Child Development
The Foundation for Successful Learning Outcomes

Learning is most natural, engaging and effective when educators align instruction with how children’s brains develop and meet students at their level of knowledge, skills and interests. Play-based learning works because it presents content and skills in developmentally appropriate ways, gives students a chance to apply what they are learning and gives educators opportunities to observe student learning in a way that allows for responsive scaffolding.

While kindergarteners will not be able to grasp how drought affects crops in Sudan, they can easily understand–and see first-hand–how their classroom garden needs water to grow.

Familiar and concrete concepts are in keeping with a kindergartener’s brain development, while fifth graders are able to think and work more abstractly, taking what they know and applying it to worlds and concepts that they may not have experienced first-hand.

Children learning to hold a pencil can’t write paragraphs yet. Kindergarteners will grasp concrete concepts like needing to water their classroom garden, while fifth graders can think abstractly about drought in distant regions.

Developmentally appropriate, hands-on learning builds solid understanding.

In the early years, children separate from family, join a classroom community, and experience rapid brain growth. Play is the natural way they learn, regulate emotions, and connect with others.

Benefits of play-focused learning at this stage:

• Strengthens brain pathways through sensory, motor, and social experiences
• Builds executive function skills like memory, focus, and flexibility
• Grows vocabulary through role play, read-alouds, and peer interaction
• Supports emotional regulation through sharing, turn-taking, and games
• Makes academics relevant by connecting to family, school, and community life

Children ages 8-11 still benefit deeply from play. Play and inquiry deepen academic skills, encourage abstract thinking, and make real-world connections.

Key features of playful learning in later elementary years:

• Encourages curiosity about how and why things work
• Provides multiple ways to access and demonstrate learning
• Balances independence with group collaboration
• Builds resilience by normalizing mistakes as part of learning
• Connects disciplines through real-world exploration and problem-solving

No matter the age, children need to feel safe in order to learn and thrive. Beyond physical safety, children need accepting and supportive environments where they feel understood.

Children thrive when classrooms are:

• Accepting and supportive environments
• Respectful of individual stories and cultural backgrounds
• Places where students feel seen, heard, and valued