Play can have a positive impact on the social, emotional, physical, and mental development of all children. Yet play can often be viewed as a waste of time, with priority given to more academic or structured pursuits.
This microcredential will guide you in examining the importance of play for children’s development. Exploring a variety of environments and resources, including natural and purpose-made, you’ll understand how these environments can support rich play experiences.
You’ll also develop the skills to communicate the value of play and become an advocate for play-based learning.
Finally, you’ll have the opportunity to experience play, and explore how play is used across cultures in early childhood development.
Explore play as a vital learning experience
You’ll be introduced to play as a development stage, recognising its importance and its decline in recent years. Exploring play-based pedagogies, you’ll learn how play contributes to the development and learning for children from birth.
You’ll also develop your ability to plan inclusive play-based learning experiences and support children’s transition to school.
Unpack the characteristics of play
To help you further develop play-based learning experiences, you’ll learn to define play and identify its key characteristics.
You’ll also gain an understanding of the role of the educator in facilitating play for children, as well as the importance of identifying diversity and equity issues in play space settings.
Gain a solid understanding of early childhood development
You’ll delve further into the importance of play for childhood development, particularly in behavioural and cognitive development.
With this knowledge, you’ll also be able to explore the importance of play environments, both indoor and outdoor.
Finally, you’ll learn how to incorporate play-based learning into curriculum, including techniques such as introducing language and literature through play.
How will I be assessed?
You’ll complete two assessments. The first is a multiple-choice online quiz and the second is a written assessment on the benefits of play. You’ll research and develop a presentation that advocates for the benefits of play in early childhood education.
The second assessment will give you the opportunity to apply the concepts and skills learnt throughout the microcredential to help cement your understanding.
How will this microcredential help my career?
Throughout the microcredential, you’ll gain transferable skills such as organisation and communication skills for the workplace and career progression.
Specifically, you’ll learn how to design play space environments, plan teaching and learning experiences in early childhood settings, and gain an ability to integrate the curriculum into play-based learning.
What will I receive?
Upon successful completion of the microcredential and two assessment tasks, you’ll receive a digital badge of completion. You may also be eligible for recognition of up to 5 Australian credits (equivalent to 50 learning hours constituting one third of a full course/unit in higher education at Federation University). The eligibility will be issued at the discretion of the relevant Institute of Federation University.
