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An introduction to Play Pedagogy

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Play Pedagogy - An introduction Jan 2025

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Sway: Create and share interactive reports, presentations, personal stories, and more.

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Sway is an easy-to-use digital storytelling app for creating interactive reports, presentations, personal stories and more. Its built-in design engine helps you create professional designs in minutes. With Sway, your images, text, videos, and other multimedia all flow together in a way that enhances your story. Sway makes sure your creations look great on any screen.

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SLF online 2021 Play Pedagogy - SEIC Pedagogy Pioneers

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Twelve features characterising a Froebelian approach to childhood play

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Education Scotland Early Level Play Pedagogy Toolkit - Thinglink

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Education Scotland Early Level Play Pedagogy Toolkit - Thinglink

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Early Level Play Pedagogy Toolkit | Resources | National Improvement Hub (education.gov.scot)

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James Cook (HT) Highland Council Cawdor primary school and ELC explains how the school has engaged with national practice guidance Realising the Ambition with a specific focus on the child centred pedagogy in practice cycle

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James Cook (HT) Highland Council Cawdor primary school and ELC explains how the school has engaged with national practice guidance Realising the Ambition with a specific focus on the child centred pedagogy in practice cycle

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ELC/Early Years - Play Pedagogy at Cawdor Primary & ELC

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Who is this for?

Leaders and practitioners across all settings.

When HM Inspectors visited Aberdour Primary School and Nursery Class in Fife Council last session, they found highly-effective play pedagogy in Primary 1 which supports children's curiosity and enquiry in learning. Observations are used well to plan next steps in learning. Well-judged responsive and intentional planning ensures children receive their entitlement to a full curriculum, where learning is exciting and challenging. The key themes from Realising the Ambition are very much in evidence in the practice being shared.
PDF file: Aberdour Primary School - sketchnote - October 2020 (1.9 MB) PDF file: Aberdour Primary School - blog (944 KB) PDF file: Aberdour Primary School - recovery update (1 MB)
A sketchnote has been developed to capture some of this work. The acting headteacher has developed a blog which tells how the school has developed its approach to play pedagogy. The recovery update reflects on what has changed and what may be developed further as the school progresses though this recovery year.

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Education Scotland is a Scottish Government executive agency responsible for supporting quality and improvement in Scottish education.

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Fife play pedegogy toolkit- a school's play journey

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Fife play pedegogy toolkit- a school's play journey

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Thank you to the practitioners and schools who have shared their play journey.
Watch the video from Hayley maclaren about her play journey when teaching at canongate primary school

Watch the video from commercial primary school to hear their play journey

Watch the video from Dalgety Bay primary school to hear their play journey through creative Pedagogy

Watch the video from DYCE primary school, Aberdeen, to hear about play from P1 TO P7. THis presentation was shared at the playfest in june 2023.
If you would like to share your practice, please contact dean.black@fife.gov.uk and join our Empowering Play Pedagogy Learning Community on Glow Teams using the following code - 30bkar9.

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Thank you to the practitioners and schools who have shared their play journey. Watch the video from Hayley maclaren about her play journey when teaching at canongate primary school Watch the video ...

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The audit will help you identify a focus area for your school or own development. Once you have completed this audit, you should then look at the areas or themes which have been highlighted as a result. You can then match these to the various menus/subsections on the toolkit. Please bear in mind that there will be relevant content in a number of different menus/subsections. Each section of the audit contains statements for you to reflect on your progress, identify actions/next steps and record evaluations and evidence. For recording progress, you can use a code (NS for Not Started, D for Developing or E for Embedded) or can colour code in traffic light fashion (Red for Not Started and so on). Using colours may help to identify areas of development at a quick glance and allow you to filter and sort the statements. In terms of identifying actions or next steps, it may be useful to focus on a limited number of statements. It is advisable to treat this audit as a working document, and it should be used to record evaluations, evidence and comments on progress as a matter of course. This will encourage revisiting the audit tool, and also reflecting on the 'Progress' column. Some actions may have an impact in the short term, where others may remain a focus for the course of the whole session; however, it is important that priorities are re-assessed on a regular basis. The audit can be accessed and used as a Word Document or Excel Spreadsheet. Click on the links below to download the version that you would like to use: Play Pedagogy Audit Word Play Pedagogy Audit Excel Watch the video below on how to use the Excel version of the audit.

