The Play’s The Thing
Jodi Malecha, Director, The Children’s House,MSU
jodi.malecha@mnsu.edu
The Seven things that we must do with children each day according to Lisa Murphy:
1. Create
Creating does not always mean art. Some children do not lit to “do art- their creativity
comes out in many different ways… the dress up area, blocks, woodworking… find
time for all of these in your classroom.
2. Move
Children need to move in order to take in new information & the outside environment
is more conducive to this active learning style. Remember the learning styles,
(visual/spatial, musical, bodily/kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, linguistic,
logical/mathematical) and how these preferences impact your classroom.
3. Sing
Putting tapes and CDs on are fine. Be sure that children are hearing your voice too.
The children don’t care if we can carry a tune or not, they need to see the joy on our
faces, and hear our voices singing the songs that they are familiar with and to be
invited to join in and sing along with their teachers.
4. Discuss
Communication skills are the key to school readiness. Do the children know how to
get their shovels back? Social and emotional competence is more important than
ABCs and 123s. Many children can “do” lots of things- but if they are lacking social
skills it doesn’t’ matter if they can read, write, or use a computer – they need to be able
to be with others.
5. Observe
Incorporate all of the senses into your explorations. When was the last time you really
smelled the air after a rain shower? Really felt the texture of the pillows in the book
center? Make more time each day to use the five senses, smell, touch, taste, see and
hear.
6. Read
Read read read until you think your lips are going to fall off, and then, read one more.
Make sure the “good books” aren’t being saved for special occasions. Remove torn and
ripped books immediately for repair or replacement. Learn how to identify a “good
book” and make sure they are provided daily. Remember that the real goal is NOT to
get to the end of the book – but to instill a love of literature and story.
7. Play
Playing is the cement that is holding our foundation together. It’s how we explore,
learn about our environments and ourselves, figure out how things work and don’t
work. It’s been said that we do not stop playing when we get old, but we get old
because we stop playing.
Adapted from the book Play by Lisa Murphy