Programa Bilingue - Learning Through Play

A child of 8 runs outside, instantly surrounded by a sea of friends. The group spends the day playing hide and seek, spin the bottle, and tag. The games are stopped only when the moon is climbing the sky and mothers' supper time call echoes down the streets. A child of 5 sits quietly with an imaginary friend, playing with Barbies; on other days the child plays house with her best friend. A child of 3 sits on a rug, playing with colorful plastic toys, quite content. These were my earliest childhood memories and all involved play.

Why Is Play Important?

According to Fromberg and Gullo (1992), play enhances language development, social competence, creativity, imagination, and thinking skills. Frost (1992) concurred, stating that "play is the chief vehicle for the development of imagination and intelligence, language, social skills, and perceptual-motor abilities in infants and young children". Because of these theories, we value the concept of "play" and have taken steps to integrate it into the Infantil II curriculum and in the bilingual program.

In the last month and a half, we have used "play" to learn about our bodies from head to toe, the different colors, and popular childrens' songs.




Project Lessons

One particular lesson we sang The Hokey Pokey, learning the various body parts through dance and gestures. Another lesson involved a memory game, encouraging the children to learn the parts of the body and face in a fun way, while developing cognitive skills.

Color Unit

Our lesson about primary colors enabled the children to work on fine motor skills, glueing down pieces of paper to make a beautiful collage. Next, our lesson on secondary colors brought a visit from two cute turtles, reminding students that the color green can be found anywhere. Our lesson on orange, another secondary color involved making a tulip to take home to mommy and daddy.


Children Songs

The children in Infantil II classes have learned many songs through the use of hand gestures, dance, and their imagination. Imagining the itsy bitsy spider climbing up the water spout, sleepy brother John waking up to ringing bells, and the mouse running up the clock in Hickory Dickory Dock.

As a community of educators, administrators, and family, let us continue working together to foster learning through play. In the process helping our children create their first and fondest childhood memories.

Next Up: Keep an eye out for "Kadinsky Colors in the Classroom".

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