Learning through play is an old concept that became a powerful development tool. Neuroscience shows that it develops the part of the brain responsible for cognitive processing and memory. Play allows children to be active and imaginative, focus their energy, and follow and understand concepts and complex ideas.
In the following article, we will try to understand the advantages of learning through play and why playing and learning can be an efficient learning strategy for skills development. We’ll explore the benefits and risks of learning through play applications like game-based learning and gamification.
Advantages of learning through play
Neuroscience research underlines the complexity of neurobiological processes and social interactions involved in learning through play. Most of all it offers meaningful learning experiences for children. They can easily engage in playing games exploring their creativity, imagination and social-emotional skills.
While playing children understand, remember and apply the rules, and interact with other children. Also, they learn to coordinate their actions to get results and rewards and understand the consequences of their actions and immediate expectations.
Learning through play and positive emotional states
Consequently, learning through play has become a tool to sustain learners’ engagement and skills development, above preschool education. Recent research shows that play stimulates cognitive development and the ability to concentrate, retain information, eliminate distraction, and but also cultivate creativity, and problem-solving skills.
1. Brain and mind development
According to neuroscientists, in the front of the brain, the prefrontal cortex is developed through physical activity, including play. Play stimulates the brain and helps it develop creating connections between nerve cells. After birth, babies, children, adults, and animals begin to play using built-in neural mechanisms. The development of the child’s brain is greatly influenced by play during this time.
So, the brain develops through play and is essential to developing a child’s mind and also it enables the brain to realize its potential. Playing games requires the development of structures in the prefrontal regions of the brain, which stresses the importance of play in brain development.
2. Emotional and social development
According to the authors, learning is not only a conscious process. Emotional and interpersonal learning during the first few years occurs before we have developed the neurological capacities for conscious awareness and memory. Play provides children the possibility to express themselves and understand their emotions in a social context.
A research paper states the first 1000 days, the earliest stages of child development, the period from conception to the end of the child’s second year. So, the first 1000 days have a critical role as it is during this period that skills and abilities develop. Studies highlight important differences in brain development over the first three years based on the kinds of experiences kids have.
3. Skills development and learning facilitation
While playing, children practice communication skills through storytelling and dialogue, which later supports literacy and presentation abilities. It seems that an increased performance of development skills at a young age predicts educational and professional potential. Generally, playing comes naturally, relieves stress provides practice for real life and facilitates learning.
The findings of research prove that through play pre-schoolers enhance skills like:
- Attention
- Planning
- Goal setting
- Problem-solving
- Creativity
- Imagination
- Focus
- Memory
- Language
- and Motor skills.
Because play stimulates creativity and imagination it makes understanding and learning complex concepts and problems easier to comprehend. Being in a positive emotional state facilitates learning while remaining authentic. Most findings of neuroscientists showed that adult learning is most effective when is enjoyable.
Game-based learning strategies
However, learning through play, namely educational games, is also a powerful method to enhance creativity and information retention. Among educational games, simulation games are efficient in a professional environment.
Game-based learning is an approach that allows learners to engage in simulations that mirror realistic situations. This learning method is adapted to maintain a playful and engaging learning experience. Trainers, coaches and educators can use games to convey complex concepts and improve organisational culture, fostering problem-solving skills.
They can incorporate games into learning events and programs, whether they’re in person or virtual. By integrating playful elements into learning frameworks, learners can experience more dynamic and effective learning.
People are more likely to enjoy learning and remain engaged if the learning process resembles a game. Gamification is already used for a diverse range of learning areas like language learning, health and wellbeing. Incorporating gaming elements like challenges, rewards, and leaderboards into learning projects makes acquiring new skills more entertaining.
Gamification of learning
By breaking learning material into small, achievable objectives and rewarding the progress, we are more likely to retain information when learning is gamified. Also, mixing challenges and rewards will likely reinforce long-term learning results.
Gaming combines elements like storytelling, problem-solving, and creative challenges into an exciting adventure. Likewise, the tasks are designed to make learners, communicate effectively, and team up to succeed in levelling up.
Benefits and possible risk of gamification
Stories help learners engage with the content by allowing them to visualize themselves in a specific context. But, most of all games propose a conflict or a problem to be resolved thus maintaining engagement and focusing attention. Overall, gamification helps sharpen skills required in workplaces to stay agile and competitive.
Research on gamification shows engagement and enjoyment are the main benefits of gamification learning. Consequently, learning objectives should consider the motivations of learners or the nature of the gamified system. However, there are risks to consider when using gamification.
One of the most obvious risks is not relying on the intrinsic motivation of learners. Using rewards like badges might alter the focus and interest in acquiring skills and knowledge. Also, participants might focus on earning rewards and being competitive rather than retaining the new knowledge. Using gamification as a learning tool can trigger learning resistance and refusal from some learners.
Not everyone is open to using such a dynamic learning tool. Learning methods should be based on employee feedback and performance review data to balance learning styles. However, gamification at workplace learning can improve engagement and retention, if applied thoughtfully.
learning through play – a win-win Strategy
Incorporating playful learning activities into training programs facilitates communication and collaboration skills which are essential for teamwork. It might seem childish to use play at work and yes, it is not for everybody. However, learning organisations are already using it though this type of learning initiative is quite costly.
Play and learn seems like a win-win situation for everyone. Integrating game elements into training sessions makes learning more engaging and personalized. Team-building games, storytelling, outdoor learning events, gamified LMS and well-being apps are some of the learning-through-play applications at workplaces. A well-crafted learning program will refresh and energise people’s creativity and drive engagement and group synergy.