Play-based learning: what the research says and what to look for

If you have been looking at early years international school options in Singapore for your children, chances are you've run into the phrase "play-based learning."

And if you're a parent who grew up with worksheets and spelling tests, it can feel unfamiliar. You might be asking yourself: where's the actual learning? When does my child start reading? How much can children truly learn through play?

The good news is that play-based learning is not a soft alternative to "real" education. It's one of the most thoroughly researched approaches in early childhood development, and there’s academic evidence that shows it’s effective when executed well.

In this article, we'll cover what the research says, what the main approaches look like in practice, and what to pay attention to when you visit a school.

A child learning about plants at Dover Court International School, Singapore

The science behind play-based learning

Before we get into the research, it's worth being clear about what "play" actually means in an early years context, because it can be different from what most adults picture when they hear the word.

Play here doesn't mean children being left to their own devices with a pile of toys. It means exploring, investigating, asking questions and testing ideas, often with an adult nearby who's gently shaping the experience towards a learning goal.

Stacking wooden blocks might look like a fairly basic activity, but there's a lot going on underneath. Children are working out why the tower keeps toppling when the big block goes on top of the small one, counting each new piece as they add it, naming the colours they reach for, and negotiating with the child next to them when there's only one red block left. A teacher watching closely will know when to step in with a question that extends the thinking, and when to step back and let them figure it out on their own.

This is why play and learning aren't opposites. For young children, play is how learning happens. When a four-year-old builds a tower with another child or pretends to run a shop, they're working on spatial reasoning, language, self-regulation, social problem-solving and early maths all at once. It's a good thing they do, because these early skills are far harder to build when they're older.

The Effective Pre-school, Primary and Secondary Education project, a study that followed more than 3,000 children in the UK from age three into their teens, found that:

• The quality of early years provision has measurable effects on children's academic and social outcomes years
• School settings that balance child-initiated play with adult-guided learning produce the strongest results.
• Children who do best are the ones who experience rich, play-led experiences alongside skilled adult interaction. Not only do they enjoy better outcomes than the ones pushed into formal academics earlier, but the effects are still visible several years later, even as teens.

What makes the EPPE findings particularly useful for parents is that the researchers were able to identify what "high quality" meant in practice. It came down to the warmth and skill of the adults, the balance between child-led exploration and gentle adult guidance, and the richness of the interactions children had during their play. Those elements travel across approaches and price points, regardless of individual schools' facilities, branding and propositions.

Cambridge researcher David Whitebread, whose report on the importance of play has shaped early years policy across Europe, states it clearly: there is no good evidence that starting formal instruction earlier produces better long-term outcomes, and a fair bit of evidence suggesting the opposite.

Children who are rushed into reading and writing before they're developmentally ready can show short-term gains, but they fade by age seven or eight. On the other hand, children who built strong oral language, motor and social foundations through play overtake them in the long run.

A 2018 clinical report from the American Academy of Pediatrics, “The Power of Play”, co-authored by a team of paediatricians and developmental researchers, goes even further. It identifies play as essential to healthy brain development and recommends that paediatricians prescribe play to parents as a way of protecting children against stress and supporting cognitive, social and emotional growth.

Balance child-initiated play with adult-guided learning leads to strong long-term outcomes (image: Dover Court International School)

The main approaches you'll come across

Once you understand why play-based learning is effective in supporting children's outcomes, the next step is navigating its different approaches. And there are several. Here are some of the most common and popular in Singapore, as in many other countries.

• Montessori settings emphasise independence and self-directed activity within a carefully prepared environment. Children choose from a range of materials designed to develop specific skills, and teachers observe and guide rather than instruct. There's structure, but the learning sits in the environment itself more than the timetable.
• Reggio Emilia, originally developed in northern Italy after the Second World War, treat children as capable and curious researchers. Learning emerges from children's individual interests, often through long-term projects. In these settings, the environment is considered the "third teacher" alongside the adults and the children themselves. Reggio Emilia places a strong emphasis on creative expression, documentation of children's thinking, and relationships.
• Forest School and outdoor learning approaches, as the name suggests, originated in Scandinavia and use natural environments as the primary learning space. Children spend significant time outdoors in all weathers, building, exploring, taking measured risks and developing physical confidence alongside other skills.
• Blended models aren't all-in on one specific approach, but borrow elements from several of them. For example, they might draw on Reggio's project-based ethos, Montessori's structured independence, and outdoor learning's emphasis on physical exploration.