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The audit will help you identify a focus area for your school or own development. Once you have completed this audit, you should then look at the areas or themes which have been highlighted as a re...

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Forth Valley and West Lothian How Good is our play for learning

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Forth Valley and West Lothian How Good is our play for learning

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The Fife Spotlight Papers support school leaders and staff with self-evaluation, school improvement, individual and collective professional learning. There have been two spotlight papers for Play Pedagogy. The first is a position paper on the importance of play in early learning. The second is a spotlight paper on the principles of Promoting Play Pedagogy. To view the papers, use the arrows to turn the page, you can zoom in or view the papers in full screen. To download, click the links below: Play Pedagogy - Position Paper Promoting Play Pedagogy Spotlight Paper

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The Fife Spotlight Papers support school leaders and staff with self-evaluation, school improvement, individual and collective professional learning. There have been two spotlight papers for Play P...

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The Fife Spotlight Papers support school leaders and staff with self-evaluation, school improvement, individual and collective professional learning. There have been two spotlight papers for Play Pedagogy. The first is a position paper on the importance of play in early learning. The second is a spotlight paper on the principles of Promoting Play Pedagogy. To view the papers, use the arrows to turn the page, you can zoom in or view the papers in full screen. To download, click the links below: Play Pedagogy - Position Paper Promoting Play Pedagogy Spotlight Paper

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The Fife Spotlight Papers support school leaders and staff with self-evaluation, school improvement, individual and collective professional learning. There have been two spotlight papers for Play P...

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Glasgow City + West Partnership Child Centred Practice

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Glasgow City + West Partnership Child Centred Practice

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Effective Learning Child-Centred Pedagogy - The West Partnership

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" We provide both responsive and intentional learning for children in our day-to-day practice.By this we mean that we constantly respond to the needs of young children alongside planning and implementing intentional experiences to help them develop their skills, knowledge and understanding of the world around them." ...

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Throughout your play journey you will have questions. Below we have tried to answer some of most common questions about play pedagogy. Remember you can join the Empowering Play Pedagogy Learning Community to ask your questions and build professional connections across the authority. Q: Why is play pedagogy important?
A: Read through our Why play? page and explore the national and local guidance from the menu. This will help to explain the importance of play in education and childhood.
Q: Isn't play just 'downtime'?
A: Using words such as 'downtime' devalues play and doesn't take into account the benefits of play for learners. It is important that we see play as part of learning.
Q: Is play pedagogy just for P1?
A: No, play pedagogy is for all ages and stages. Many schools embed play from P4 and up by exploring creativity and problem solving.
Q: How do I fit in play around teaching?
A: It is important to not think about play as something to fit in around your teaching. Use play to support your teaching and the learning experiences in your classroom. Explore our Planning, Learning Environment and Curriculum to support you in planning for play.
Q: How do I assess play?
A: Explore our Assessment and Observation page and menu to find out how to assess and observe learners during their play.
For further Frequently Asked Questions, see the document below shared by Highland Council.

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Throughout your play journey you will have questions. Below we have tried to answer some of most common questions about play pedagogy. Remember you can join the Empowering Play Pedagogy Learning Co...

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Lego Foundation

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Ready to play?

When children play, they learn. They solve problems, think strategically, relate to others, and manage life's ups and downs. Play helps children learn how to learn - and love learning. We've gathered some of our favourite games. You can play them anywhere - using things you find at home.

More activities

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We're here to convince the grown-ups. Because play is something every child, everywhere in the world can do. It fuels curiosity, sparks creativity, and inspires a lifelong love of learning. Children who play pick up all kinds of skills to thrive today - and lay the foundations for a happier, healthier life tomorrow.

