Just Play
Play is serious, yet not serious; trivial yet profound; imaginative and spontaneous, yet bound by rules and anchored in the real world. It is childish, yet underlies many of the greatest accomplishments of adults. From an evolutionary perspective, play is nature’s way of ensuring that children and other young mammals will learn what they must to survive and do well.
- Peter Gray 2013
Anji Play, Active Play, Risky Play, Loose Parts Play its all just play and it is at the core of my pedagogy, children learn through play. The following video is an example of Anji Play is China, the video is very particular to it's context in an urban Asian city and yet it serves as a wonderful reminder of just how active students are when they are engaged in this kind of play. Through the manipulation of blocks, ladders and other equipment the students are developing their fundamental movement skills and physical literacy in an incredibly authentic way. In addition to this they are learning numeracy through their spatial knowledge and during the after play de-brief they are emptying literacy skills. There is a high level of social and learning at play to a building on some of the core principles that underlines the Victorian HPE curriculum such as content descriptor (VCHPEP060) for foundation level.
In addition I include the following video as an example of the how the environment challenges the students to be physically active. With particular emphasis on the drawing shown at mark 7.50 that documents one Childs extraordinarily active movement in a very short span of time.
Through providing a space that allows students to move they are so naturally physically active and this is something that I feel has been lost in much of the translation in the interpretation of HPE in Australia, students don't need to be told to run they just need to be provided with the place that inspires them to run!
