What really matters in play?

ABSTRACT

This article seeks to reframe how early childhood educators think about their role in play by answering these questions: What really matters in play? How should we spend our time and energy planning, implementing, and building our expertise around play in early childhood teaching and learning? The answers reside in 5 big ideas from play research studies, meta-analyses, and meta-syntheses. We unpack these research findings and show the implications for practice. Across all 5 big ideas, the common factor is developing language. The quality of our interactions and conversational rounds and the intentionality of our language are pivotal, controllable factors that impact children’s learning and development. Therefore, we must enter children’s play with intentionality to talk with children and to create equitable and inclusive spaces for all children.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional Resources

1. Thunder, K., Almarode, J., & Hattie, J. (2021). Visible Learning in Early Childhood. Corwin.

In this book, we follow 5 teachers as they implement Visible Learning research in their classrooms and centers with 3-, 4-, 5-, and 6-year-old learners. The book chapters dive into the research on developmental domains, the intersection with Visible Learning research, and impactful ways to implement the research in order to give early educators a vision for what Visible Learning in early childhood looks and sounds like. The pivotal roles of language, talking with children, being intentional conversational partners and language facilitators, and promoting equity are exemplified throughout.

2. Thunder, K., Almarode, J., Demchak, A., Fisher, D., & Frey, N. (2022). The Early Childhood Education Playbook. Corwin.

This playbook is for early childhood educators, special educators, paraprofessionals, and specialists working with children ages birth through 8 years old. As a playbook, it is filled with tools, strategies, and models to support teams of early childhood educators as they learn about implementing instructional approaches and strategies with the potential to positively impact young children’s learning and development. Intentional language is at the center of the playbook and of our work to learn and value who our children and their families are, communicate clarity of teaching and learning, and develop children’s ownership of their own learning.

3. Hadley, E. B., Newman, K. M., & Mock, J. (2020). Setting the stage for TALK: Strategies for encouraging language-building conversations. The Reading Teacher, 74(1), 39–48.

This article, written for preschool teachers, explains the importance of conversation or talk with young children and describes a 4-step process for intentionally engaging in language-based interactions. TALK is an acronym for Take turns talking, Ask open-ended questions, Listen to students’ responses and extend them, and Keep track of rich conversations. The article includes samples, a conversation tracker, and a protocol for planning conversations.