Playing is a natural and enjoyable way for children to keep active, stay well and be happy. Freely chosen play helps children and young people’s healthy development. To have good physical and mental health and to learn life skills, they need various unstructured play opportunities from birth until they’re teenagers.
In Year 1, the children regularly have some continuous provision to allow for free play. Free play is when a child decides and controls their own play following their own instincts, imagination and interests. They play without being led by me.
Play improves the cognitive, physical, social and emotional well-being of the children. Through play, the children learn about the world and themselves. They also learn skills that they need for study, work and relationships such as:
- Confidence
- Self-esteem
- Resilience
- Interaction
- Social skills
- Independence
- Curiosity
- Coping with challenging situations
Ensuring that there is a correct balance between their formal education and their opportunity to play means careful planning and development of the timetable and curriculum.
The children in Year 1 have amazing imaginations and are wonderfully creative. At Brabyns we nurture these skills by providing them with a stimulating and interactive environment. Recently, the children have really enjoyed making their own models out of paper and card or Lego and Morphun which they then use in their role play to slay dragons or to capture baddies! The images that they paint with their language brings everyone into their world of play.