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East Dunbartonshire Council Training PPT

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East Dunbartonshire Council Training PPT

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A Pedagogy of Play - Project Zero Harvard University Research Group

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A Pedagogy of Play - Project Zero Harvard University Research Group

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Excellent, up to date research, toolkits and support for teaching and learning, include whole school development, editable PPTs to support Play Change. Link to supporting hard copy book from worldwide research: A Pedagogy of Play: Supporting playful learning in classrooms and schools | Project Zero (harvard.edu)

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Play is central to how children learn-the way they form and explore friendships, the way they shape and test hypotheses, and the way they make sense of their world. Much is known about how play supports learning, yet little empirical research has explored what it might mean to put play at the center of formal schooling. In 2015, the Pedagogy of Play (PoP) research project began investigating the nature of playful learning in schools. Funded by the LEGO Foundation, the project focuses on three core questions: Why do educators need a pedagogy of play? What does playful learning look and feel like in classrooms and schools? How do educators set up the conditions where playful learning thrives?

The answers to these questions can be found in our new book, A Pedagogy of Play: Supporting playful learning in classrooms and schools! You can access a free PDF of the book, or you can purchase a physical copy of the book via the Lulu website.

We began our research with the International School of Billund (ISB) in Denmark, a school whose mission is designed around learning through play. Our research with ISB inspired a working set of playful learning principles, practices, and tools; pictures of practice (stories illustrating playful learning in action); and the beginnings of a pedagogy of play framework. We also developed a research methodology for examining and enhancing playful teaching and learning. Recognizing the cultural variations of learning and play, we expanded our research to include schools in South Africa, the United States, and Colombia. In each context, we sought to understand what playful learning looks and feels like.

On the tabs of this web page, you can find more details about our research, including some key ideas, resources for teachers and administrators to develop or enhance their playful learning practices, and resources for teacher educators who wish to support pre-service or in-service teachers in cultivating playful classrooms and schools. We also invite you to explore our blog popatplay.org, which offers team reflections and activities, stories of playful practice, and insights and experiences from practitioner and research colleagues who support learning through play.

Since 2015, we have been investigating the relationship between play and school. A growing body of evidence demonstrates that play supports children's social, cognitive, emotional, and physical development, and that there is a positive connection between enjoying learning and academic success. But integrating playful practices into school, or embracing play as a strategy for learning, has proven challenging. In part this is due to paradoxes that arise when play and school intersect:

In play, children are in charge. At school, the adults typically set the agenda.

Play can be chaotic, messy, and loud. Schools often need to be orderly and quiet.

Play often involves taking risks. Schools aim to keep children safe.

Both statements in each bullet above are true, and both statements of each bullet should be honored. These paradoxes are the underpinning of why a pedagogy of play-a whole school approach to examining, discussing, and supporting playful learning and teaching-is critical.
Six Core Principles of Playful Learning
Based on literature reviews of learning and play, insights from educators and researchers around the globe, and practitioner action-research with playful teachers and school leaders in Denmark, South Africa, the U.S., and Colombia, our research team developed six core principles of playful learning:

1. Play supports learning

2. Playful learning in school requires play with a purpose

3. Paradoxes between play and school add complexity to teaching and learning

4. Playful learning is universal yet shaped by culture

5. Playful mindsets are central to playful learning

6. Supportive school cultures enable playful learning to thrive

These principles form the foundation of a pedagogy of play. You can read more about each principle in our book, linked on the Overview page.
Playful Learning Indicators
It is easier to talk about, plan for, and assess playful learning with colleagues who share an understanding of what playful learning means. Together with educators, we co-created working definitions of what playful learning looks and feels like in their own contexts. Through interviews with educators and students, observations, focus groups, study group discussions, and examining documentation of student learning, we developed site-specific, culturally relevant maps of playful learning. If you hover over the points marked on the map below, you can see these Indicators of Playful Learning for each site:

For each model, playful learning is represented at the intersection of the indicators; in other words, playful learning is likely to occur when all three indicators are present. The models are explored in depth in our working papers. Educators have used these indicators to develop a whole school approach to playful teaching and learning appropriate for their setting. Perhaps not surprisingly (after all, playful learning is universal), the models also share features across contexts. Looking across our four sites, we noticed patterns and developed a cross-cultural model of playful learning indicators.

