The Role of Play Based Learning in Early Childhood Development

Riska Wulandari Sitorus; Khairi Permana  Siregar; Ratih Irma  Sari

doi:10.71435/610424

Authors

Riska Wulandari Sitorus Uin Sumatera Utara
Khairi Permana Siregar Uin Sumatera Utara
Ratih Irma Sari Uin Sumatera Utara

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.71435/610424

Keywords:

Play-Based Learning, Early Childhood Development, Cognitive Growth, Social-Emotional Skills, Implementation Challenges

Abstract

This study investigates how play-based learning activities improve the cognitive and social along with emotional and physical development of early childhood students. The research design uses both interviews with teachers and parents as well as direct observation to explore how play-based learning activities help develop every aspect of development. The research indicates that through play children become better at learning new information while also developing creativity skills and critical thinking abilities as well as social and emotional competencies through empathy and emotional control and they are able to learn physically through better motor skills. The research study delivers practical solutions for implementing play in scheduled curriculum alongside key implementation strategies for resolving related problems. The existing research gap enables this study to provide complete knowledge about effective methods to implement play-based learning within early childhood education for children's comprehensive development. Finding in this investigation demonstrate the necessity to combine developmental progress with academic achievements while following present learning system measurements of achievement.

References

Almulla, M. A. (2020). The effectiveness of the project-based learning (PBL) approach as a way to engage students in learning. Sage Open, 10(3), 2158244020938702. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244020938702

Amerstorfer, C. M., & Freiin von Münster-Kistner, C. (2021). Student perceptions of academic engagement and student-teacher relationships in problem-based learning. Frontiers in psychology, 12, 713057. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.713057

Angulo, J., El Assar, M., Álvarez-Bustos, A., & Rodríguez-Mañas, L. (2020). Physical activity and exercise: Strategies to manage frailty. Redox biology, 35, 101513. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.redox.2020.101513

Arnott, L. (2020). Children's negotiation tactics and socio-emotional self-regulation in child-led play experiences: the influence of the preschool pedagogic culture. In Young Children's Emotional Experiences (pp. 77-91). Routledge.

Bendini, M., & Devercelli, A. (Eds.). (2022). Quality early learning: nurturing children's potential. World Bank Publications.

Blewitt, C., O’connor, A., Morris, H., Nolan, A., Mousa, A., Green, R., ... & Skouteris, H. (2021). “It’s embedded in what we do for every child”: a qualitative exploration of early childhood educators’ perspectives on supporting Children’s social and emotional learning. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(4), 1530. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18041530

Bolger, L. E., Bolger, L. A., O’Neill, C., Coughlan, E., O’Brien, W., Lacey, S., ... & Bardid, F. (2021). Global levels of fundamental motor skills in children: A systematic review. Journal of Sports Sciences, 39(7), 717-753. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2020.1841405

Boyadjieva, P., & Ilieva-Trichkova, P. (2021). Adult education as empowerment. Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67136-5_4

Bruya, B., & Tang, Y. Y. (2021). Fluid attention in education: conceptual and neurobiological framework. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 704443. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.704443

Byrne, E. M., Jensen, H., Thomsen, B. S., & Ramchandani, P. G. (2023). Educational interventions involving physical manipulatives for improving children's learning and development: A scoping review. Review of Education, 11(2), e3400. https://doi.org/10.1002/rev3.3400

Carolan, P. L., McIsaac, J. L. D., Richard, B., Turner, J., & McLean, C. (2021). Families’ experiences of a universal play-based early childhood program in Nova Scotia: Implications for policy and practice. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 35(4), 550-566. https://doi.org/10.1080/02568543.2020.1773588

Chatzipanteli, A., & Adamakis, M. (2022). Social interaction through structured play activities and games in early childhood. In Handbook of research on using motor games in teaching and learning strategy (pp. 80-99). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-9621-0.ch005

Fleer, M. (2020). The cultural construction of child development: Creating institutional and cultural intersubjectivity. In The Routledge reader in early childhood education (pp. 37-52). Routledge.

