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Creative play, also known as imaginative play, is any type of play that allows children to use their imaginations and express themselves freely. There are many different types of imaginative play, but some common examples include: Pretend play, Art, Music, and Dance.
All types of creative play are important because they allow children to explore the world around them, try new things, and use their imaginations. When children engage in imaginative play, they also develop essential skills they will use throughout their lives.

The Importance Of Creative Play:

Problem-Solving: When children are engaged in creative play, they face new challenges. Through trial and error, they learn how to problem-solve and think critically.

Communication: Creative play also helps children develop communication skills. This involves taking turns, listening, and speaking.

Critical Thinking: This type of play also provides plenty of opportunities for making decisions and choosing between options. Having to make these types of decisions helps them learn to think critically about the world around them and examine their choices.

Resource:
https://www.learnwithhomer.com/homer-blog/7835/creative-play/

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Elk Run Early Childhood Learning Center, Block Building Acitvity

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Children need to move in order to take in new
information. The outside environment is more
conducive to their active learning style.
Remember the Learning Styles…
VISUAL (eyes)
AUDITORY (ears)
KINESTHETIC (body)
… and how preferences (including yours!) influence
the environment!

Why promote gross motor development?

Health – apparent benefits of exercise to the body and mind.

Confidence & Self Esteem – necessary in childhood, yes, but arguably a more significant life skill.

Ability to Assess Risk – another essential life skill, not only with physical well-being but with taking risks in life with decision making

Energy Release – physical, social, and emotional

Brain Development – the early years lay the foundation of brain pathways for lifelong motor skills and aids in learning, especially skills requiring advanced thinking and mental dexterity.

Resource:
https://carrotsareorange.com/gross-motor-development/

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EYFS – Physical development – Gross motor skills

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Singing and music

Music develops listening skills: Listening is necessary to hear same and different letters of our alphabet, words, sounds in our environment, and musical pitches. There will be a lifetime of sounds our children will need to identify. The sooner we encourage listening skills, the more opportunities children will have to develop them.

Music invites intuitive responses: Children will move naturally to almost any musical selection. The seeds of listening encourage intuitive, creative responses to music.

Music strengthens aural discrimination: T The quality of aural discrimination experiences will affect children's listening, singing, communication, and reading skills throughout their lives. Research shows that infants who are sung to and talked to a lot develop greater phonemic awareness and later develop larger vocabularies.  Young children who miss these all-important interactions are often less expressive and sometimes delayed in their speech, and may be shy in communicating with others.

Music helps children remember: The underlying steady pulse of the song combined with the active singing pushes the brain to remember the next part of the song, and the next, until we reach the end. This begins as "rote memory" (short term) but does evolve to conscious thought and long-term memory as children mature and songs that have meaning are sung repeatedly by individuals.

Music helps children speak clearly and pay attention: When children speak nursery rhymes and pat steady beat, they speak more clearly. When teachers encourage children to keep patting steady beat while they sing, no one child races ahead to finish the song first. Children also sing more "in tune," and enunciate more clearly; therefore, singing is more satisfying to everyone.

Music makes transitions in the classroom go smoothly: singing transitions together provides the time needed for children to finish one activity and be ready for the next. Since young children learn and play totally in the present, their sense of time is not the same as ours. Their plan is always the most important plan.

Music helps children cooperate, think, and problem-solve. Opportunities to cooperate in singing games, action songs, and movement to music are the early childhood active learning precursors to thinking, problem-solving, and memory. Music helps children and adults stay alert. Music is the essential element for children that touches all ways young children learn.

Musical instruments provide beginning experiences in pitch, timbre, and texture: exploring the various sounds of instruments fascinates young children and, again, can strengthen aural discrimination.

Music is FUN! - and fundamental for all young children. Research suggests that the first three years (our preschool years!) are critical for combining music experiences with learning - especially for children in at-risk categories. Because movement almost always accompanies these musical experiences for young children, we should endeavor to provide these double reinforcements in all areas of the curriculum, because the body, voice, and brain are united for optimal processing.

Resource:
https://www.communityplaythings.com/resources/articles/learning-through-music-the-support-of-brain-research

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Music & Movement in the Toddler and Preschool Classroom

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Communication skills are the KEY to school readiness!
Since children learn oral language by following the model of adults they hear speaking around them, it’s important to reinforce good speaking habits by setting an example with the use of expression, vocabulary, and correct grammar.

Talk with Your Children: Educators and parents should talk or converse with their children whenever possible.

Get Close & Listen: The child should be able to see your lips and facial expressions, hear your voice clearly, and make eye contact with you. Making sure that you "get close" helps ensure that the child keeps an interest in what you are saying.

