How to Name the Learning in Play
Three steps you can use tomorrow morning. Work through this beside the replay, or on its own. Your answers save in this browser as you type.
The elephant in the room
When I say academic readiness, I am not talking about worksheet readiness. I am not talking about skill and drill readiness. I am not talking about how well a child can memorize, comply, sit still, or give us the answer we already decided is right.
That is the language of the Parrot Model of early childhood education. It assumes we install information in children and they repeat it back. I am talking about children who can think. Children who hold an idea in mind, make a plan, change the plan, solve the problem, persist when something does not work, and come back to try again.
I do not want to build a better cage for a parrot. I want to open the cage.Sally Haughey
Parrot or thinker?
For each moment, decide: is the child parroting, or thinking? Tap your answer to see why.
Where does a typical day sit?
Right now my setting leans: right in the middle
Take a stance of evidence
Defending play never works. When we push, people push back, and we end up in the same fight we have been in for decades. We do not need to defend play when we can show what is happening inside it. We are physicians of play. We educate with evidence.
What happened to the early gains?
About 3,000 children. A lottery decided who got in. The program gave about 5.5 hours of instructional time a day, five days a week. The children who did not get in were studied too. Tap each year.
We might actually get better results from simply letting the children play.Dale Farran, researcher
More play, more self-regulation
Researchers followed 128 preschool children from age four to five. Families kept detailed 24-hour records of how each child spent their time. Children who played more developed stronger self-regulation: working memory, impulse control, attention and flexible thinking. Self-regulation then predicted stronger pre-reading and early math skills one year later.
Quick check: in this study, which of these counted as play? Tap each one.
Force or choice?
As a child, I colored the inside of my Easter bunny's ears purple and its nose green. I lost recess for not following directions. Being forced to comply is not self-regulation. A child masters self-control when her own play idea requires it.
From defending to evidence
A parent asks: "Why is my child just playing all day? Shouldn't she be doing worksheets?" Which response takes a stance of evidence?
Hands, Heart, Head
This framework grows from Rudolf Steiner's threefold picture of thinking, feeling and willing. In the Waldorf perspective, young children learn first through their will: they choose what to do, that activity stirs feelings such as pleasure and joy, and those feelings lead to new ideas and goals. So we observe in the same order.
Our practice clip comes from the Hummingbird Cottage. A young boy pours water from a small glass pitcher into small glasses on a baking tray, again and again. If you missed the webinar, picture it as you go, or watch the replay.
Hands: observe the actions
Start with what the child is actually doing. This is not the moment for interpretation, purpose or outcomes. We are only gathering the evidence of what the body is doing.
Observation or interpretation?
Hands only collects observations. Sort each statement.
Actions you noticed
Tap the actions you saw in the water play, then add any others.
Heart: observe the emotional and social signals
Actions alone do not tell the whole story. What is drawing the child in? What seems to matter to him? Try watching once without sound. Actions can tell us as much as words, especially with infants, toddlers and young threes who are not yet highly conversational.
What feelings and interests did you see?
What I noticed
He chose to work alone, and stayed in his own contentment even when another child came close. He moved at a slow, satisfied pace, one pour at a time. The pattern of pour, empty, refill suggested pleasure in the repetition. When the water went over the rim, he calmly reset and began again. Joy is a magnet for play.
The structure of the play
On a first pass, look at roles, rules and expectations. Write yours, then compare.
Compare with mine
Now we know two things. The Hands showed us what he is doing. The Heart showed us what is holding him there: his interest, engagement, pleasure and persistence.
Head: observe the thinking
Finally, we ask what habits of mind and patterns of thinking are unfolding in this simple act of pouring water.
Match the evidence to the habit of mind
Choose a habit for each piece of evidence, then check your matches.
The repetition is not boredom.
Planning, problem-solving, self-correction, persistence, flexibility and goal-directed behavior. Together these are executive function, one of the most reliable predictors of later academic success. That is executive function being practiced right there on a baking tray.
Name the learning in your own setting
Take a short video or a few minutes of notes on one child at play this week. Walk it through Hands, Heart and Head below. Your words become a short note you can copy and share with a family, a colleague or an administrator.
Check each habit of mind you saw, and write the evidence for it.
Want more reps like this, with real children on video? See the Learning Labs inside Play, Wonder, Learn →
Your takeaways
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Play, Wonder, Learn
Play, Wonder, Learn is a self-paced training designed to help you see, name, and communicate the learning already happening in children’s play.
Go deeper with real play footage, interactive Learning Labs, practical observation tools, and step-by-step guidance that trains your eyes to recognize academic readiness as it unfolds.
- Real play footage from the Hummingbird Cottage
- Six Interactive Learning Labs
- Observation Guides and the Learning Story Studio
- Certificate for 10 professional development hours
Stop seeing “just play.” Start seeing the learning.
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