The cross-cultural indicators provide a starting point for educators and school communities interested in exploring what playful learning looks and feels like, and how they might foster a pedagogy of play in their school. If you are interested in digging deeper or co-creating your own playful indicators, the Playful Learning Indicator Guide: A Weekly Handbook for Research Teams can be found on the For Educators tab on this website.
Playful Learning Practices & Strategies
How can educators set up the conditions where playful learning thrives? Based on extensive classroom observations and interviews across sites, consultations with key thought partners, a review of literature (including related pedagogies such as inquiry and project-based learning), and our own prior research and experiences in the classroom, we identified the following key practices and strategies that support playful learning and teaching across ages and contexts:

Practices

Strategies

Empower learners to lead their own learning

Get to know your learners

Involve learners in decision-making

Reflect on learning with learners

Build a culture of collaborative learning

Use play to build relationships

Facilitate purposeful conversations to build knowledge

Foster a culture of feedback

Promote experimentation and risk-taking

Design open-ended investigations

Encourage risk-taking as a strategy for learning

Encourage imaginative thinking

Share stories to engage and enhance learning

Use role-play and pretend scenarios

Provide materials and experiences that engage the senses and the body

Ask questions that invite curiosity and imaginative thinking

Welcome all emotions generated through play

Design for joy

Use play to explore complex issues

Support learners in working through frustration

Click here for an expanded description of these practices and strategies which, along with related tools, can be found on the For Educators tab and in our book.
Playful Participatory Research
To promote playful learning for children and older learners, it's important for the adult learning community to also embody and engage in playful learning. We developed Playful Participatory Research (PPR) as a research and professional development approach for educators to reflect on their playful practice. PPR is a form of action research in which teachers collect data, analyze results, and use the knowledge to develop or deepen playful teaching and learning in their own schools. PPR provides opportunities for teachers to play with ideas, take risks, and explore new possibilities, and it provides school communities the opportunity to come together for conversations about a pedagogy of play. You can read more here about our collaboration with the International School of Billund and the impacts of PPR. If you want to learn more and try PPR in your school, you can find a link to the Playful Participatory Research Guide: An Interactive Workbook on the For Educators tab on this website.

One of our goals is to help educators-classroom teachers, teacher leaders, and administrators-incorporate more playful teaching and learning into daily practice. Here, we offer specific tools and resources that support a pedagogy of play.

The Educator Toolbox includes an overview of the playful learning practices and strategies, and eighteen related tools appropriate for all ages and contexts. We invite you to adapt the tools (with integrity!) to fit your needs.

We also offer two guides and accompanying workbooks, designed for educators interested in conducting their own playful research (and research playfully!). The first is the Playful Participatory Research (PPR) Guide: An Interactive Workbook, developed by the Pedagogy of Play research team as a way to support educators' playful learning. PPR is a type of practitioner inquiry or teacher research-research done by educators. It is a reflective and playful way for members of a learning community to explore learning through play together, through collecting and discussing data, analyzing it together, and applying what is learned. The PPR Guide provides an overview of the process, an interactive workbook to play with, and some additional resources to support the research.

The Playful Learning Indicator Guide: A Weekly Handbook for Research Teams helps educators co-create their own definition of playful learning. Modelled after the research process of Pedagogy of Play, the guide is helpful for any team of educators interested in better understanding what playful learning looks and feels like in their classrooms and school.

Welcome to the Pedagogy of Play (PoP) teacher education resource webpage. Here you will find materials for a 14-session course to introduce pre-service teacher candidates to playful learning.

These materials were created with the support, collaboration, and feedback from over 30 teacher educators from around the world. Feel free to adapt them as you see fit, using all or some of the course sessions. The material can also be adapted to use with in-service educators to promote their professional learning. Below, you will find:

An instructor guide with detailed information about each course session

A course syllabus that can be shared with teacher candidates

PowerPoint slides for each course session

Suggested Readings

Resources, such as Activity Cards and Assignments that supplement information in the instructor guide, and a library of classroom videos from a range of age groups and geographies that are referenced in the syllabus to promote discussions of playful learning

Act 1 Why do we need a Pedagogy of Play?

