4. Create a Checklist of Materials
Identify the materials you will need to implement the lesson effectively. Whenever possible, choose open-ended materials that can be reused in future activities.
5. Implement the Lesson
In a guided play experience, you invite students to engage in a more targeted learning experience. Consider whether the lesson would be best carried out in a small or large group. Think about what you will do and what the students will do( see the next section for more on this). Although a guided play experience is intentionally planned by the teacher, it also provides students with choices about how they will engage in the activity or carry it out. In the jellyfish model activity, for example, students were free to choose the materials they would use to make their models and how they would do it based on their interpretation of the diagram.
What will make the lesson a playful learning experience is plenty of opportunities for students to engage actively with materials that spark curiosity and to explore through their choice of role playing, art, dance, independent reading in groups, or on their own in different spaces, all of which result in organic conversation. The activity should include the freedom to try something a different way, make mistakes, and try again— and above all, there should be a sense of enjoyment.
6. Reflecting on the Lesson
Analyze your observational data to gain a better understanding of students’ ability to apply the concept covered in different contexts, explain it in their own words, and solve problems that require its use. Use what you learn to inform future activities— what can you do differently or additionally to guide students to meet related learning goals and objectives over time and address gaps in their understanding of the concept? Being successful in creating and implementing play-based experiences requires intentionality and a focus on end goals for students. In addition, it requires you to be mindful in how you will provide opportunities for students to make choices within the experience.
“ Look-Fors” When Implementing Play-Based Learning
What does a kindergarten classroom look like when play-based learning is flourishing? Below are some things you are likely to see teachers and students doing during guided play and student-initiated play experiences. Keep in mind that there is considerable overlap between these two lists; both types of play provide opportunities for children’ s choices and agency and teachers’ involvement, but a defining difference between guided and student-initiated play is the centrality of specific learning goals to the former.
During Guided Play or Whole- and Small-Group Lessons
Teachers are
› Creating and providing materials for play-based experiences that embed the learning standard
› Clearly stating learning objectives for activities and providing clear instructions before beginning an activity
› Supporting instruction through the inclusion of materials that allow for meaningful, active application of the skill being learned
› Encouraging students to use analysis and reasoning skills during experiences by asking open-ended questions
› Modeling curiosity and engaging students in conversation with open-ended questions and advanced vocabulary( Why...? How...? What could happen next...?) and providing ample time to pause for students to process
› Scaffolding and differentiating students’ learning
› Assessing children’ s understanding through observations and anecdotal notes
Students are
› Engaging in hands-on experiences using manipulatives, objects from everyday life, or other materials that support active, contextualized learning
› Having conversations and engaging in back-and-forth exchanges that require expanded verbal responses, both with peers and teachers
› Explaining their thinking
26 Young Children
Summer 2025