Through play children can:

• communicate with others as they investigate or solve problems; 
• explore, develop and represent learning experiences that help them to make sense of the world;
• practise and build up ideas, concepts and skills;
• learn how to control impulses and understand the need for rules;
• be alone, be alongside others or cooperate as they talk or discuss their feelings;
• take risks and make mistakes;
• think creatively and imaginatively;
• express fears or relive anxious experiences in  controlled and safe situations.

Through play you, as parents, can work to ensure that your children enter school having established solid foundations on which to build.
You can help them to make the most of their experiences by:

• sharing in the fun,
• giving support and asking questions that prompt increased observation or help the play to move on,
• encouraging and guiding children to use all of their senses as they find out about themselves and their surroundings.

Play, both indoor and outdoor, not only provides children with enjoyment but with challenges and diverse learning opportunities.
Water play is always a favourite. It doesn’t have to be at a water tray and you don’t need sophisticated equipment. When playing in water children are developing:

• their hand eye coordination,
• fine motor skills and visual concentration as they pour, fill, squeeze, squirt, pump, blow etc.,
• language skills as they discuss and describe what they are doing,
• mathematical understanding as they come to an improved understanding of the language of capacity or volume,
• personal and social skills as they share and take turns.

They may also be learning about the importance of keeping clean.
their understanding of the world around them as they discover some of the properties of water and how other materials behave in water e.g. displacing, absorbing, floating and sinking. They may also be learning how water wheels, sieves and funnels work and how objects can move across water.

It should also be remembered that children need time to consolidate their ideas and should have time to play independently without an adult hovering and trying to make the most of every learning opportunity.

It is largely through structured play activities that your child will engage with the Northern Ireland Curriculum.

1. Creative, Expressive and Physical Development
(bringing together Art and Design, Music And P.E.)
2.  Language and Literacy (bringing together Talking and Listening, Reading and Writing.)
3. Mathematics and Numeracy ( emphasising practical and mental mathematics and thinking processes in mathematics as well as the application of numeracy.)
4. Personal Development (giving clear ideas for how to develop children’s knowledge of health and safety also emotional, and community understanding.)
5. The World Around Us ( where geography, history, science and technology have been combined into topics. Through these topics teachers can also teach Language and Literacy, Numeracy, Expressive and Physical and Personal Development.)

Research tells us that the early years are perhaps the most important period in establishing children’s:

• attitudes to school;
• disposition to learn;
• confidence and self esteem;
• ability to think for themselves and show initiative.

Feedback from both parents and teachers has been very positive and would suggest that the children are:

• enthusiastic about school and learning
• more concentrated on task
• better listeners
• showing improved physical skills
• aware their own interests are valued
• feeling that their views are valued
• more independent
• more willing to share
• more confident
• more co-operative
• more willing to have a go
• better problem solvers
• better communicators
• better at making decisions
• able to direct their learning
• able to show leadership skills
• able to cope with making mistakes
• demonstrating higher levels of self esteem
  

Children learn best when they are active and involved and when learning is enjoyable. If your children return home tired and happy and saying that they have played all day don’t under estimate the value of their experiences. You can be assured that their play activities have been structured and differentiated in order to best meet the needs of all of the children in the class.