Act 2 What does learning through play look and feel like in different cultural contexts?

Act 3 How can we promote a Pedagogy of Play?

Project Info

FUNDER: The LEGO Foundation

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Play is central to how children learn-the way they form and explore friendships, the way they shape and test hypotheses, and the way they make sense of their world. Much is known about how play supports learning, yet little empirical research has explored what it might mean to put play at the center of formal schooling.

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What is play?

Play is multi-faceted, complex and dynamic, eluding easy definition. It is usually felt to be a universal activity and children are often portrayed as having an inherent desire and capacity to play.

Play has been defined as an activity that is:

characterised by engagement and engagement, with high levels of involvement, engrossment and intrinsic motivation

imaginative, creative, and non-literal

voluntary or freely chosen, personally directed (often child-initiated) and free from externally imposed rules

fluid and active but also guided by mental rules and high levels of metacognition and metacommunication (communication about communication) which give it structure

process-driven rather than product-driven, with no extrinsic goals

Play can take different forms, with common categories that can and do overlap within an given episode of play. These include exploratory play with objects, physical play, pretend, fantasy or dramatic play, games and puzzles and other play involving explicit rules, constructive play (including artistic and musical play), language play (play with words and other features of language such as rhyme) and outdoor play.

Play can also be categorised in relation to the relative amount of power and control afforded to the players:

Free or 'pure' play: Children have all the control, and adults are passive observers

Guided play: Teacher-child collaboration, with the child's interests foregrounded

Playful teaching: The teacher is in charge

These three kinds of play are associated with different outcomes and are relevant to teachers in determining the kinds of play, or combinations of kinds of play, to offer within school and early childhood settings.

What is free play?

Free play is child-initiated and child-directed. Children choose their activities and focus, enabling unconstrained freedom of expression and open-ended interactions with their environment. Play is initiated, sustained and developed by children, free of adult influence, although this does mean that it focuses on ideas, content and language that are already familiar and known to children. Some researchers question the extent to which free play is truly free, as children's choices about what, how, where and with whom to play may be influenced by the play environment and its associated rules and boundaries (which are controlled by adults), and the choices of others about what to play. Gender, ethnicity, social class and disability may also affect their patterns of participation.

What is guided play?

Guided play (also called 'scaffolded play' or 'mutually directed' play) is child-centred and goal-directed. Guided play invites children's active engagement, free exploration and direction of play, but also has clear learning goals so that play behaviours are limited in useful ways and distraction is reduced. Children's initiatives, reflections, choices, and creativity are important as a context for teachers to extend children's knowledge, understanding and skills. They allow teachers to naturally integrate desired learning outcomes with children's play and infuse play with new and unfamiliar content and ideas. Teachers are sensitive and responsive to children's interests and interactions while maintaining a focus on learning goals through deliberate, purposeful, and intentional teaching strategies. These might include commenting on discoveries, offering feedback, demonstrating use of equipment, reinforcing specific vocabulary or helping the child explore new strategies for problem-solving, within the context of the activities that children are constructing.

Teachers also initiate and co-construct play with children. They might design a learning activity that incorporates a child's specific interest, or choose themes and contexts for dramatic play that is based on children's interests or significant events and links to specific learning objectives. Teachers and children collaboratively design the context of the play, including the theme and its resources, and then children develop their play within the rules and actions of that context.

What is teacher-directed play?

Teacher-directed play involves teacher-determined activities, outcomes and modes of engagement. Teachers use a playful, engaging manner to develop children's academic skills and knowledge, focusing on playful learning processes, fun and enjoyment, and the use and development of children's creativity to invite children's active engagement. However, unlike free and guided play, teachers retain tight control over what occurs, outlining specific rules of play for children to follow, specifying how children are expected to engage in the activities, and generally structuring activities within a given time frame to ensure specific learning outcomes.