Respond and Expand: When a child says something to you, respond whenever possible. After you respond, try to expand the conversation. Add more context to the language even when a child's response is a simple one.

Talk About What You Are Doing: Talk with children about what they are doing and what you are doing. This type of talking exposes children to language in general, involves them in learning conversation skills, and helps children acquire and use vocabulary that is important in their everyday lives.

Tell Stories: Tell stories every day about things from the past or things that will happen.

Use Appropriate Levels of Vocabulary: When speaking with children we have to be careful to not use too many new words or too few new words.

Provide Prompts That Promote Oral Language: Include microphones, old telephones, puppets, flannel boards, and even paper towel tubes in your child's play area.

Be a good listener: Remember to be an active listener. Facial expressions, eye contact and close proximity will convey your interest in what the child is saying, which will encourage them to keep talking. Modeling how to be a good listener will also help the child develop good listening skills.

Help them learn new words: A bigger vocabulary helps children communicate more, but it also helps them better understand what they hear or read. To help children develop their phonological awareness:

1. Read books together

2. Teach rhymes, poems and songs

3. Practice the alphabet by pointing out letters and emphasizing their names and sounds

4. Use language apps that emphasize the development of phonemic and phonological awareness

Resources:
https://hechingerreport.org/teacher-voice-little-conversation-language-communication-skills-make-difference-kindergarten/

http://www.handyhandouts.com/viewHandout.aspx?hh_number=120

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Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University

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5 Steps for Brain-Building Serve and Return

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Sensory play is any activity that stimulates your child’s senses: touch, smell, taste, movement, balance, sight, and hearing.

Sensory play expands a child’s language by providing a new understanding of the world they live in.

Sensory play supports learning through exploration, curiosity, problem-solving, and creativity.

Sensory play activities help children develop crucial motor skills for physical strength and movement.

Sensory play activities like exploring and working with play-dough and putty, painting, and water play are excellent for developing fine motor skills.

Sensory play improves fine and visual motor play

Sensory play promotes social-emotional development for children including regulating emotions and establishing positive relationships with peers and adults.

Sensory play activities like water play and playing in the sandbox can have a calming effect on children; when children are emotionally regulated they are better able to problem-solve and collaborate with play partners.

Resource:
https://centerstageashburn.com/sensory-play-ashburn-preschool/

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The Benefits of Sensory Play for Early Childhood Development | Jurassic Sands

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READ
Children who have lots of experiences with books absorb the rhythms and patterns of language.

Benefits of reading with children:

Understanding pictures and print as symbols: young children show an understanding that pictures symbolize things in the real world. Understanding that pictures are symbols of real things is a first step toward understanding that print also represents ideas of items in the real world.

Increasing vocabulary: Sharing books will expand a child’s growing vocabulary. Storybooks often use words in ways that are different from how we use those same words in everyday conversation. Books also use words that are generally absent from the day-to-day speech.

Learning the conventions of print: Through early exposure to books, children begin to learn about the conventions of reading in their own language. For example, very young children using books in English learn that they are read from front to back, from the left of the page to the right, and from the top of the page to the bottom.

Resource:
https://www.naeyc.org/our-work/families/read-together-support-early-literacy#:~:text=By%20hearing%20new%20words%20in,words%20into%20their%20spoken%20vocabularies.&text=Through%20early%20exposure%20to%20books,reading%20in%20their%20own%20language.

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Developmentally Appropriate Literacy Instruction for Young Children

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PLAY: Playing is not a separate seventh thing – but rather, the cement that is holding our foundation together.

Playing promotes brain development in many ways, including providing the child with a better understanding of the world and setting the groundwork for later brain growth.​

Playing also has an important role in a child’s intellectual development.

Playing is that it increases a child’s creativity. Creativity is closely tied to divergent thinking, which is the thought process that explores many possible solutions and generates new ideas.

Playing improves communication, vocabulary, and language.

Playing promotes impulse control and emotional regulation; self-regulation is one of the most important skills for school readiness.

Play helps children develop problem-solving skills by acting out life’s problems in pretend-playing, to help them cope with the struggles in their own ways. It also provides a safe opportunity for children to rehearse skills and future social roles.

Play increases physical and mental health

Play strengthens the relationships with caretakers and peers.

Source:
https://www.parentingforbrain.com/benefits-play-learning-activities-early-childhood/

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Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University

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Play in Early Childhood: The Role of Play in Any Setting

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Reshttps://www.ooeygooey.com/sites/default/files/2022-01/early%20experiences%202022%20handout.pdfource: