For young children, play is an authentic skyway to learn and develop across content areas and domains. Inviting the use of imagination, creativity, and flexible thinking, play offers ample opportunity to embrace the acts of exploring, wondering, investigating, and discovering. Alongside of these processes that contribute so much to thinking skills, play nurtures life skills (Gartrell, 2020). Social-emotional-cognitive proficiencies, developed and honed as children play, lay the foundation for success both inside and outside of the classroom. Sometimes referred to as soft skills (to which the author says first things first!), this array of abilities supports children in learning to effectively navigate within the classroom. The foundation provides substantial benefits to the child in the present and for the future (NAEYC, 2021). Beyond the school walls, a strong social-emotional-cognitive foundation gained through play propels children forward through life.

In the context of play, young children can develop positive self-concept, gain confidence, build relationships with peers and significant adults, learn to label and regulate emotions, and refine communication and problem-solving skills, all leading to higher levels of achievement (Heidemann & Hewitt, 2010). However, these gains do not happen by chance. It takes intentional support from teachers and other significant adults willing to assume an active, interactive role in play as essential copilots. Just as an aircraft requires copilots to safely adhere to a flight plan, children at play need copilots to engage in and support their play plans. Are you ready for takeoff?

When young children play, teachers can choose to do one of two things: engage or disengage. In many early childhood classrooms, in response to a notion that play should be entirely child-directed and/or the fallacy that children do “significant” learning only during structured group times, play can be viewed as a time to disconnect. Viewing themselves as not having a role in play or being unsure of how to carry out their role, teachers too often fall into the habit of using this time for other things. Although enticing, as days are busy with many competing demands, playtime is not the time to check emails or texts, return phone calls, or prepare an upcoming learning activity. On the contrary, it is a time to plug in, to be active and interactive, truly in the moment as a copilot. Other activities can wait; the teachable moment to support children as they work through a conflict over the coveted purple scissors will not.

On one hand, play appears to be a simple, free-flowing event. On the other hand, early childhood teachers must understand that play is a rather complex process. Young children do not learn the skills needed to play by osmosis. They often have struggles seen in frustrations with materials and conflicts with others. Teachers need to regard these struggles as calls for help. Support plans and strategies are needed to teach the skills necessary to solve the problems children face (Greene, 2014). Just as teachers would step in to support other efforts, the reaction must be the same when it comes to play. 

So, we start at the beginning, not giving in to the assumption that all children come into the classroom fully equipped to play. The level of play skills will vary from child to child, much the same as other skill sets. If the goal was to teach the mathematical process of patterning, starting at the beginning, a teacher would provide ample opportunity for the child to explore freely with open-ended materials. This fluid exploration invites children to begin to notice differences and correlations between items, a precursor to patterning. If we begin with an expectation that simply given materials, children will automatically create patterns, a disservice occurs. The same thing goes for play skills. Before being expected to find success in the context of play, teachers must consider the precursors—sharing, taking turns, communicating, negotiating, learning to care about others, along with identifying and regulating emotions. These forerunners, first things first, are the building blocks of successful play. Constructing a purposeful plan to introduce and scaffold necessary play skills is essential. From the perspective of the author, the “Flight Plan for Play” has six parts:

1. Identify and Name the Skill

Identify and name the skills deemed critical for a young child at play. The skills include: sharing, turn taking, entering into play, communicating, negotiating a back and forth exchange of interactions, displaying a sense of empathy, and regulating emotions (Corso, 2016). Vygotsky’s famous Zone of Proximal Development comes into play here. Begin where the child is and identify what they can do. Next, consider what they can do and where they can go with their teacher and/or peers serving as a viable scaffold. If the child is in need of play-skill development, each step along the way might need to be separated into mini-increments that can be celebrated. Baby steps matter! (Examples of competencies related to play, along with visuals and shared language to consider can be found at the National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations website challengingbehavior.cbcs.usf.edu)

ADVERTISEMENT

2. Devise an Introduction Plan

Create a plan to introduce each identified skill to young children in a manner that ensures they understand what each looks, sounds, and feels like, again, making no assumptions about prior knowledge and experience. This plan could involve the use of stories and other outlets including puppets, role play, and cooperative games during group time, followed by small group lessons that derive from large group content. Refer to these lessons when you use the countless opportunities for real-time teachable moments to reinforce development and use of play skills (Gronlund, 2013). Play times are the best moments to settle into the designated copilot seat.

