Play workshop: learn to play every day

Group Submission Type: Pre-conference Workshop

Proposal

Research has shown that playful learning experiences for young children helps foster their development and lay the foundations for them to become creative, engaged, lifelong learners. Adults’ capacity to guide play in meaningful ways can unlock the transformative power of education for young children. However, lack of knowledge on how the benefits of guided play can contribute to early childhood development (ECD), particularly in development settings, continues to lead to young children growing up without opportunities to develop through play.

Sesame Workshop and the LEGO Foundation launched the Play Every Day initiative to address this need. The multi-country project aims to empower caregivers to 1) leverage play in support of children’s early development and lifelong learning and 2) contribute to global understanding of best practices for promoting play as part of daily life. To that end, Sesame Workshop has developed an ECD play curriculum for use in India, Mexico, and South Africa through a series of “Play Workshops,” or community events at which caregivers and children experience and practice guided play and share their thoughts on what worked and what did not work.

Designed to stimulate increased caregiver-child interaction through play, Play Workshops are tailored to the local context and needs of the implementation sites, whose communities are traditionally marginalized with limited access to quality ECD services.

We propose to extend our Play Workshop experience to CIES pre-conference participants, so they may experience the benefits of play and its powerful role in children’s learning and development.

The Play Workshop will consist of four parts: 1) an overview of the Play Every Day project and what we have learned about play behaviors to date; 2) sharing of summative evaluation findings that is currently underway to measure the impact of the intervention; 3) interactive guided play activities drawn from Play Workshops in India, Mexico, and South Africa using low-cost recycled materials and found objects; and 4) small-group reflection discussions to share reactions and cross-pollinate ideas for improvement. The Play Workshop will also feature multi-media materials and tools that Sesame Workshop has developed to help promote playful learning among caregivers, build capacities of “Play Facilitators,” and foster a culture of play at home.

Participants will learn about and discuss the “play landscapes” in India, Mexico, and South Africa and how Sesame Workshop has responded with a research-based, proven play format to increase caregivers’ knowledge about the benefits of play and impact their play behavior. They will do so through a fun, highly interactive Play Workshop that affords them not only the opportunity to play culturally diverse activities, but also experience playful learning that can be integrated into their daily lives, so they, too, may be encouraged to play every day.

Sub Unit

• General Pool

Workshop Organizers

• Abigail Bucuvalas, Sesame Workshop

• Kim Foulds, Sesame Workshop

• Ana Sofía Cantú-Miller, Sesamo

• Bosun Jang, Sesame Workshop