pLAY IS NOT A BREAK FROM LEARNING

Sometimes it looks like they’re just messing about.

Dragging sticks around.
Digging a hole for no obvious reason.
Building a shelter that has all the structural integrity of a crisp packet.
Inventing a game with rules so complicated even the child who made them up can’t remember them.

But underneath all that chaos, there’s a lot going on.

They’re testing ideas.
They’re making decisions.
They’re working out who leads and who follows.
They’re learning how to argue, repair, compromise and carry on.
They’re finding out what happens when Plan A falls over, snaps in half or gets stolen by someone pretending to be a wolf.

That’s not wasted time.

That’s learning.

The problem is, we’ve got very good at spotting learning when it looks tidy.

A worksheet.
A certificate.
A quiet table.
A thing that can be photographed and stuck on a wall.

But some of the best learning doesn’t look tidy at all.

It looks like mud.
Noise.
Movement.
Big ideas.
Bad plans.
Better plans.
Laughing.
Falling out.
Making up.
Trying again.

At Kids Adventurist, play isn’t the thing we do between the “proper” activities.

Play is often where the proper stuff happens.

Because children don’t always learn best by being told.

Sometimes they learn best by getting stuck in, getting it wrong, working it out and shouting, “WAIT, I’VE GOT AN IDEA.”

And honestly?

That’s usually where the magic is.