Here is an example of devising and using an introductory flight plan for play:

During large group, read the book “Mouse Was Mad” by Linda Urban, and discuss the tactics Mouse’s friends recommend to use to deal with being mad.

In small group, discuss things that may make them mad along with options to deal with their mad, and try each one out (deep breaths, counting to five, blowing out the birthday candles, running in place, squishing play dough).

During playtime, purposefully watch for kids who become upset and coach them through dealing with these situations to prevent possible turbulence. Help them name their feeling, express their feeling, give them words or actions to use to work through their mad. Then, affirm them for a job well done—“you were mad that your block tower was knocked down, but you took some deep breaths and told Benny it made you mad that he kicked your tower over!” Celebrate their steps toward self-regulation with them! 

3. Utilize Descriptive and Ongoing Feedback

Ensure that children are receiving descriptive and ongoing feedback as they use and hone their skills. Helping children work through turbulent situations, promoting a sense of calm, as well as individually and specifically acknowledging their efforts keeps first things first (Gartrell, 2020). Without your continuous copiloting, they may be unsure of how close they are to the mark. Example: Timmy struggles with using words when problems come up. On this day he asks a buddy to return a Lego® piece, saying “Gimme that back!” The teacher reinforces Timmy for using his words, gently asks him to add the magic word (please), and mediates the exchange. In relation to learning a specific skill, one step taken by one child may mean complete success. For another child, a myriad of smaller increments may be required to accomplish a similar feat. Keeping this in mind, teachers match their feedback with the individual needs and process of the child. In this way, children begin to understand what behaviors are considered valuable in the context of friendship (DelVecchio, 2021).

4. Extend the Use of Encouragement and Affirmation

Extend encouragement and affirmation beyond the first few weeks of school. Oftentimes teachers begin strong, introducing and reinforcing routines and expectations for the classroom, only to pull back too soon. By week seven, the thinking that “I have taught my class these skills; children should know them by now” can lead to trouble. If the messages children send us communicate that they still have room to grow, our responses to their behavior must follow suit. For some children and groups, social skills remain a work in progress for the entire school year. A teacher’s responsibility is to teach the whole child, therefore they cannot abandon the fight just as copilots cannot abort the flight plan.

5. Embrace a Growth Mindset

Embrace the concept of a growth mindset when it comes to life skills. Believe that children can develop and grow these skills with you as an interactive partner. Accept the fact that learning to support the development of these skills is not an easy task. For children with only months of life experience—four years means only 48 months—it is a work in progress. A growth mindset serves both children and teachers. Our collective goal is to teach children to learn from their beginners’ mistakes and begin to solve their own problems (Gartrell, 2020). Empowerment goes a long way! Anticipate there will be “air turbulence” during play, ready yourself with the words, visuals, and actions needed to support the efforts of young players at play. Be ready: you are the copilot!

6. Ensure a Context of Trust

Implementing a flight plan for play occurs within the context of a broader relationship with a child. Effective copiloting requires relationships, leading to development and learning across developmental domains (The Center on the Developing Child, 2021). It is no secret that children with challenging behaviors may test the establishment of teacher-child relationships. Yet, teachers understand that building trust and rapport takes time and intention, little exchanges across the day make a difference (Hammond, 2015). As you notice, listen to, talk with, interact and play with children, you send the message to the child that they truly matter. Giving them your time and attention shapes and nurtures your growing relationship.   

There you have it! In all honesty, this is not an easy process, but it is critically important work that needs to be done. After all, learning the steps necessary to successfully accomplish a zipper merge as an adult begins in childhood! Yes, there will be some give and take, at times a pattern of two steps forward, one step back, yet embracing this dance—these flight maneuvers—is a vital part of the role of early childhood teachers. Learning how to play forms “a foundation for learning and social interaction in their future lives” (Heidemann & Hewitt, 2010). With this in mind, don’t underestimate the significance of your role as a copilot, drawing children ever closer to a safe landing within the context of play, and life.