{"id":7176,"date":"2018-12-11T15:48:33","date_gmt":"2018-12-11T15:48:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/childandfamilyblog.com\/?p=7176"},"modified":"2024-05-11T22:33:34","modified_gmt":"2024-05-11T21:33:34","slug":"learning-through-play-public-spaces","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/childandfamilyblog.com\/learning-through-play-public-spaces\/","title":{"rendered":"Let\u2019s redesign public spaces for learning through play"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Transforming supermarkets, bus stops and park benches for learning through play could cut educational gulfs between rich and poor.<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>In the supermarket, signs prompt parents to ask children where milk comes from. \u2018Count the carrots,\u2019 suggests another sign. At a bus stop, children complete puzzles on the back of a bench. Some play hopscotch, jumping from one foot to another. Others search for images of food and animals hidden in the metal work. They wonder why, as the day passes, the images cast different shadows on the ground. This is learning through play.<\/p>\n<p>Is this the future for child development \u2013 where academic skills are built by learning through play out and about, in the community, not just in school? We think it\u2019s possible.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_79_2 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title ez-toc-toggle\" style=\"cursor:pointer\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #121c4e;color:#121c4e\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #121c4e;color:#121c4e\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/childandfamilyblog.com\/learning-through-play-public-spaces\/#Rethinking_public_spaces_for_creative_learning\" >Rethinking public spaces for creative learning<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/childandfamilyblog.com\/learning-through-play-public-spaces\/#The_supermarket_becomes_a_fun_school\" >The supermarket becomes a fun school<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/childandfamilyblog.com\/learning-through-play-public-spaces\/#Increased_parental_interaction_for_lower_income_children\" >Increased parental interaction for lower income children\u00a0<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/childandfamilyblog.com\/learning-through-play-public-spaces\/#Reduced_learning_through_play_in_classrooms\" >Reduced learning through play in classrooms<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/childandfamilyblog.com\/learning-through-play-public-spaces\/#Learning_through_play_in_hospitals_jails_and_streets\" >Learning through play in hospitals, jails and streets<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Rethinking_public_spaces_for_creative_learning\"><\/span><strong>Rethinking public spaces for creative learning<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>That\u2019s why we\u2019ve transformed often mundane public spaces into places of learning through play to foster interaction, conversation and real learning in areas like language, literacy and STEM subjects. Behind the fun lies a big ambition: to use the 80 per cent of waking time that children spend outside school to improve their readiness to learn, social-emotional skills, scientific curiosity and educational achievement.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>\u201c\u201cCan you spot a big one,\u201d a picture of a giant tomato asked at the fruit and vegetable aisle. Suddenly, low income families were chatting much more.\u2019\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>We need to do more than expand early education to put lower income children on a more equal footing with their peers. Our approach augments what\u2019s often used in children\u2019s museums, with the potential to reach greater numbers. It\u2019s not confined to single locations that require entry payments.<\/p>\n<p>Our goal is to create communities intentionally designed for learning through play by all children. We\u2019re not trying to shove learning down children\u2019s throats but rather to enhance cities so they\u2019re rife with opportunity for families and children to communicate. The aim is to avoid extra financial burdens and focus on everyday facilities, such as bus stops and benches that cities already maintain.<\/p>\n<p>Each initiative is evaluated, and our early findings are promising. Crucially, they suggest that such initiatives hold the promise of reducing gaps between children from underserved communities and their more affluent peers.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_supermarket_becomes_a_fun_school\"><\/span><strong>The supermarket becomes a fun school<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Take the supermarket as a place of learning through play, for example. Before signage went up, carers and children in a low-income neighbourhood supermarket interacted considerably less well than those in a middle income supermarket. Then, we added our \u2018healthy language\u2019 signs in each store.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>\u201cIs this the future \u2013 where academic skills are built out and about, in the community, not just in school?\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>\u2018Can you spot a big one?\u2019 asked a picture of a giant tomato in the fruit and vegetable aisle. \u2018A small one? Which ones are heavy? Or light?\u2019 Suddenly families were chatting much more: language interactions in families from underserved neighbourhoods rose by a third. Parents described more of what they could see for their children. They asked them more questions, pointed out more products. Children did likewise for the grown-ups. And it turns out that these conversations can make all the difference in building foundations for language growth.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Increased_parental_interaction_for_lower_income_children\"><\/span><strong>Increased parental interaction for lower income children<\/strong><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>However, there was little impact among families in the higher-end supermarket. That difference led to an intriguing outcome. There are no hard and fast rules tying conversation levels to socioeconomic status \u2013 some lower-income families talk a lot, and some higher-income families don\u2019t. Still, there is a generally identified conversation and interaction gap between middle- and lower-income families, and it was eliminated by our supermarket learning through play experiment. Such findings suggest that transforming public spaces might help families \u2018catch up\u2019 \u2013 chipping away at educational inequities between socioeconomic groups that remain stubbornly large, despite preschool education.<\/p>\n<p>The supermarket initiative is one example of the <a href=\"https:\/\/kathyhirshpasek.com\/learning-landscapes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u2018Learning Landscapes\u2019<\/a> project, begun in the United States but now undergoing experimentation internationally, from Johannesburg to London. It takes the goal of greater educational equity and combines it with the Conscious Cities movement, which aims to create more intuitive, responsive, people-centric cities. Urban areas are a good place to start learning-through-play initiatives since by 2030, 70 per cent of children are expected to be living in cities, worldwide.