This piece looks at how play helps children learn and grow. It ties into Irish frameworks like Aistear (2009), Síolta (2006), and the Tusla Early Years Regulations (2016). The aim is to show, through real examples from Irish preschools, that play isn’t just fun – it’s a vital part of early education and well-being.
Play is what children do best. It’s their way of thinking out loud, of testing how the world works. Under Aistear and Síolta, play sits right at the heart of learning. The Tusla Regulations (2016) remind us that a safe, caring setting is where play can really bloom.
When children are free to play, they build ideas, try roles, and learn to trust themselves. You can almost see the confidence forming in small moments – stacking cups, sharing crayons, telling wild stories. In this essay, I’ll look at why play matters so much, the kinds of play that help, and how both adults and parents keep it alive every day in Irish early-years rooms.
To be fair, I used to think play was just a break from learning. Now I see it’s the learning itself. Through play, children grow in every direction – mind, body, heart, and social skills. Aistear’s themes of Well-being, Identity and Belonging, and Communicating all echo this.
In a preschool in Dublin where I once observed, a few children built a tower from soft blocks. One child measured, another passed pieces, and another kept knocking them over for the laugh. It turned out they were learning turn-taking, cause and effect, and patience – all in ten busy minutes. That scene, simple as it was, matched what Síolta calls quality interaction.
All the same, play gives space for feelings too. A shy child using dolls might act out home life or worries without saying a word. It’s gentle learning, soaked in trust.
Play brings out the best in children. Emotionally, it builds resilience – that quiet strength that keeps them trying again. Socially, it teaches fairness and kindness. When two children in Galway turned cardboard boxes into a pretend bus, they argued, laughed, and then agreed on turns. That’s teamwork in motion.
Under Síolta Standard 6 – Play, these moments count as high-quality learning. They show imagination, language, and even early problem-solving. In practice, I’ve seen a child comfort another during pretend hospital play, showing empathy beyond their years. Little things, but powerful.
To be fair, play also gives freedom to fail safely. When blocks fall or paint spills, no one’s marking them down. They just try again, stronger and prouder the next time.
There’s no single kind of play. Structured play comes with a plan – puzzles, board games, story circles. It guides focus and memory. Unstructured play is the wild kind – making a spaceship from a box or turning the yard into a racetrack. It’s child-led and full of surprises.
Physical play – running, climbing, hopping – keeps bodies strong and confidence high. I’ve watched children in a Cork ECCE centre spend half an hour chasing bubbles and somehow learn balance, laughter, and breath control all at once. Creative play, like painting or role play, lets emotions spill safely into colour and sound. And social play, those chatty tea parties or group builds, weaves friendship into everyday.
So it turned out that play isn’t a single activity at all – it’s a language children use to make sense of everything around them.
Encouraging play takes patience and a bit of imagination. In practice, the best settings don’t fill every minute with plans – they leave space for wonder. When screens are turned off and shelves hold baskets of odd things – buttons, blocks, bits of fabric – children dive straight in. You can almost hear the ideas clicking.
Open-ended materials keep curiosity alive. A box becomes a boat; a spoon, a microphone. Practitioners can rotate play corners, maybe change a “shop” into a “post office”, just to spark fresh thinking. The Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Charter (2016) reminds us that all children deserve equal chances to join in – so resources need to reflect many cultures and abilities.
I remember one quiet boy with sensory needs who rarely joined others. When we added textured blocks and soft scarves, he started building towers beside his peers. It wasn’t instant, but little by little, he joined the laughter. To be fair, that’s the heart of inclusion – finding the doorway for every child to play.
Parents and practitioners share the same goal – to keep play alive at home and in care. In Aistear’s guidelines, partnership with parents is key. Practitioners might notice what sparks a child’s joy and share that insight with families. A mum might say, “She talks about the playdough shop every evening,” and suddenly the learning circle widens.
Síolta Principle 3 – Relationships highlights how trust and warmth shape every interaction. In one ECCE setting, staff invited parents to stay for “story mornings.” Children beamed seeing their parents on the tiny chairs, turning pages together. Those small shared moments strengthen both learning and belonging.
All the same, play doesn’t stop when the child leaves the centre. Parents carry it on – reading bedtime tales, building forts from cushions, letting imagination spill past tidy routines. Practitioners light the spark; families keep it burning.
Looking back across everything, play is far more than passing time. It’s the ground where every kind of learning grows – thinking, feeling, moving, relating. It fits naturally within Aistear, Síolta, and Tusla’s vision of safe, joyful, child-centred care.
In practice, I’ve seen how a cardboard box can teach teamwork, how pretend play can soften shy voices, and how laughter opens learning faster than worksheets ever could. Play isn’t just allowed – it’s a right, and a beautiful one at that.
Aistear: The Early Childhood Curriculum Framework (NCCA, 2009)
Síolta: The National Quality Framework for Early Childhood Education (DES, 2006)
Tusla Early Years Inspectorate Guidelines (2016)
Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Charter and Guidelines (DCEDIY, 2016)
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Aoife Kelly is a skilled academic writer and subject expert at IrelandAssignmentHelper.ie, contributing since 2015. She holds a Master’s degree in Health and Social Care Management from Dublin City University and brings over a decade of experience in healthcare and social sciences. Aoife specializes in supporting students across a range of disciplines, including Healthcare, Childcare, Nursing, Psychology, and Elder Care. Her practical understanding of these fields, combined with strong academic writing expertise, helps students craft well-researched essays, reports, case studies, and dissertations that meet Irish academic standards.
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