Brief description:

The Power of Play and its impact on Early Childhood Learning and Development.

Play is an essential part of childhood and stimulates children’s psychosocial and cognitive development, and it is also a right as enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Play is what children need to do to grow, understand, socialise, and develop their own personalities. Different strategies must be put in place to support play and playful learning in every environment, and they always must consider the needs of all children, including those with special needs. However, there is frequently a discrepancy between policy and practice regarding playful learning. For teachers or practitioners, it can be unclear which aspects of learning are underlined through play activities. Furthermore, the skills and competencies that playful learning aims to facilitate in children are not always clearly understood by practitioners.

This training aims to provide participants with the theory behind play as a developmental process, characteristics of learning through play, different types of play, and their individual impacts on children’s development.

Duration: Training can be delivered online or in person. We suggest 0.5-day training for online delivery (adapted version) and 1.5- or 2-day training for in-person delivery.

Training topics include:

• The importance of play and of appropriate indoor and outdoor play spaces
• Different types of play and their individual impact on children’s development
• How play changes according to children’s age

For: Local and international NGOs, ECD institutions, practitioners, community workers, and volunteers. Local policymakers (municipalities) and local organisations linked to ECD and inclusive education