Reading PK-3

Free Play

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Overview

Free play supports learner interests and allows more complex social interactions to develop. It is important to schedule at least 30 minutes of free choice or play time for learners.

Use It in the Classroom

Watch how preschoolers play and listen to them explain their perspectives on free play. By allowing learners to have agency in how they play, they participate in authentic social interactions and develop their Motivation for exploration.

  • Recess is one of the few opportunities for free play when students can explore interests and develop Social Awareness and Relationships skills by trying out ways to communicate, negotiate conflict, and solve problems. For indoors, teachers can provide different materials that encourage free play, such as clay, sand, or art materials.

    • Design It into Your Product

    Videos are chosen as examples of strategies in action. These choices are not endorsements of the products or evidence of use of research to develop the feature.

    With 38 games and counting, Toca Boca empowers students to play for the sake of play. By engaging in free play through open-ended interactions, student Motivation can increase, and students can practice their Emotion and Self-regulation skills.

  • By intentionally selecting objects or materials with open-ended interaction capabilities, developers and teachers can indirectly promote free play and exploration.
    • View References

    Resources

    Below are additional examples, research, and professional development. These resources are possible representations of this strategy, not endorsements.
    Examples

    Play and Children's Learning

    Selection of NAEYC articles on the importance of play-based learning

    Examples

    Encouraging Free Play

    Suggestions for encouraging free play in school

    Professional Development

    Recess: Joy and Learning

    Responsive Classroom chapter on the importance of recess

    Research

    Identity, Behavior, and Relationships

    Topic that includes research on the development of social and emotional skills on Digital Promise's Research Map

    Research

    Importance of Play

    Research on the importance of play in early childhood classrooms, including implementation tips

    Factors Supported by this Strategy

    Language and Literacy
    Narrative Skills
    Syntax
    Verbal Reasoning
    Vocabulary
    Cognition
    Attention
    Inhibition
    Long-term Memory
    Sensory Integration
    Short-term Memory
    Speed of Processing
    Social and Emotional Learning
    Emotion
    Motivation
    Self-Regulation
    Social Awareness & Relationship Skills
    Student Background
    Adverse Experiences
    Physical Fitness
    Primary Language
    Safety
    Sleep
    Social Supports
    Socioeconomic Status

    More Active Learning Strategies

    Creating Visuals

    Students activate more cognitive processes by exploring and representing their understandings in visual form.

    Field Trips

    Visiting places connected to classroom learning provides opportunities to deepen understanding through firsthand experiences.

    Participatory & Partner Read-alouds

    Reading aloud allows students to hear and practice reading and fluency skills.

    Pretending

    Pretending allows students to step back from a problem or task and think about it from multiple angles.

    Response Devices

    Response devices boost engagement by encouraging all students to answer every question.

    Think-alouds

    When students explain their thinking process aloud, they recognize the strategies they use and solidify their understanding.

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