Children learn best through play. This is especially true during the early education years. There are many skills children grasp through play. Children are learning all the time and they learn the most when they are playing. This can be learning through pretend play, playing games, or even creating their own games with their own rules. The concepts that can be learned through play are endless.
Play is a child’s work. Yes, that is what I said. The experts have been saying this for years. It is time we started to listen. Play really is a child’s work. Why do I say this? Children learn a lot of skills and concepts they need in order to survive in life. This includes skills such as life skills, pre-reading, pre-writing, fine motor skills and so much more.
Learning through Playing House
Most homeschooling mothers will see the picture from above and immediately know that it comes from a child’s kitchen. They will remember when they used to play “house” and used a kitchen similar. Young girls learn about getting food, cooking, serving food, washing dishes, putting dishes away, and just how they like their own kitchen arranged. This even leads to interaction with other family members. Young girls are known to bring their prepared food to siblings or to parents for them to try and give feedback. Of course, they are expecting very positive feedback. In this case, even I would recommend providing positive feedback. This playing of “house” is a great learning moment to teach or introduce other concepts.
Basic concepts to teach with playing house include:
- Telling Time
- Making a Grocery List= Pre-writing and/or Writing Skills
- Life Skills= Preparing Food, Cooking, Serving Food, Cleanup, Dishes
- Can Slowly Introduce Budet for a Grocery List
- Take a Field Trip to a Real Grocery Store- Learn About Prices, etc.
- If Add a Store to Go Along with the Kitchen- Introduce Concepts of Money, Change, Time
Learning through Playing Store
If you add a store to playing house, it can expand the learning even further. Now, they can take their grocery list and go buy groceries. Of course, you can set up a small store with play food from almost anywhere including dollar stores. This teaches more skills all through play. They do not know they are learning. They are having fun. Some skills learned through using a store include the following:
- Taking a list from home and going to the store
- Learning how foods are categorized
- Learning the difference between fresh and canned
- Take a Field Trip to a Real Grocery Store- Learn About Prices, etc.
- If Add a Store to Go Along with the Kitchen- Introduce Concepts of Money, Change, Time
Learning through Playing Games
There is now a game to learn almost any skill. Games can easily be made by parents for skills a child needs more practice in developing. All a parent needs to do is search for the skill such as addition with the term board games and many popular games will come up in the search. Since children learn best through play, these games are a great way for your children to master concepts they are having a hard time understanding from books or worksheets. Plus, it is a way for the family to have some fun, laughs, and make memories. The thing is, the children won’t even know they are mastering a needed skill. They will remember the family time and the fun they had but will not understand the skills they also learned. That will be your little secret.
Skills that are Learned through Playing Games:
- One-to-One Relationship
- Math Skills= Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division, Keeping a Tally/ Score
- Reading= Through Specific Reading Games or Games which Require Some Reading to Do Actions, Sight Words
- Money= Even Being the Bank
- Life Skills
- Memory and Cognitive Skills
- Logic and Reasoning/ Improves Critical Thinking Skills
- Problem-Solving
- Increases Attenion Span and Concentration
- Boosts the Child’s Confidence
- Builds Social Skills
No matter what your child is playing, I am sure there are some concepts or life skills that the game or play is teaching him. From made-up games children love to create to playing manufactured board games, there are many skills to master. Games are a fun way to learn and a faster way to retain skills needed to succeed later in life.
Love this. Playing IS learning.