The development of play

During early childhood, children's play becomes increasingly complex, involving high levels of organisation and requiring increasingly sophisticated social, physical and cognitive skills. Although all children engage in a range of different play types, some are more prevalent at different ages. Infants and toddlers engage in exploratory and social play (such as 'peek-a-boo'). Exploration precedes play, and is a time of gathering information and discovering the properties and attributes of an object, situation or idea. Toddlers develop 'functional play' involving the repetition of particular physical actions and early pretend play.

With the development of imagination, older children engage in constructive play, pretend play and language play. They demonstrate increasing problem-solving skills, language, and collaboration, and show increased attention to processes, structures, and outcomes. They are highly intentional in their activity, and better able to combine and use materials in more complex ways. Sociodramatic play, involving cooperation and the coordination of play between two or more children, usually begins when children are 4 or 5 years old, and is cognitively demanding as children simultaneously hold in mind what they have negotiated for their role and character, the other children's characters and what has been agreed as the plot, as well as what different objects represent.

Does play lead to effective learning?

Research into the effectiveness of play for supporting children's learning is complex, given contrasting definitions and conceptualisations of play and its different types, the overlap between play types, and outside influences on play such as the environment or structuring and involvement of adults. Play is a complex activity with many integrated dimensions that each have a potential impact on children's outcomes, making it difficult to separate out play as an influence on learning. Play may include particular kinds of adult interactions, or engage children in specific content, and it may be these features of children's play that are responsible for learning gains, rather than play itself.

The current research does not make it possible to determine whether play is crucial to development, whether it is merely one way to promote development alongside others which may work as well or even better, or whether play is a byproduct of other capacities that are the actual source of children's learning and development, such as social intelligence or language skill. Many studies of the impact of play on learning are found to have methodological weaknesses and there is a lack of replication of findings between studies that have small and relatively homogeneous samples. Some of the research findings directly conflict each other, and lead to opposing recommendations for practice.

However, much of the research concludes that play is a powerful learning mode and central to children's learning. Play integrates children's experiences, knowledge and representations in order to help them create meaning and sense and to understand the world. Pretending requires children to think of things that are not actually present, a skill required in many learning and life situations. The impact of play is multifaceted, supporting cognitive, emotional, social and physical development including:

Benefits for well-being, including higher self-efficacy, higher expectations for one's success, intrinsic motivation, and positive attitudes towards the early childhood setting or school.

Academic/cognitive benefits: play supports exploratory skills and discovery, the use of abstract thought and symbols, communication and oral language skills, verbal intelligence, imagination and creativity, and reading, writing and mathematics. Play also encourages important learning dispositions, engagement and participation and the integration of different cognitive processes. Play develops self-regulatory executive function skills (such as controlling attention, suppressing impulses, flexibly redirecting thought and behaviour, and holding and using information in working memory), metacognitive skills and problem-solving.

Social and emotional benefits including social skills such as making friends, empathy, expressing emotion, and conflict resolution. Play can also build resilience.

Physical benefits in terms of the development of large and small body muscles and motor skills, while the physicality of play is associated with improved cognitive function, behavioural and cognitive control, and academic achievement.

Is one kind of play pedagogy more clearly linked to positive outcomes?

Both free play and more guided and directed approaches are found to foster achievement. In general, research that focuses on developmental outcomes finds free play significant, whereas research that focuses on academic outcomes finds guided and teacher-directed play more effective. However, some research comparing play-based approaches finds no significant difference in children's learning through free play, guided play and teacher-directed play.

Free play has been found to support a number of more general learning outcomes. It supports:

socioemotional development, particularly self-regulation, and social skills

creativity and imagination

problem-solving and persistence

engagement in literacy activities (where literacy materials are embedded in play scenarios and environments)

general cognitive development (through activities such as planning, problem-solving and comprehension)

Free play may be less useful for learning content, developing key concepts, or for supporting children to focus on important dimensions of new learning. Free play can vary in quality, lack challenge and limit learning opportunities. The research suggests that free play, while still important for a range of less measurable outcomes, is best complemented by high quality scaffolded and guided play in which teachers are involved.

