Sharing Good Practice
THE IMPORTANCE OF PLAY-BASED LEARNING
IN EARLY YEARS
BY SAMANTHA STEED
T
he Early Years Foundation
Stage (EYFS) is a familiar
curriculum for most Early
Years practitioners in the UAE.
The EYFS was designed to be play-
based, however, parents and schools
have become increasingly focused on
targets and learning outcomes. This
can put pressure on schools to place
very young children in traditional
classroom settings rather than in an
environment created for play.
Early childhood philosophers such as
Dr. Maria Montessori (1870- 1952, Lev
Vygotsky (1896- 1934) and Jean Piaget
(1896-1980) have extoled the virtues
of enabling environments and play-
based exploration for over a century.
Today, most experts in Early Years
education understand that learning
is best achieved when children
communicate with each other, sharing
their understandings, feelings and
knowledge.
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At Ranches Primary School (RPS), we
consider the environment itself as the
best teacher. Providing an interesting
and ever changing environment for
children to explore, is an ideal way
to develop their curiosity, provide
opportunities for them to ask
questions and to talk about things
they have discovered.
When setting up an Early Years
setting, practitioners should stand
back and ask questions such as ‘How
experimental is our environment?’ and
‘To what extent do children experience
flow, immersion, and unconscious
concentration?’ The aim is to create an
environment where education will be
almost inevitable.
One
of
the
most
important
characteristics of the best Early Years
settings is the use of natural and
neutral tones. The calming colours
of nature, greens, blues, browns and
Class Time
creams are most conducive to a calm
and receptive mood. Bright, colourful
and cluttered settings are thought to
be a factor in the cause of hyperactivity
and inability to concentrate in some
young children.
One way to create an innovative
play-based environment is to explore
unusual arrangements for furniture.
Cupboards and shelves positioned
flat against the outer classroom walls
can convey a hard look and do not
send a positive message to encourage
children’s engagement. Positioning
furniture at angles, on the other hand,
conveys a welcoming invitation for
children to come and engage with a
comfortable, welcoming space. We
enjoy sourcing furniture items from
garage sales and flea markets because
children prefer cozy seating and
familiar ‘home furnishings’ to the more
traditional classroom furniture.