Play-based Learning

The American K-12 system has always been suspicious of play-based learning. Too many adults, in K-12 leadership positions, dismiss play-based learning as wasteful time, time that can be used more productively by exposing young learners to state- and district-approved curriculum.

Play-based learning is an educational approach where children learn essential cognitive, social, emotional, and physical skills through purposeful, child-led play, exploration, and experimentation, guided by supportive adults who facilitate discovery and connect activities to learning goals. It moves beyond rote learning by fostering curiosity, problem-solving, critical thinking, and creativity in enjoyable, meaningful contexts, common in early education but applicable across all ages.

Countries known for investing in play-based learning include Finland, Sweden, Norway, Japan, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Is it coincidental that these countries just happen to be some of the leading nations in learning performance, or does play-based learning have a major role in building strong readers, writers, problem-solvers, and character?

Although play-based learning has been slow to catch on here in the United States, Connecticut is one state that has started to move in the direction of guided play as an instructional strategy, especially in the younger grades.

According to a recent EducationWeek article (12/29/25),

“In 2023, Connecticut passed legislation mandating a return to a teaching approach for young learners that has eroded across the country in the wake of more rigorous academic expectations: guided play.”

Connecticut is attempting to put an end to “the academization of kindergarten.”

“Over the past couple decades, educators in the early grades have increasingly introduced literacy and math standards with an eye toward preparing students for the grades, and standardized tests, ahead. Explorative, imaginative play that once dominated early-elementary classrooms has been de-emphasized, teachers say.”

“Members of the Connecticut Education Association pushed hard for the 2023 legislation that reinstated play in early-elementary classrooms. To bolster its argument, the association surveyed the state’s K-3 teachers and found that the teachers reported dramatic declines in play, coinciding with a rise in direct instruction and test preparation. The survey also noted a significant increase in behavioral problems and more anxiety in the early grades in recent years.”

One school showing success with play-based learning is Mansfield Elementary, located in northeastern Connecticut. One out of three Mansfield students are poor, but the school continues to lead the state in reading and math performance.

When asked what role play-based learning played in these test results, school principal Kate McCoy answered,

“This reinforces that centering joy and play does not mean lowering expectations. It means creating the conditions where students can do the hard work of learning.”

When I first became a region superintendent in the Houston public schools, we had elementary schools that either decreased the amount of time for recess and play or did away with recess and play altogether. This was especially true in schools that were predominantly African-American, Hispanic, and poor.

In talking with the school leaders, they thought this was going to help kids improve their test-taking abilities, since time spent “playing” most assuredly interfered with their work to become improved readers, writers, and problem-solvers. But when we looked at these schools’ test scores, reading and math achievement remained flat, even while the schools employed test prep strategies.

We even had to hire a “play consultant,” someone who could help school leaders and teachers learn about play-based strategies that could help young learners become smarter and stronger outside the classroom. It was a mixed bag when determining whether schools saw their reading and math test scores increase. But one outcome we saw in all schools receiving play-based learning support was that their young learners felt much better about coming to school and learning than they did previously.

Play-based learning is worth the investment. In the end, happy and engaged young learners are much more likely to become strong readers, writers, and problem-solvers compared to those who aren’t.

Friday News Roundup tomorrow. Til then. SVB