Research indicates that guided discovery approaches are more effective than free or unassisted play for supporting more specific learning outcomes. Guided play is found to

better support science learning, and language, literacy and mathematics outcomes

improve vocabulary and support greater engagement in social interactions

foster literacy and mathematics skills and general learning of content

support higher levels of creative and flexible exploration and more effective problem-solving

improve self-regulation skills such as inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility

Teacher-directed play in the form of carefully designed and challenging activities that include free choice, practical and intrinsically motivating tasks, and peer interactions is consistently associated with positive outcomes. Research reports that teacher-directed play:

supports literacy skills, mathematics and general academic learning

improves children's mathematical learning gains (with greater gains for children learning through card and board games than children experiencing more formal training)

increases children's affect and engagement through the addition of a play component to learning experiences

Overall, child-centred and playful learning approaches are more likely to foster academic improvements that are sustained than traditional, formal approaches, but some research finds that children are more likely to learn content in teacher-led contexts. It is important to consider the information and skills to be learned when determining the most effective approach for learning through play.

A note of caution: Critical views on the use of play pedagogies

While there is much rhetoric around the importance of play for young children's learning, in these discourses play can sometimes be romanticised, while descriptions of play in curriculum documents can be reductive and fail to acknowledge the complexity of children's play experiences.

Some researchers critique the elevated status of play as a pedagogy for learning. They argue that:

Learning can be supported in diverse ways, and play need not form the only catalyst for learning. Play is a cultural phenomena that is highly dependent on adult mediation and engagement. Where adults encourage pretending and other playful forms, children engage in these behaviours, but in other contexts where pretending and play are not encouraged, children learn in other ways, such as through real life tasks, storytelling, and organised games.

Children's play repertoires and experiences vary, and richly resourced, free play environments that reflect Western perspectives on play may not resonate with culturally diverse families. Children may be disadvantaged by approaches that emphasise independence, self management and free choice if these are inconsistent with home expectations, or if they have limited prior experience of play themes or the complex social processes required.

Children may not be able to express their interests and needs through play activities. The freedom to choose may offer some children an advantage over others.

Play is not value-neutral. Because of the unequal power relations between teachers and children, play can never be 'free'. The use of play as pedagogy for the early years privileges particular (Western) constructs about children and ways of learning, in terms of ideas about appropriate play, which are then used to regulate children's behaviour. In these ways play reinforces children's positioning within social hierarchies including those of gender and race.

Play can be cruel, involving teasing, pranks and playing tricks. It can also be characterised by self-interest, and exploitation and manipulation of situations, which is another way in which some children can experience loss of agency.

Further Reading

Gray, P. (2017). What exactly is play, and why is it such a powerful vehicle for learning? Top Language Disorders, 37(3), 217-228.

Hirsch-Pasek, K. & Golinkoff, R. M. (2008). Why play = learning. In R.E. Tremblay, M. Boivin, & R.D. Peters (Eds), Encyclopedia of Early Childhood Development. Quebec, Canada: Centre of Excellence for Early Childhood Development and Strategic Knowledge. Retrieved from http://www.child-encyclopedia.com/documents/Hirsh-Pasek-GolinkoffANGxp.pdf.

Weisberg, D. S., Hirsh-Pasek, K. & Golinkoff, R. M. (2013). Guided play: Where curricular goals meet a playful pedagogy. Mind, Brain and Education 7(2), 104-112.

White, J., O'Malley, A., Toso, M., Rockel, J., Stover, S., & Ellis, F. (2007). A contemporary glimpse of play and learning in Aotearoa New Zealand. International Journal of Early Childhood, 39(1), 93-105.

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What is play and why is it important for learning? - THE EDUCATION HUB

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An overview of the research on the importance of play for learning and development.

