ABSTRACT
Play as a pedagogy has long been a core tenet of early childhood education. Reggio Emilia, Waldorf, Montessori, Tools of the Mind, and Anji Play all consider play an essential part of how children learn, though they differ in the kinds of play, materials, social interaction, and the role of adults. Play appears effective at developing executive functions. Play is a natural tendency observed in infants across the animal kingdom. Play generally benefits children, but those benefits are not universal across all ages and kinds of play. Play pedagogies can be roughly grouped into four types: faux play, guided play, adult-controlled play, and free play. Of the four types, guided play produces the best outcomes for young students. In this pedagogy, children play in environments that have been designed to afford certain kinds of learning opportunities and raise certain kinds of questions, like building with blocks, exploring buoyancy in water, or acting as a cashier.
