The Power of Play: How Children Learn Through Four Types of Play
If you haven’t already, we recommend you reading last week’s post where we covered the first type of play ‘functional play’. Functional play involves children focusing on the physical properties of an object and playing in more physical ways such as dropping and rolling.
This week will continue to dive into the four types of play identified by early childhood psychologist Sara Smilansky. These types of play – Functional Play, Constructive Play, Games with Rules, and Dramatic Play – each foster essential skills and contribute to a well-rounded learning experience for young children. This week will focus on constructive play.
What is constructive play?
Once children have explored how objects work, they move on to constructive play. Here, they begin combining items to create something new, whether it’s stacking blocks to build a tower or arranging leaves in a pattern. Constructive play often involves open-ended materials that allow children to experiment with different arrangements, shapes, and possibilities.
In constructive play, children learn through trial and error. They try to solve problems, set goals, and use their imagination to bring an idea to life. Constructive play helps develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills, and it supports creativity as children learn to work with their hands to make something unique.
Constructive play in practice.
Provide open-ended materials such as building blocks, clay, sand, or art supplies like paper, crayons, and glue. Encourage your child to use these materials freely to build, create, or design something without a fixed end goal.
Constructive play is a vital part of our full-time program and Creative Start playgroup, encouraging children to think critically and express their creativity. Through activities like building with blocks, designing with natural materials, or crafting with recyclables, children explore how to bring their ideas to life. This type of play nurtures essential skills such as planning, problem-solving, and fine motor development. By fostering an environment where children can experiment and create, we inspire their curiosity and empower them to engage with the world around them in meaningful, imaginative ways.