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"Let's replace all 'no ball games' signs with 'children welcome to play here'" (Maree Todd, MSP, Minister for Children and Young People)

Progress review of Scotland's Play Strategy 2021

Over the last year, Scotland, like the rest of the UK, has had to respond rapidly to the major impact of COVID-19. The report highlights how the play organisations have responded to the pandemic and emerging evidence of the impact of emergency measures on children and young people. It takes account of mitigating measures that the Scottish Government have put in place to support children's play at a time of national crisis and provides eight recommendations on how Scotland's Play Strategy should be taken forward in the light of COVID-19.

The eight recommendations are:

Refresh the Play Strategy and ensure national and local leadership

Renew and develop the national and local commitment to outdoor play

Listen to children and young people and act on what they say

Ensure the inclusion of all children and young people

Ensure cross sectoral and inter professional approaches to play

Sustain and support play provision through adequate funding

Maintain a focus on playful learning and play in schools

Strengthen the play sector nationally and locally.

Children and young people's consultation 2021

Children want a return to play, more play and better play. This was children and young people's overwhelming response to a consultation on play undertaken by Play Scotland in early 2021. COVID-19 has had an enormous impact on children and young people's lives. After the challenges of the last year, they want a return to the play they enjoy. This document supports the eight recommendations in the Progress Review 2021.

Progress review of Scotland's Play Strategy 2020

The Scottish Government's Play Strategy for Scotland and its Action Plan were launched in 2013. The Scottish Government commissioned a progress review on the Play Strategy and Action Plan in 2019 from Play Scotland. It found that the Play Strategy and Action Plan have had a positive impact on the provision and development of play, and this report presents 24 steps for play that will support and extend children's play opportunities, these are still seen as relevant. After this report was presented to government the COVID-19 pandemic had impacted all aspects of life, and so a further review (2021) was produced.

Minister for Children and Young People presents on Scotland's Play Strategy in Australia

In May 2019 Maree Todd, Minister for Children and Young People contributed to a Play Symposium in Brisbane, Australia where she provided a video clip discussing Scotland's National Play Strategy.

Play Strategy Publications

A link to all play strategy in the library

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Scotland's Play Strategy - Play Scotland

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The Play Strategy seeks to improve the play experiences of all children and young people, including those with disabilities or from disadvantaged backgrounds. The principles of inclusion and play sufficiency underpin the Vision and Action Plan.

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Sway: Create and share interactive reports, presentations, personal stories, and more.

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Sway is an easy-to-use digital storytelling app for creating interactive reports, presentations, personal stories and more. Its built-in design engine helps you create professional designs in minutes. With Sway, your images, text, videos, and other multimedia all flow together in a way that enhances your story. Sway makes sure your creations look great on any screen.

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free recources to develop critical thinking, problem solving and creativity. 9-18 yrs

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Have you ever put off starting something because you were worried you wouldn't succeed at it?

Or been so afraid to fail, you didn't start at all? Fear of failure can stop us from trying new things and taking creative risks. But what if we rethink failure as a learning tool for building resilience and developing problem-solving skills? Let's find out.

Developed in collaboration with Gen+.

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Daydream Believers is a free, ready to use, online resource bank for educators that utilise creativity, critical thinking and problem-solving techniques applicable across the curriculum and beyond.

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Borders Primary Play Leads Development Day (1)

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What is play pedagogy? Professional learning and reflection tool to support.

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What is play pedagogy? Professional learning and reflection tool to support.

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Agenda to introduce playful learning, support reflection, and improvement identification and planning

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Agenda play pedagogy engagement introduction

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On this page you will find the national practice guidance that informs our early level play pedagogy.

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Highland Council Getting Started Guide inc. FAQs

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Highland Council Getting Started Guide inc. FAQs

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Learning through play-play included

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Characteristics of playful experiences that lead to deeper learning_subtitles in English

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Julie Fisher  - Why is play important beyond EYFS?

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https://www.early-years-reviews.com/_files/ugd/c871c5_373f4dc2881e4eab8ad865af298b5ce7.pdf

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Play types can simply be described as the different behaviours that adults can…

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Putting Play at the Heart of Scottish Early Years' Family Learning