None of these are better or worse than the others. What matters is what fits your child's specific needs and personality, and whether the approach is implemented deliberately and consistently.

Student engaged in play-based shapes and maths activity

But what about reading and writing?

This is the question almost every parent wants to ask.

The research is clear that early literacy and numeracy develop best when they're built on strong oral language, rich vocabulary, and the cognitive and social foundations that play-based settings are designed to grow. Children who can hold a conversation, take turns, focus their attention, recognise patterns and tell a story are children who are ready to read and write when the time comes. Pushing children into formal lessons too soon can lead to them sounding out words without really understanding them (and disliking school in the process).

While you won't see four-year-olds sitting at a desk doing handwriting drills, effective play-based schools weave letters and numbers into everyday activities, encouraging children to recognise their names, count things that matter to them, and play with sounds and rhymes.

If a school can't articulate how its play-based approach builds the foundations for formal learning later on, that's a problem. If it can, that’s a good sign.

What to look for when you visit a school

A school's marketing material will cover a school’s approach extensively, but it can only say so much. The real test is what you see and feel when you walk in for the first time.

Here's what to look for on a tour, and what each of these things tells you.

• Watch the children before you watch the adults. Are they engaged in what they're doing, or drifting? Do they approach you spontaneously, smiling and waving, or do they keep to themselves and only speak when asked? Confident, happy children who aren't shy around unfamiliar visitors usually signal an environment that's warm and trusting of children's own choices. A green flag.

• Notice how the adults interact with the children. Research from Kathy Hirsh-Pasek and Roberta Golinkoff on guided play shows that the quality of adult-child interaction matters enormously. Look for adults who are kneeling down to a child's level, asking open questions, and following the child's lead rather than directing the activity.

• Look at the space. Is it cluttered with plastic toys, or thoughtfully arranged with materials children can use? Is there evidence of children's work around you (as in, slightly messy, in-progress thinking, not laminated displays made by teachers?) Are there dedicated spaces for quiet time, for movement, for making, for being outdoors? The Reggio tradition talks about the environment as the "third teacher" for a reason: a well-designed early years space does a lot of the educational work on its own.

• See what happens outside. How much time do children spend out there? Is the outdoor space treated as an extension of the classroom, or as somewhere to burn off energy between "real" lessons? You'll want to spot signs of the former, especially in a hot country like Singapore. Schools that take outdoor learning seriously have figured out how to make it work in the heat, and the children are visibly better for it.

• Pay attention to transitions between activities. Rushed and slightly anxious transitions often signal an over-scheduled day. Calm, purposeful ones suggest the staff trust the children and the children trust the rhythm.

• Ask staff how they handle the move into formal learning. A good early years setting will be able to explain how children build the foundations for reading, writing and maths through play, and how that transitions into more structured learning as they get older. You should be looking for concrete answers with specific examples of what children are doing and why.
  

A good sign: outdoor spaces as an extension of the classroom

Seeing it in practice: Dover Court International School

To write this article, we drew on conversations with Dover Court International School (DCIS) and looked closely at how their early years setting, the NEST programme (short for Nurturing Early Stages Together), brings the Reggio philosophy and play-based learning to life in practice.

Luna Deller, Deputy Head of Lower Primary (nursery to Year 2), explains that play is how children make sense of the world around them. The EYFS curriculum sits alongside an environment deliberately set up for exploration, where what looks like simple play is carefully planned to support learning.

A lot of the principles we've talked about so far show up in the way the programme is set up. There are dedicated early years spaces and studios built for creative exploration, which echoes the Reggio idea of the environment as the "third teacher." Outdoor spaces are treated as a classroom rather than a break from one: children become gardeners by caring for the young plants in the school's nursery, and explorers spotting birds and other animals at the local park.

The emphasis on the social and emotional side of early years also comes through in the admissions process itself. The Stay and Play sessions, where children visit with their parents before joining, are designed to build relationships and confidence outside a formal setting.

You can find the Dover Court International School profile and Open House details on doris.

Children at Dover Court International School learning about plants with their teacher, Ms Pan