The Importance of Play

Mary Fetter, Austin, Texas

During the many years I was the director of an early childhood center, I was often asked by parents, “When will my child learn letters and numbers?” My answer would always be “preschool children learn through play” (not rote learning). Throughout many of these years, however, I did not fully understand how this was accomplished.

As I gained understanding, I learned that the brain acts as a sensory processing machine, and the network of nerve cells are linked together and built up though constant stimulation. This stimulation is gained through sensory motor activities (play). Until around age seven years, this sensory motor stimulation is how we learn. From there, the mental and social aspects of development replace the sensory motor activities which allows academics, such as reading and math, to be learned with ease.

Through exploration and experimentation (using all the senses), a young child begins to make sense of the world around them. Movement is the key here. This happens as a child touches, listens to, smells, tastes, and sees whatever is in the environment. This nourishes the brain and develops the nerve network. This is a very simplified explanation, so I hope it will encourage you to read and find out more about how learning occurs.

What does this mean for our early childhood centers? We as the adults, must set up the environment for these types of experiences. It isn’t hard! Activities are usually fun for us as well as for the children. Activities that children are easily engaged in are those that build on what they already have experienced. So, themes such as animals (pets, zoo, farmyard), family, foods, plants, and others like these, are easy for children to build experiences on and expand on what they know. When as many senses as possible are involved in these activities (walking like animals, holding animals, planting seeds and feeling the soil, watching the plants grow, tasting foods), the brain is being nourished and nerve networks are being developed.

A leaning center environment is also important. Children are able to manipulate a variety of objects (blocks, books, puzzles, legos, dolls, water/sand in a table, foods for tasting/cooking). When it comes to art items (paint, paper, crayons, glue) it is the process of creating (manipulating the medium) that nourishes the brain, not the end product itself.

Movement activities are essential whether they are in the classroom, a gym, or outside.

Children develop balance beginning as infants (holding their head up). This must continue as children grow. Walking on a balance board or a line of masking tape on the floor encourages this.

Children must learn where their body is in relation to things around them. Catching/throwing a ball, crawling through a tunnel, traveling through an obstacle course (over, under, around), freezing when the music stops, are all ways to practice where one’s body is in space.

As movements occur, the muscles, tendons and joints are sending sensations to the brain. So jumping, pushing, pulling, carrying, hanging and stomping are accomplishing this.

Rolling, swinging (back and forth, and spinning on a tire), and twirling are activities that stimulate the inner ear, which in turn sends the stimulation to the brain.

Bubble blowing exercises the cheek muscles, and chasing them to pop is great for practicing where my body is in relation to the bubble. A whiffle ball hanging on a string can be hit with a hand or a paddle. This is also a fun way to practice where a child’s body is in relation to the ball.

Problems occur in the early childhood classroom for various reasons. The classroom environment, or the activities may not be developmentally appropriate, or the problem could be related to over-sensitivity of the child’s neurological system. For example, a touch may be perceived as a hit, so retaliation occurs. Another child may be too close, so pushing occurs. Fluorescent lights may hurt a child’s eyes, so they need a hat, or they may retreat under tables. Noise may seem very loud, so a child becomes loud or irritated. Food textures may cause a child to dislike that food or cause other lunch table problems. Smells may be problematic, causing children to avoid certain activities or areas of the classroom. Too many items hung from the ceiling or stapled to the walls may cause restlessness. Because of these sensitivities, we need to modify the activity so the child can still benefit from the sensory experience, rather than interpreting the reaction as a defiant behavior. We, as adults, make our own modifications when engaging in a learning experience or when we need to focus on an activity. We swing a crossed leg, bounce a leg up and down on the ball of the foot, chew gum, doodle, fiddle with or chew on a pencil, or shift our body in the chair. Adults use socially accepted ways of accomplishing this, but children do whatever they need to do!

It is our responsibility as early childhood educators to appropriately implement these sensory motor activities in our classrooms in order to build a neurological foundation for our preschool children. By doing this, we give them the skills they need to transition into a more academic environment. Problems may occur in the elementary classroom if the sensory motor development is not completed. This causes the child to continue seeking the sensory motor stimulation when the focus should now be on the mental (academic) and social responses. This leads to frustration and behavioral difficulties may appear.

This was thought about long ago. Albert Einstein once said; “Learning is experience. Everything else is just information.” Isn’t it ironic that this idea came from an academic genius!

This is why our job as early childhood educators (facilitators) is extremely important. We are to help children become who God intends them to be. By providing developmentally appropriate activities, we are allowing the children to develop and nourish their neurological systems. This is begun in preschool with the use of play, and continues throughout all other learning experiences in life.

For your neurological nourishment here are a few resources on the topic:

Sensory Integration and the Child  by A. Jean Ayres, PhD
Smart Moves; Why Learning Is Not All In Your Head by Carla Hannaford, PhD
The Out-of-Sync Child by Carol Stock Kranowitz, M.A

Mary Fetter is a former preschool director and ELEA National Board Member.
She can be reached at
maryfetter@aol.com.

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