Reading, along with writing, is one of the most fundamental skills we learn as children - it helps us through every stage of life, and, for those of us who enjoy reading in our spare time, it becomes a fantastic creative outlet. However, learning to read can be a difficult process, especially for children who would rather be playing! Daniel Senn, CEO and Founder of Poio (www.poio.com), the app providing a compelling, gamified alternative to traditional learning methods, suggests that encouraging learning through play is the best way to get your children to start, and most importantly, enjoy reading. Below, he shares the top seven benefits of incorporating play into learning:
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Children stay motivated
For most children, ‘learning’ or ‘studying’ are words that are automatically associated with something compulsory, and therefore, not fun. However, if you encourage them to learn to read through playing, it will make them feel like doing so is their own choice, and that reading is something fun that they get to do, as opposed to something they are made to do. The ability to choose an activity will automatically make your child feel more empowered, and determined to persevere with the task at hand.
They learn to communicate
Any form of play, whether guided like in the case of Poio, or independent, solitary or group, encourages children to communicate, listen and articulate thought. When it comes to learning to read through play, your child will speak the words they’ve learnt aloud, while also articulating any difficulties they might have. One of the key benefits of reading is that it improves and grows our vocabulary, which is especially important for children who are just starting to communicate with the world around them.
Reading and playing allows children to perfect their social skills
Both reading and playing encourage your child to practice and hone their social skills. A recent study from the New York University School of Medicine found reading aloud and pretend-play can offset disruptive behaviours, as well as improve children’s attention and focus - all of which are essential skills for when your child goes to school. * Additionally, many of the stories aimed at children will have characters who will go through challenges and experience a variety of emotions, which gives your child the opportunity to imagine themselves in the same situation. This can allow you, the parent, to teach them about emotional responses and arm them with social skills they will need throughout their life.
Learning through play makes children more confident
When it comes to learning a new skill, children can find setbacks and mistakes really demoralising, especially if they make the same mistake more than once. Encouraging your child to learn through play changes the way that they view mistakes - instead of seeing them as something that they could be punished for, mistakes simply mean having another go at the challenge. This is especially important when it comes to fundamental skills like reading, as children will inevitably make mistakes as they learn. Gamifying the process means that you give them the encouragement and confidence they need to keep trying until they succeed.
Reading and play boosts creativity
Reading in itself can be creative, but your child won’t see this until they become confident readers themselves. By adding play into this process, you are allowing your child’s creativity to blossom - that’s how we created Poio the troll and the other characters in our game! My son came up with characters who he could help and relate to, while imagining himself into the story at the same time - making the entire learning process a lot more fun. In addition, using Poio as an example we see children who have been hunting for letters and words in the game, starting to bring the same action into real life, trying to spell out the names of objects around them.
Playing while learning harnesses your child’s energy
All parents know that children have bounds of energy, and this energy can be disruptive, especially when trying to learn a relatively quiet skill like reading. By encouraging your child to engage with characters and play out scenarios, you help them direct this energy at the task, without becoming distracted. Instead of reading being something they have to keep coming back to, it becomes part of the game - the child has to read to find out how their playing will develop!
It assists critical thinking
Both reading and playing engage the part of the brain that is responsible for attention, memory, control and critical thinking. When you gamify the reading process, you ask your child to contextualise what they read and apply it to their immediate environment, which will help your child sift through the information more efficiently, and practice their critical thinking skills!
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