Policy reviewed on: 02/09/16
Learning through Play Policy
Statement of Intent
The Revised Early Years Foundation Stage asks us to deliver the seven areas of
learning through play.
Play is a child’s ‘work’ and it starts from the day they are born.
At Denton Island Nursery we are committed to delivering opportunities for
independent play by providing a safe environment that is interesting, attractive
and accessible with enough space, resources and uninterrupted time for children
to develop their play.
Through play children:
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Acquire skills for future learning.
Make sense of the world around them.
Express fears and re-live experiences.
Make decisions based on thinking things through.
Learn to persist at an activity.
Try things out and solve problems.
Explore and investigate.
Make connections and follow a particular line of enquiry.
Learn in many different ways.
Develop greater independence
Develop co-operation, turn-taking and sharing skills and self-esteem.
Develop imagination and confidence through trying things out.
Develop language, communication and negotiation skills.
Develop physically indoors and outdoors.
The adults support the children’s play by firstly listening and observing so that
they can offer the appropriate support through:
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Making the children feel safe and secure to take risks.
Encouraging the children to take control of their own learning.
Asking open ended questions to encourage the development of language and
thinking skills.
Playing alongside the children
Policy reviewed on: 02/09/16
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Modelling play.
Demonstrating skills needed to develop play.
The principles of the Revised Early Years Foundation Stage are centred on
valuing each child as an individual.
Children learn best when they are playing with something that is of interest to
them and motivates them so we provide activities that are planned to promote,
meet and develop children’s interests. Practitioners observe closely, noting the
children’s strengths and needs in order to plan for their next steps, resulting in
a practice that is child-focussed and provides active learning through play for all
the children.