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_7255\" style=\"width: 972px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7255\" class=\"wp-image-7255\" src=\"https:\/\/childandfamilyblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/W2A7410-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"962\" height=\"641\" srcset=\"https:\/\/childandfamilyblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/W2A7410-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/childandfamilyblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/W2A7410-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/childandfamilyblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/W2A7410-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/childandfamilyblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/W2A7410-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/childandfamilyblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/W2A7410-356x237.jpg 356w, https:\/\/childandfamilyblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/W2A7410-50x33.jpg 50w, https:\/\/childandfamilyblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/W2A7410-900x600.jpg 900w, https:\/\/childandfamilyblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/W2A7410.jpg 1800w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 962px) 100vw, 962px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-7255\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo: <a href=\"https:\/\/kathyhirshpasek.com\/learning-landscapes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Sahar Coston-Hardy<\/a>.<\/p><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Reduced_learning_through_play_in_classrooms\"><\/span><strong>Reduced learning through play in classrooms<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong>The potential benefits could be huge: much of the \u2018other 80 per cent\u2019 of children\u2019s waking time &#8211; when they aren\u2019t at school &#8211; is spent in the home and community. Can we design playful learning to infuse public spaces with fun, engaging and stimulating learning possibilities? Can we create playful learning piazzas? This could be an important breakthrough at a time when play is diminishing in many preschool and kindergarten classrooms.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>\u201cWe\u2019ve taken the science of learning out of the ivory tower and into the streets.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Underpinning each initiative is the science of learning which we\u2019ve brought out of the ivory tower and into the streets. At supermarkets in Philadelphia, the signs target language and mathematics skills. At bus stops, the puzzles build early spatial and mathematics skills. Hopscotch targets executive functions \u2013 working memory, problem-solving and planning. Shoe prints encourage children to jump, developing their abilities to control impulses and to think flexibly as they match the random patterns and find their next steps.<\/p>\n<p>The \u2018hidden figures\u2019 in the bus stops\u2019 metal work, casting different shadows on the ground, are like a version of hide and seek, promoting curiosity and exploration. They build problem solving. Spatial skills develop as children figure out how the shadows are cast upon the ground<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Learning_through_play_in_hospitals_jails_and_streets\"><\/span>Learning through play in hospitals, jails and streets<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The possibilities are numerous. One learning through play project plans to transform hospital waiting rooms, where families are often bored for hours. Another seeks to transform jails that house new mothers, so they can play better during visits with their babies. Seattle is developing stimulating and safe sidewalks on the way to school. And yet another city is considering how we might reshape low-income housing.<\/p>\n<p>These projects use public spaces to forge a suite of 21st century skills that children are expected to gain in school but may find difficult in formal settings. In \u2018Parkopolis\u2019, in Philadelphia, a life-sized, playful-learning board game aims to enrich maths and science learning opportunities by playing outside.<\/p>\n<p>Children roll dice to advance around the board and draw cards that engage them in mini-games along their way. The dice include not only whole numbers but also fractions. Spaces are divided into fourths. These help children to embody the fraction learning experience that can be difficult in formal school settings.<\/p>\n<p>The next step is to test these learning-through-play initiatives at scale and in conjunction with one another. That would allow us to look for neighbourhood as well as individual affects.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re accustomed to seeing parents and schooling as important determinants of learning opportunities. At the juncture of the global cities movement and educational initiatives, we\u2019re on the cusp of making the most of another determinant \u2013 place and neighbourhood.<\/p>\n<div class=\"retrofit-references\">\n<h4>References<\/h4>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 1.8em;\"><em>\u00a0Hassinger-Das B, Bustamente A, Hirsh-Prasek K &amp; Golinkoff RM (2018), <a href=\"https:\/\/kathyhirshpasek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2018\/06\/Learning-Landscapes-Playing-the-way-to-learning-and-engagement.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Learning landscapes: Playing the way to learning and engagement in public spaces<\/a>, Education Sciences, 8.74<\/em><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Transforming supermarkets, bus stops and park benches for learning through play could cut educational gulfs between rich and poor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":7181,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[435,5780],"tags":[32,25,2,394,39],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/childandfamilyblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7176"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/childandfamilyblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/childandfamilyblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/childandfamilyblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/childandfamilyblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7176"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/childandfamilyblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7176\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21093,"href":"https:\/\/childandfamilyblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7176\/revisions\/21093"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/childandfamilyblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/childandfamilyblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/childandfamilyblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/childandfamilyblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}