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Defining Play

  • Play is inquiry and exploration

  • Play offers opportunity for learning

  • Play creates valid and significant questions

  • Play can be thoughtful and intentional experimenting, testing and concluding

  • Play is science. It is also math and reading and writing and design and engineering

  • Play is integrated and interdisciplinary

  • Play can be fun and joyful

  • Play can be social and collaborative and it can be solitary

  • Play can be frustrating and challenging; it can also be productive and rewarding

  • Play leads to social, cognitive and physical development

Play...The Natural Way to Learn

Read more below to find out what our children at Pathway Childcare are learning through play in each interest area

Home Centre/Dramatic Play

We are:

  • Learning cooperation

  • Using language skills

  • Verbalizing ideas and concepts

  • Understanding emotions

  • Communicating with others

  • Observing others

  • Using fine and gross motor muscles

  • Understanding feelings of others

  • Acting out real life situations

Math Centre

We are:

  • Learning new ideas

  • Increasing language and cognitive skills

  • Enhancing hand-eye coordination

  • Exercising the fine motor muscles

  • Learning to estimate

  • Classifying and sorting

  • Counting and comparing Recognizing patterns and shapes

Sand & Water Centre

We are:

  • Focusing on sensory experiences

  • Experimenting

  • Discovering

  • Refining our observational skills

  • Measuring

  • Weighing

  • Enhancing our fine motor skills

Science Centre

We are:

  • Learning and testing new concepts

  • Increasing language development

  • Learning to plan and discover

  • Observing

  • Predicting

  • Comparing

  • Drawing conclusions Experiencing sensory activities

  • Discovering how things work

Block/Construction Centre

We are:

  • Using our fine and gross motor muscles

  • Classifying by shape, size, and colour

  • Experimenting with balance and forms

  • Using our imagination

  • Testing our ideas

  • Recognizing quantity and number of concepts

  • Discovering modes of transportation

Writing Centre

We are:

  • Using our fine motor skills

  • Increasing our language development

  • Learning eye-hand coordination Putting thoughts into words

  • Learning that print has meaning

Art Centre

We are:

  • Expanding our creativity

  • Increasing our language development

  • Learning cooperation and sharing Enhancing eye-hand coordination Exercising our fine motor skills

  • Showing how we view things

  • Bringing ideas to life

Library Centre

We are:

  • Learning pre-reading skills

  • Developing language skills

  • Sequencing events

  • Recognizing that letters have meaning

  • Learning to take care of books Experiencing quiet moments

  • Learning to create our own stories

  • Gathering information

  • Using our imagination

Playdough Centre

We are:

  • Toning our manipulative skills

  • Focusing on creativity

  • Advancing fine motor muscles

  • Using our imagination

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