I would like you to take a moment and think back to your favourite childhood memory. Think of your favourite game… Why was this your favourite game to play? Can you think of a particular skill you obtained while playing this game? Were you able to use some of the lessons into your adult life?
Now let us consider a few examples-did you get to practice teamwork and ‘waiting-your-turn’ when you played skipping/kgati with your peers? Did you learn how to strategize, problem solve and take risks during that game of marbles or morabaraba? And did you experiment, count, and test out ideas during your outside games like hide-and-seek or diketo? In the games you played, where adults involved? Did you have an opportunity to play with a caregiver or parent? Did you play with your peers? Did you create your own rules or were the rules created for you? Do you remember how you felt playing? Can you still remember the joy and laughter, and perhaps even competition that arose from the games you played?
As you reflect on your childhood experiences, and how these impacted on your adulthood, please take a moment to think of how you (in your role as a parent/caregiver, a practitioner, teacher, a facilitator of a playgroup, a researcher, or even a policy maker) are creating environments that nurture playful experience.
Play is the vehicle for acquiring all skills related to life-long learning including literacy, numeracy, cognitive, and socio-emotional skills. Against this backdrop, the ECD Hub aims to ensure that all information related to early learning is readily available, accessible, and easy to understand for ALL stakeholders regardless of their qualifications, geographical location, or economic status. We hope you will enjoy using the ECD hub as we aim to transform the lives of all children through meaningful and integrated early life experiences!
