‘Learn to Play, Play to Learn’: A European Focus on Structured Play in Early Childhood. Erasmus Project

Project Title

‘Learn to Play, Play to Learn’: A European Focus on Structured Play in Early Childhood.

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for Schools Only

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2016

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Pedagogy and didactics; ICT – new technologies – digital competences; Key Competences (incl. mathematics and literacy) – basic skills

Project Summary

Much of children’s early learning and development takes place through play and hands-on experiences. These experiences help children to manage their feelings, develop as thinkers and language users, develop socially, be creative and imaginative, and lay the foundations for becoming effective communicators and learners. The project focused on resources and methodologies to help children develop pre-literacy skills, problem solving skills and concentration, and also generate social learning experiences in greater diversity than in a single country setting. These resources and methodologies improved achievement in relevant and high-level basic and transversal competences. Several types of play can be considered relevant with respect to children’s holistic development during the early childhood years: exploratory play, constructive play, creative play, pretend, fantasy and socio-dramatic play, physical / movement play, and language and word play. Undoubtedly the form and focus of the materials developed and activities undertaken in this project were influenced both by children’s development and the socio-cultural context of each individual school. However a broader range and cultural diversity of content was developed due to the profiles of the project participants: St Mary’s Parish Primary School (Ireland), Salesianos El Pilar Charter School (Spain), PLATON M.E.P.E. (Greece), Istituto Comprensivo Statale “Elio Vittorini” (Italy), Leirvogstunguskóli (Iceland) and Fundacao CEBI (Portugal).

The project’s objectives were to:

:• Develop common resources which can be utilised in the Early Childhood setting. This took the form of thematic kits developed collaboratively by class teachers across the partner schools and will allow students to explore common themes while being exposed to the differences and similarities of other cultures.
• Allow educators first-hand experience of Early Childhood settings and practices in other countries
• Explore different models of Early Childhood education with particular emphasis on structured play and apply these best practices to individual classroom settings.
• Develop literacy rich environments which blend specific Early Childhood literacy goals with the opportunity to explore the literature of partner countries.
• Allow students to utilise Web 2.0 technology to engage directly with students in other countries.
• Engage older students in using ICT in the creation of resources for junior classes.

The project created a bank of resources for use in the Early Childhood classroom. This was organised thematically with physical and on-line resources. The resources are listed on the project website (www.playtolearn.eu). The primary target audience are teachers currently working with Early Childhood classes across the partner schools. However, the project activities have been disseminated to peers and colleagues through local professional networks. The opportunities for collaboration and training in best practice resulted in increased professional development and competences utilising structured play in the classroom. As expected the engagement in the project presented wider opportunities for staff to learn from other European schools (e.g. class and whole-school management practices etc.). Teachers engaged with their peers across Europe in a myriad of cultural and learning activities, thus fostering greater European awareness and co-operation. The work allowed participating students to have greater engagement in structured play in the classroom. This was observed through quality interactions with other children, objects, and places. Resources shared allowed for a broader language-rich environment to encourage play, exploration, conversations, and collaboration.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 134590 Eur

Project Coordinator

St. Mary’s Parish Primary School & Country: IE

Project Partners

• Istituto Comprensivo Statale “Elio Vittorini” via Dusmet 24 S. P. Clarenza CT ctic85300t
• Salesianos Inspectoria de San Juan Bosco Comunidad Nuestra Señora Del Pilar
• PLATON M.E.P.E.
• Leirvogstunguskóli
• Fundação CEBI – Fundação para o Desenvolvimento Comunitário de Alverca