When children are exposed to such stressful changes, early childhood teachers need to restore children’s opportunities for playful learning in schools. Teachers need to provide support to children facing crises, since children spend many hours at school. Young children’s abilities to express themselves are limited, and their words might sometimes be inadequate to display their feelings and needs. Adding to this difficulty, children’s natural spontaneities are necessarily suppressed through the process of socialization. This can be frustrating for children, but play offers them an appropriate means of adjusting to reality. Although it is recognized that children can learn in various ways, even when under stress, many teachers know that some of the best learning occurs in play environments.

To help and support children experiencing crisis events, teachers need to reconsider that play is the best way for children to develop and heal. Teachers who wish to capitalize on the value of play for children’s well-being need to give special consideration to the importance of playful learning. Playful learning consists of free play and guided play (Hassinger-Das et al., 2017). Free play refers to children initiating play through their choices and in their time, whereas guided play is defined as play that is structured by teachers to meet learning goals. This article describes how teachers can support children’s development and healing through playful learning. We also present suggestions for how to support both free and guided play.