjoyable while building a strong numeracy foundation in your preschoolers.

Learning through play is not an added bonus, it is the most important type of learning for young children.

Playing outside is the best. Did you know playing outside is great for helping your kids learn, too? That's what we're chatting about on The Play. Learn. Thrive. Show this week.

Explore the power of intentional play! Tap into your creativity, enhance learning, and foster growth. Discover a fun, transformative experience today.

Learn play based learning benefits and why it's taking over traditional classroom learning. (Including practical tips to facilitate play based learning at home)

A collection of fun and educational shape activities for preschoolers to develop their early understanding of geometry.

Jean Piaget was a Swiss psychologist in the early 1900s. Read about how his theories of cognitive development reinforce the idea that children can learn through play in your educational setting.

Are you aware of the benefits of pretend play? It helps to develop social skills, problem solving abilities, and creative thinking.

Children move through six stages of play during early childhood development. Learn how language is associated with play levels.

This post may contain affiliate links. See our disclosure policy for details. You may be hearing over and over that learning through play is the best way to teach your young child. But what does that mean? And how to you encourage learning through play with your child? Read on for 5 ways to incorporate…

Learning Made Easy

24 Awesome quotes about kids playing, imagination, pretending and more.

Click here to find out the benefits of learning through play. You'll gain tips on improving development and build your own learning through play lessons.

Play-based learning for children is a crucial aspect of child development. Read 11 benefits and recommendations of play-based learning.

Play is important for child development! Play can aid so many areas, from social and literacy skills to cognitive and physical development. And it's fun!

Click here to find out the benefits of learning through play. You'll gain tips on improving development and build your own learning through play lessons.

Spring is a wonderful time of year to enjoy, explore and learn about the natural world, from new growth, buds and blossom of plants to animals nesting and raising young. Here are 30 fun and easy sp…

Some people think that play-based learning is a gamified lesson or school activity. That is why I investigated to list the elements that make play-based…

Ditch the formal activities and follow a play-based learning approach. Research shows that this is in fact the best way for a child to learn.

Learning through play is proven to be the best way for toddlers, preschoolers and young children to learn...

Learning Made Easy

So many ways to explore some extra creativity! These fun art challenges are perfect for kids and adults to stretch their imaginations!

In order to thrive, children need to play. Learning through play is central to child development. Find out why it is so crucial during early childhood.

This emotions activity for preschool and beyond is a fun way to break down emotions & start important conversations about feelings with kids!

Being a parent is both a huge responsibility and a wonderful gift - because, from day one, you are there to help them grow up and learn about the world around them. For many of us, we aren’t trained teachers and it’s been a loooong time since we were at preschool ourselves — so a

Click here to find out the benefits of learning through play. You'll gain tips on improving development and build your own learning through play lessons.

Play is an important part of teaching kids a new language but there's a way to do it well to maximise your child's language learning. Today I'm sharing some of my top tips to effective play.

From the beginning of the year until the end, these fun activities will get your students excited about learning. You should definitely go out and get some popsicle sticks for this.

