Types of Play & STEM

Simon Watson

Types of Play & STEM

There is no doubt that 'play' is very important for child development.

Through play children learn social rules about sharing, turn taking and how to behave when being in a group. They learn about cause and effect, create 'imaginary worlds,' and, through all of this, they start to develop a greater understanding of the world in which they live.

It is this final aspect of play that STEM 'taps into' ... learning about the world in which they live. Through discovery and exploration, collaboration, and problem solving, they start to develop a deeper understanding of 'how things work'.  

Through play, they will ...

• stumble on concepts which might be scientific in nature - identifying leaves, insects, flowers.

• become curious about what technology has to offer.

• will want to build, tear down and rebuild simple structures, young engineering minds trying to work out how things are put together.

• will start to think about quantities and proportions (as they make mud pies !)

STEM is in everything they do, and always has been.

The STEM approach demands that we furnish them with vocabulary and understanding so that they become increasingly curious about learning, and actively engaged in, and excited about, learning ... and play, as we can see, is a huge part of this.

In the UK, and around the world, Forest Schools have become hugely popular. Their ethos, and the ethos of STEM, fit like a hand in a glove.

In Forest Schools, the children will be allowed free time to play with whatever they want to in the (often, but not always) woods. There may be a theme for the day (Who can find the best sticks to build a den? Who can find the biggest leaf? What happens when we mix water and soil? Who can climb highest up this tree?) but, other than the theme, the children are allowed, and encouraged, to go and explore, and the facilitators of the session are on hand to answer any questions the children may have, and to ask the children questions to encourage further exploration.

So ... play IS important, and ensuring we incorporate the STEM ethos into play is also important ... but HOW do children play ?

There are many 'models' of play. These models categorise play into 'types of play'.

Some models contain many categories and sub categories, but, for the purposes of our work, we will use a simple model that breaks down play into 7 categories. These categories are explained in more detail below.