Play with a Purpose
Research has shown that the first five years of a child’s life are the most important in brain development, and that the best way young children learn is through play.
We’ve learned that when kids play, they:
- Develop new intellectual, motor, and social skills.
- Learn language and problem-solving skills.
- Explore how the world works.
- Form strong bonds to their favorite playmates: family and caregivers.
So your everyday play experiences with a child can create a powerful foundation for her healthy growth and future success!
Latest Brain Research is Foundation for Playful Program
The early learning experts at
CHSW reviewed
hundreds of early brain and child development research findings and
parent education studies to serve as the framework for the innovative learning system.
Program developers also combed numerous early learning assessments and multiple state and national benchmarks, and consolidated them into a comprehensive set of early development benchmarks in key learning areas:
- Feeling and connecting (social and emotional development),
- Sensing and moving (the five senses, gross and fine motor development),
- Listening and talking (language and pre-literacy development),
- Thinking and remembering (cognitive and memory development).
PlayBright’s 5 Keys to Learning Framework
The 5 Keys to Learning are the foundation of every
PlayBright guidebook and
training. These
research-based strategies will help you make important connections with children and offer simple, effective ways to put complex early brain and child development research into playful practice.
The 5 Keys are:
- Key 1: Relationships are necessary for a child to learn.
- Key 2: A child’s brain is amazing and growing quickly.
- Key 3: Each child is unique.
- Key 4: Play is how a child learns best.
- Key 5: A child learns as a whole child.
We offer the
PlayBright Keys to Learning book, which gives detailed, easy-to-understand research information about each developmental key, plus a list of resources for further learning.
Promising Results from Early PlayBright Study
A 2008 independent pilot study demonstrated that caregivers and family members in Play and Learn groups who used PlayBright showed improvements in knowledge and behaviors related to a child’s development and school readiness. Findings revealed:
- 72.7% of survey respondents who used PlayBright had “a lot more” understanding of their role in helping children prepare for school.
- 86.4 % reported increasing knowledge about their role in helping children be ready for school, what to expect of children at different ages, or how children learn through playing “a lot more” in at least one area.
- 95.5% reported changing what they do with children in their care “a lot more” in at least one area surveyed.
(CHSW Reading Readiness Initiative Grant, Fall 2008)
