The Play is the Way team recently kicked off its preschool lending library program called, By the Playbook. Play is the Way represents two years of collaborative work from a team of Ipswich early childhood educators representing local public and private preschools and kindergartens. Play is the Way was funded by grants from the Institution for Savings and Defending the Early Years.
The Play is the Way team engaged in shared book clubs, professional development opportunities, and monthly meetings to discuss their mission and action plan. They developed a shared mission statement that expresses the need for more play opportunities for young children.
The Play is the Way mission is to promote the critical importance play has in the life of children. We strive to create programs that utilize the various types of play to support brain development and lay a strong foundation for the social and emotional wellbeing of young children.
One Play is the Way member, Kate Dwyer, Director of The Cuvilly Arts and Earth Center, states, “When given time for extended uninterrupted play, the connections the children make to each other and the earth are astounding.” The team members believe that playing is an essential life skill for children and adults. Young children learn best when teacher-guided play is rich with exploratory opportunities and layers of information to uncover. Their mission is to promote the use of play in the education of our youngest students and to inspire adults to rediscover their playful nature through playing with their children.
The team worked for a year to develop a community-wide celebration of play, sponsored by The Institution of Savings and Defending the Early Years. Organizations and businesses, including The Ipswich Museum, Zumis, Henry the Bear, Pomodoris, The Ipswich reCREATion Department, and The Ipswich Public Library were all scheduled to take part in a month-long event starting during The Week of the Young Child in April 2020. A Pop-Up Children’s Museum play space was planned for the Winthrop School Cafeteria and outdoor play space. Due to COVID-19, the team had to cancel all the community events and begin from scratch. A new, smaller team was formed to create an alternative way to celebrate play throughout our community during the pandemic. The team, made up of teachers from Ascension Preschool, Cuvilly Arts and Earth Center, Doyon Kindergarten, Small Wonders, Small World Nursery, Winthrop Preschool, and Winthrop Kindergarten, met monthly in Zoom meetings. Julie Doyle, the Director of Small Wonders shared, “Although many things have stopped and have been put on hold because of the pandemic, childhood does not and cannot pause. Therefore, our work continues. Play continues to be the foundation of all learning in early childhood and we are committed to finding new ways to support the children and families in our community.” Julie Doyle’s was one of the first centers to re-open and her experience was invaluable to the team of educators, as they considered re-opening.
The team developed a COVID-friendly lending library for our local preschools. The By the Playbook lending library consists of nine educational kits that contain a set of 20 board books, cleaning instructions, thematic play-based lessons that highlight a particular book, and interactive art ideas. The grant also provided the smaller team with individual play-based educational items to be sent home with students.
Kerry Zagarella, Winthrop School kindergarten teacher and author of the grants requests, states, “Young children have the right to play and dream. As teachers we know that playing is serious work. We strive to create programs that build brain power and social skills through carefully crafted learning opportunities. Children must be able to explore their own interests in a supported environment. They need to encounter problems to solve and engage in collaborations with classmates.”
The Play is the Way team strives to create rich playful environments that young children need in order to learn and grow. Play is not only fun, but essential to a child’s overall development. Our mission is to embrace play in our classrooms while sharing current research with families and policymakers in order to protect children from the academic push down of skills. The team continues to meet monthly and has developed a website that houses all the play-based, teacher created lessons, as well as resources for families. Please visit: Play is the Way….to learn!