Foscan, M., Luparia, A., Molteni, F., Bianchi, E., Gandelli, S., Pagliano, E., & Fedrizzi, E. (2024). Development of a Play-Based Motor Learning Approach (A. MO. GIOCO) in Children with Bilateral Cerebral Palsy: Theoretical Framework and Intervention Methodology. Children, 11(1), 127. https://doi.org/10.3390/children11010127

Goldman, L. R. (2020). Child's play: Myth, mimesis and make-believe. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003084914

Guan, X., Sun, C., Hwang, G. J., Xue, K., & Wang, Z. (2024). Applying game-based learning in primary education: A systematic review of journal publications from 2010 to 2020. Interactive Learning Environments, 32(2), 534-556. https://doi.org/10.1080/10494820.2022.2091611

Heang, T. M., Shah, N. M., Hashim, N. W., & Aliah, N. (2021). Play-based learning: A qualitative report on how teachers integrate play in the classroom. City University EJournal of Academic Research, 3(2), 62-74.

Junge, C., Valkenburg, P. M., Deković, M., & Branje, S. (2020). The building blocks of social competence: Contributions of the Consortium of Individual Development. Developmental cognitive neuroscience, 45, 100861. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2020.100861

Killaspy, H., Harvey, C., Brasier, C., Brophy, L., Ennals, P., Fletcher, J., & Hamilton, B. (2022). Community‐based social interventions for people with severe mental illness: a systematic review and narrative synthesis of recent evidence. World Psychiatry, 21(1), 96-123. https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.20940

López-Faican, L., & Jaen, J. (2020). EmoFindAR: Evaluation of a mobile multiplayer augmented reality game for primary school children. Computers & Education, 149, 103814. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2020.103814

Luckin, R., Cukurova, M., Kent, C., & Du Boulay, B. (2022). Empowering educators to be AI-ready. Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence, 3, 100076. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.caeai.2022.100076

Marks, L. E. (2020). Playing to Learn–An Examination of Two Play-Based Approaches and their Impact on the Learning and Development of Children with and without Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC). Liverpool John Moores University (United Kingdom).

Moedt, K., & Holmes, R. M. (2020). The effects of purposeful play after shared storybook readings on kindergarten children's reading comprehension, creativity, and language skills and abilities. Early Child Development and Care, 190(6), 839-854. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2018.1496914

Mohan, M., Celshiya, R., Karuppali, S., Bhat, J. S., & Anil, M. A. (2022). Pretend play in pre-schoolers: Need for structured and free play in pre-schools. South African Journal of Childhood Education, 12(1), 1092.

Parker, R., Thomsen, B. S., & Berry, A. (2022, February). Learning through play at school–A framework for policy and practice. In Frontiers in Education (Vol. 7, p. 751801). Frontiers Media SA. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2022.751801

Parthiban, I. J., Jesintha, A. R., Prabha, K. A. V. L., Meenakshi, S., & Thenmozhi, S. (2021). The nuts & bolts of physical fitness. Lulu Publication.

Saracho, O. N. (2020). An integrated play-based curriculum for young children. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429440991

Soules, M. (2021). Play Attention. New Explorations: Studies in Culture and Communication, 2(1).

Stephen, C., Brooker, L., Oberhuemer, P., & Parker-Rees, R. (Eds.). (2020). Digital play and technologies in the early years. Routledge.

Taylor, M. E., & Boyer, W. (2020). Play-based learning: Evidence-based research to improve children’s learning experiences in the kindergarten classroom. Early Childhood Education Journal, 48(2), 127-133. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-019-00989-7

Vidal Carulla, C., Christodoulakis, N., & Adbo, K. (2021). Development of preschool children’s executive functions throughout a play-based learning approach that embeds science concepts. International journal of environmental research and public health, 18(2), 588. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18020588

Welsh, D. T., Outlaw, R., Newton, D. W., & Baer, M. D. (2022). The social aftershocks of voice: An investigation of employees’ affective and interpersonal reactions after speaking up. Academy of Management Journal, 65(6), 2034-2057. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2019.1187

Whedon, M., Perry, N. B., Curtis, E. B., & Bell, M. A. (2021). Private speech and the development of self-regulation: The importance of temperamental anger. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 56, 213-224. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2019.1187

Zeng, A., Florence, P., Tompson, J., Welker, S., Chien, J., Attarian, M., ... & Lee, J. (2021, October). Transporter networks: Rearranging the visual world for robotic manipulation. In Conference on Robot Learning (pp. 726-747). PMLR.