‘You Just Play All Day?’ Why EYFS Classrooms Are Packed With Purpose (purposeful play of course!)
In this blog, Mrs G reflects on purposeful play and using a play based pedagogy within Early Years classrooms (and beyond!)
“That’s not work, you just play all day!”
Have you ever had that statement thrown at you by people who have no idea what they are talking about when you say you teach in the early years? I have. Many times. Do I react? I used to. I would get into arguments about adult directed learning, the amount of time I spent planning, and all of the other things that come into teaching that people don’t see. What do I say now when people say things like that to me? “Yes, we do get to play all day and it’s the
best way to learn.” Over the last ten years I have spent time looking at many different approaches to play, but in
the end I always come back to the EYFS Framework.
“Play is essential for children’s development, building their confidence as they learn to explore, relate to others, set their own goals, and solve problems. Children learn by leading their own play, and by taking part in play and learning that is guided by adults.” (DfE: 2024) Not only does the Department for Education (DfE) say that children learn by leading their own play, but it states that it’s essential! The framework includes the characteristics of
effective learning that promote children using their own ideas and leading their own development. So what do I believe are the key ingredients to purposeful play in the classroom?
Environment
With this as a starting point I looked at my provision.
- Was it conducive to learning?
- Would the children be able to build on skills?
- Would the adults be able to support the pupils through the different areas of provision?
- Did my outdoor area provide what my indoor provision couldn’t?
- Were resources labelled clearly to promote independence in choosing resources and in tidying up?
- Did the layout of the room support free flow provision?
I spent the summer before starting at my school making sure that my provision was right and that it would support and facilitate learning through purposeful play. My environment continues to develop and I have a yearly plan as to what is out, and this is important to support progression. Make sure when planning your environment that you think like a child too. Can you reach everything you need? What catches your eye when you are down at their level?
Continuous provision, enhancements and provocations
When I started teaching there was a huge emphasis on table top activities and tuff trays that changed weekly. Yes, these activities have their place as enhancements and provocations still. But, provision that is continuous and always available gives children the opportunity to return to previous play and build on the skills they used last time they accessed that area. Understanding this and developing the provision that is freely available on a daily basis took
my environment one step further and facilitated high quality interactions and learning. Enhancements and provocations are still part of my weekly planning, but they are led by the next steps of the children.
Do I have a group of children who are not as keen to write? Let’s get a writing enhancement into the construction area.
Do we have some children who are not using their imagination or being as creative as you know they can be? Let’s put out an open ended provocation with loose parts.
By getting your continuous provision right, enhancements and provocations become more meaningful, sparking curiosity and extending learning.
Naming provision and the importance of play
Once my environment was ready it was time to wait for the children. Having spent time attending training with Greg Bottrill at a conference I chose to change the name that we used to talk about provision time and created ‘Play to Learn time.’ Keeping the word play showed the adults that we are sending a message about the importance of it. In our classroom we are not shy of play, we are proud advocates of it (Bottrill: 2020). In our setting we knew that
we wanted children to understand how important play is to their learning, hence the addition of this in our title. More often than not it is us, the adults who struggle to play and often why many adults find the world of early years difficult to manoeuvre. Embrace the word play and make sure your colleagues in KS1, KS2 and SLT begin to understand and see the importance of it. Invite them to spend time with you in your classroom and they will quickly see what a learning opportunity play really can be.
Modelling: how to use provision
During transition and in the Autumn term we spent quality time in provision with the children. We planned specific time to teach the children how to use the resources available and how to pack them away when they finished. We explored the children’s ownership of the classroom. It is their environment, therefore they needed to be able to take care of it independently. Through teaching this concept early on children can now be seen to pack away without being reminded before moving on in their play. Resources are put back correctly and with care, and you can hear conversations occurring that promote team work and collaboration.
Making links
Later in the term we introduced ‘Play Projects’ (Bottrill; 2020) and supported the children in making links between their play and the learning they have obtained in adult directed activities. These projects gave children a focus, but allowed them to still have ownership of their play. We had great fun during our ‘Rosie’s Walk’ play project where children made their own stick puppets, farm yards and wrote their own versions of the story. Now children make
regular links to their learning, continuing to practise skills taught, and with adult guidance and questioning are able to extend initial ideas and thoughts.
There is so much more that I could say on the importance of play and how much we value it in our classroom. There are so many people in our schools who just don’t understand it and that is a real shame. I am lucky that this isn’t the case in my school, but if it is for you I challenge you to invite those people into your classroom and ask them to get involved. It may just change their world!
MrsG has been teaching in Primary Schools, specialising in EYFS and KS1 for the last 13 years. She has taught across both key stages working as an Assistant Head, before heading back into the classroom full time after having her children. Mrs G is now Senior Teacher in a small school, where she teaches in EYFS. She also works with teachers supporting them with planning, workload, job applications and interview technique through her Instagram
account @mrsg_eyfs
If you’re delivering a purposeful play based teaching approach in EYFS and KS1, why not join the Is it Time to Play? Membership and access hundreds of documents including planning, resources and guides for one monthly price- check it out here Membership.
References
Early Years Foundation Stage Framework. (DfE, 2024)
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/670fa42a30536cb92748328f/EYFS_statutory
framework_for_group_and_school-_based_providers.pdf
School and the Magic of Children. (Greg Bottrill, 2020)