News
The role of play in learning
20 Sep 2010
The Ultimate Block Party will happen on 3 October 2010 in New York’s Central Park and will feature 25 interactive activities spanning curriculum themes like creativity, science and language to “illustrate the links between play and learning”.
The inspiration for the Ultimate Block Party (UBP) is the gap that exists currently between what scientists know and have found out through research about play and learning and what is happening in the classroom. Hirsh-Pasek said that the organisers of the UBP hoped to “change the lens on how parents think about learning. And when a parent goes home, we hope they will see learning potential in their own backyard. There are educational opportunities all over, not just in books or expensive toys but in the biology of anthills, the physics of swings and in the chemistry of cooking … Learning is not about the memorisation of facts but about engaged understanding – about knowing why as well as what.”
Hirsh-Pasek believes that learning is best done in a curriculum of “playful learning” which should offer a combination of free play and guided play. Hirsh-Pasek says, “It is our job as a movement to make this the pedagogy for early childhood education.”
London may be the next UBP location; Hirsh-Pasek would like Hyde Park to be the next event site, so keep your eyes open.
For more information visit www.ultimateblockparty.com or Kathryn Hirsh-Pasek’s site at http://astro.temple.edu/~khirshpa/flash.html.
For the full article visit www.nurseryworld.co.uk/news/login/1028261/Learning---Development-Play---Party-time/
(Nursery World, September 2010)