The Benefits of Play-Based Learning We know your child’s development is a main focus of parenting. You buy the parenting books or try to find a schedule for your child, but what worked for your first child or your friend’s child doesn’t seem to work for the little one in front of you. You need to remember that no matter the child, development looks different. There is no “normal.” However, there is one guaranteed universal reality-- play helps every child learn. No matter where your child is in their development, the benefits of learning through play cannot be denied. Curious to learn more? Keep reading to find out the many benefits of play based learning! Benefits of learning through manipulative play Many people may not realize, but play comes in a variety of forms! The first type of play we’ll be discussing is manipulative play. Essentially, manipulative play is a fancy way of titling play where your child works with the toys around them, turning knobs, moving pieces, and/or adjusting certain parts all in order to make them fit. Manipulative play requires your child to manipulate the toys around them to accomplish a goal, working on a variety of important skills! The ToyVentive wooden activity cube is a great toy for manipulative play! Cognitively, your child works on their fine motor skills, the skills that require attention to detail and being able to work on tasks where you must focus in order to achieve the end goal. Other forms of manipulative play that are less detailed, such as pushing and pulling, help improve gross-motor skills! Improved problem solving, an important life long skill, is another benefit of utilizing manipulative play. Your child is faced with a goal that requires them to figure out how they must reach it through their physical environment. Additionally, your child works on their hand eye coordination as well as they will be using both their hands and eyes while working on their manipulative play! If you need some examples of manipulative play, here are some suggestions for you to try out! Work on puzzles! Puzzles require your child to find the proper pieces to fit in an exact spot, causing them to try out a variety of options that may or may not work. For more suggestions check out our blog post on play ideas with toddler peg puzzles! Play with a ball! A ball allows you to work on manipulative play through a variety of options! Kicking the ball, throwing the ball, and even dribbling the ball are all great ways to work on manipulative play with your child. Make jewelry! Placing beads or other materials onto a string is an awesome way to utilize manipulative play and end up with a fun product that your child can be proud of! The threading of the string through the bead highly develops your child’s fine motor skills. Benefits of learning through physical play Physical play occurs everyday and it may be what you are most familiar with! Whether your child is two or five, physical play tends to be a part of everyday life. However, there are varying levels of accessibility depending on your child’s age and abilities. Physical play does not have to be only what one typically thinks of, such as walking, as it is also activities your child performs through their feet, hands, and face. Not only is physical play good for your child’s health, but there are also a variety of benefits internally. Physical play, like manipulative play, works on hand eye coordination, fine motor skills, problem solving, and gross motor skills. Additionally, physical play works on your child’s balance, walking, running, and other physical skills that your child will use for the rest of their life. As we mentioned, physical play has different levels of ability. If your child has yet to reach a certain milestone, it is okay. If your child with a disability struggles with certain physical play, find a form of play that they love. All play is important, but not all play works for every child. Do your best to learn what activities your child loves and works best for them. Benefits of learning through role play Role play allows your child to develop important skills. Role play is a common form of play, especially during play time in school. Your child may excitedly tell you how they pretended to be a teacher or doctor while playing with friends. When this happens, you can ask them how exactly they performed this role. How did you act differently than your normal self? Did you think about your own doctor when playing this role? Did you enjoy playing this role? Would you want to become this role in real life? Learn more about how to encourage pretend play! Through role play, your child starts to gain a grasp on the social world around them. They begin to understand that certain people have certain jobs with different responsibilities such as a doctor helps heal them and that a mom or dad helps take care of their child. They begin to understand what it means to be professional versus how one acts around one’s family. Additionally, role play is a great way to teach your child important lessons through hypothetical situations. When discussing hypothetical situations, you help work on your child’s emotional development in addition to their own sense of empathy, both key skills in growing up and establishing relationships. At times, it can be hard for children to think about the feelings of those around them instead of their own. Using role play, your child is able to put themselves in the shoes of someone else, thinking about how they would feel if they were in a situation they may have yet to experience in real life. Additionally, your child works on their own abstract thought, a way of thinking that requires your child to understand concepts without a physical object in front of them. They begin to picture scenarios without needing a physical representation. Through role play, your child is put into a fictional situation where they must make choices using their own thoughts and beliefs. Benefits of learning through creative play The benefits of creative play cannot be stressed enough. Especially as a child, creativity is one of your only outlets to express your emotions. As a parent, creative play is a great way to understand how your child thinks and how they are feeling, as they may not have the words to express themselves blatantly. Creative expression helps you as a parent learn so much about your child such as if they are happy, what they enjoy, and what they are trying to say. Emotionally, your child is able to express themselves through art and toys that differ from their typically intended use. They are able to be creative without limits! Suddenly a simple puzzle piece of a lion has a name and story that your child actively plays out. The colors they choose to draw with may be more than meets the eye. Ask your child, “Why did you choose this color?”, “Are you sad today like your drawing?”, “Is there a reason you chose to draw rain drops instead of sunshine?”. Not only is your child able to openly express themselves, but you are able to get a glimpse into their internal thinking. In addition to emotion, creative play allows your child the opportunity to try new things without fear of doing something wrong or failing. When playing with your child, make sure to emphasize that there is no wrong way to be creative. Without this fear of embarrassment or failure, your child is able to openly express themselves and work on social, physical, emotional, and cognitive development! They may try out new words they’ve only ever heard before. They may try to formulate sentences. They may climb a tree that has scared them in the past. That’s the best part of creative play! You can act, draw, and play however you wish all while improving your self esteem! Want to learn more about the benefits of and how to promote creative play? Check out our guide to preschool creative play for more info, tips and ideas! In conclusion Overall, learning through play is so important. As you read, you saw that these different types of play often overlap! What is considered manipulative play may also be a form of physical and creative play! That’s one of the benefits of play in general-- your child is gaining so much through what we, as adults, see as a simple task. Play allows your child to work on a variety of developmental skills in a way that they both enjoy and benefit from. It can be difficult to try to teach your child certain skills, especially when they are too young for you to communicate verbally. Therefore, play allows you to bond with your child while working on important skills you want them to learn. The benefits of play based learning are endless. Together, you work on emotional, physical, social, and cognitive development without your child even realizing! The Benefits of Play-Based Learning

Here are the 16 best activities your kids should be involved in to get them reaping the full benefits of learning through play.

A kids pretend play market or grocery store is a wonderful way to encourage pretend play, creativity and imagination. Here's what you need to set one up and a..

Here parents will learn what play based learning is for preschool and kindergarten children and how to set up a quality play based learning space for home-schooling.

These are the stages and types of play that are so important for your child's development. Find out what your kids are learning during play.

This collection of play therapy techniques for autism includes super fun therapy toys and games to help you connect and engage with your child!

This post shares 5 simple, toddler and preschool-friendly ice cream-themed activities as well as 5 ice cream journal activity ideas great for preschoolers, and ice cream-themed book recommendations to go along with the play theme. These hands-on, play-based activities cover skills such as counting a

The importance of pretend play in child development has been studied for many years. It is something that should not be overlooked as pretend play is crucial for language development

The importance of playtime and how to add 6 daily habits to improve life for a healthier, happier year full of more play.

Writing is a vital skill that needs to be developed with practice and is essential in school. Read this post for tips on teaching your toddler to write.

You know that feeling you get after a long day of sitting at home and doing nothing apart from scrolling through Instagram and binge-watching Netflix? The point where that tiny voice at the back of

These educational activities for toddlers are fun and don't require much prep work. During a child's early years, educational activities do no mean worksheets