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This month, we asked Jumeirah International Nurseries (JINS) to give us their unique take on ‘Learning through Play’ in Early Years.
Jumeirah International Nurseries (JINS) has been delivering outstanding Early Years education since 1981, and provides a holistic and inspiring education that nurtures the hearts and minds of children aged 45 days to 6 years.
Q1. Tell us how your Nursery is supporting children to ‘Learn through play’.
At JINS, play is an integral part of the EYFS curriculum and underpins all aspects of a child’s development. It is how young children make sense of the world!
A child’s mind expands just by looking at their environment and taking in their surroundings – which is why JINS provides a wide array of opportunities for children to make use of all their senses while exploring natural materials, magical learning spaces, and open-ended resources, which allow them to use their imagination, problem solve and think critically.
Q2. Give an example of how learning through play is encouraged in your nursery?
Using the 7 areas of the EYFS curriculum, allow JINS to take you on a journey where imagination has no limits
Communication & Language 
Language plays a very pertinent role in the overall development of a child. Communication and Language, in fact, is interwoven through all the areas of learning. At Jumeirah International Nurseries on a daily basis, we provide children with endless opportunities of high-quality interactions, facilitate Experiential Holistic Learning along with child-initiated and child-led explorations. It is said that children learn with short-term experiences or even momentary experiences and at JINS we ensure that those experiences are magical in nature. You’ll see Dr Seuss’ books and characters come to life with us!
Numeracy
JINS provides children with a strong grounding in mathematical skills right from the start. Children take part in a diversified range of activities to ensure that their spatial reasoning skills across all the areas of math are well developed. Numbers are part of their everyday life, and are infused into their child-initiated interests and topics, such as counting trains or dinosaurs or used with different coloured beads.
Literacy
JINS scaffolds literacy skills in children through a variety of play-based activities. Children take part in role play where they could be working in a grocery store, a doctor’s office or checking you into your Emirates Airline flight! Children practice new sounds and words and exercise their imagination through creative storytelling. Narrating stories enable children to develop the skills essential to clear and effective writing. JINS children have opportunities to practice their mark-marking, letter formations and hand-writing through play-based activities.
Expressive Arts and Design
Children are immersed in expressive activities throughout the day such as Dance and Movement, and Creative Art/Design projects – think of Pirate themed adventures, messy sensory play, and performing on stage at your very own show!
Teachers in the Nursery facilitate the children’s development by teaching through children’s own interests, especially during in the moment play and observations. Children are encouraged to make connections between their play at Nursery and link them the experiences they may have had with their own family and friends.
Physical Development
Early physical skills in children develop through regular movement and activity. At Jumeriah International Nurseries, children are encouraged to use their developing motor skills as they learn and grow, by playing and moving together with their friends and other around them.
Dedicated time for physical development will be spent in activities such as kicking and catching, practicing holding objects, pouring, moulding, crawling, standing, cooking, dancing and much much more.
The development of fine and gross motor skills starts in the Early Years, where muscles small and big muscles from the age of 45 days to 6 years old are developed. JINS staff provide guidance at every stage and the opportunities each child needs in a fun a playful way.
Personal, Social, Emotional Development and Understanding the World
Learning through play can go beyond exploration with purposeful toys and resources. The positive relationships that children form while interacting with friends and adults play a vital role in supporting their learning and development. From peekaboo games to finger play; from cooperative play to pretend play activities, children can learn a lot about themselves and others while having fun.
Additionally, just like grown-ups have hobbies which can help release stress, children can use play to help them regulate their emotions and make sense of situations or changes which are happening in their lives. During play at JINS, children are usually at ease, giggling with friends or adults they care about. Their “emotional cups” are full as they have fun alone or with others, engaging in activities that make them feel happy, cared for and secure.
JINS staff also greet families, calling each parent and child by their names, and share a smile even behind masks! JINS teachers sit on the floor to play, make eye-contact, and give children their undivided attention as this is essential to helping them feel special and develop socially and emotionally. Staff also understand that every child is unique and develop in different ways. As such, JINS strive to ensure that each unique child is given opportunities to build positive relationships and offer them enabling environments that encourage their engagement and recognise their strengths, while also challenging them as they grow.
Q3. Share how your Nursery uses learning through play to get children ready for school?
At JINS, the focus ahead of school is helping children develop and secure skills which will be essential for a smooth transition. This includes supporting young learners as they develop pre-writing and literacy skills, as well as their knowledge of important mathematical concepts through play and exploration. In the ‘Confident Explorers’ class, children learn how to identify and write their own names and are introduced to the Letters and Sounds and Accelerated Maths Programme. They playing games and take part in fun activities which involve problem solving, counting, understanding and using numbers and matching them to their quantities.
Most importantly, in JINS’ caring and happy learning environments and through well-planned routines, the children grow up as confident and secure individuals as they develop a greater awareness of the world around them through play. On a day-to-day basis, the children are actively involved in their learning and are being encouraged to be independent, think critically, ask questions and use their imagination as they play and explore together.
The Parent Tip! – Give parents an example, idea or suggestion on how to encourage their children to learn through play at home.
Opportunities and materials that can be used to engage children and stimulate them to learn through play are all around us and don’t cost much! At home, parents can make use of open-ended resources, such as pieces of fabric and empty cardboard boxes to stimulate children’s imagination, creativity and ability to problem solve. Give them time and space to experiment with the objects that you have at hand and the freedom to come up with their own ideas! Such an approach will not only spark children’s imagination to create something of their own but in turn will also make them feel valued, in control, confident about themselves and their abilities.
Inspired by the Curiosity Approach, do allow your child to also play and experiment with real life objects like pots, pans and spoons. For babies, you can create treasure baskets which include objects of different sizes, textures and shapes. For your child’s safety, do make sure that you supervise them as they explore and, ideally, take a moment to join them in play too!
Whilst play is chosen by the child, it needs active engagement to ensure satisfying results. Parents as the child’s first nurturers and teachers at Nursery need to ensure that everything even in play is purposeful.
Discover JINS Nurseries today…
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