Overview: In this exercise you will explore what curriculum frameworks say about play.

Time: You should allow 0 hour(s), 30 minute(s).

Aim: To clarify the extent to which the importance of play is acknowledged in curriculum documents.

Activity

Read the introduction and introductory sections to the curriculum guidance or framework that is most relevant to the setting in which you work.

Are there any references to the value of play? If play is mentioned, make a note of the reasons given for the importance of play.

Would you want to add anything to these reasons? If so, what would you add and why?

Does the curriculum guidance/framework provide any suggestions about the role of adults in children's play? If so, make a note of what suggestions are made. To what extent do you agree with these suggestions?

Guidance for older children may not refer specifically to play, but there might be a mention of related ideas, such as exploration, fun and enjoyment.

If no mention is made of play, or a related term is used, why do you think this is?

Scroll down for COMMENTARY on this exercise…

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Commentary

In completing this exercise you may have been surprised by your findings. You may have thought, for example, that the curriculum guidance/framework would emphasise the importance of play more than it did. Perhaps you were surprised by the emphasis on play in the introduction to the curriculum guidance/framework, since, to your knowledge, the rest of the document does not seem to value play.

See What is Play? for an introduction to definitions of play, the value of play and adults' attitudes towards play, children's perceptions of play, issues such as gender and play, and children's right to play.

Acknowledgement

This exercise is adapted from The Open University’s OpenLearn (http://openlearn.open.ac.uk) material entitled The role of play in children's learning – made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Licence. As such, it is also made available under the same licence agreement.