Physical play is a highly important aspect of educating young children, as it offers them the chance to develop all manner of physical and mental characteristics in a fun, enjoyable and easily accessible manner. Joanne Parrish is Hiba Nursery’s specialist responsible for designing and implementing the physical play curriculum that our pupils have been enjoying since the new setting opened last year. Joanne explains why the concept of physical play has such a positive influence on the lives of young children and what lies in store for the Hiba Academy Shanghai pupils. Getting set up for physical play at Hiba Academy Shanghai Having the opportunity to take up a role that offered a Physical Play specialist the chance to create a curriculum from the ground up, grow it and make it the best possible fit for all of the pupils within a setting was one I couldn’t refuse. Having worked within education and predominantly physical education, play and development for the past 18 years, this specialist role was a great opportunity to develop a programme using all the experience I had gained in my career to date. The time since joining the nursery has simply flown by and these initial months have seen physical play go from strength to strength. This is partially due to the excellent support of the nursery leadership, classroom teachers and teaching assistants, and partly because the pupils themselves have really taken to the idea of structured physical play. Every pupil in EY1 and 2 enjoys an hour of specialist physical play time per week, while those in EY3 and 4 have two hourly sessions per week. By building on what they’ve learned each week, every child here at the nursery has come to really enjoy their physical play time as they discover how to develop their own skills and abilities.
We also now have access to an even greater range of resources that allow us to take physical play in new and exciting directions. The outdoor play spaces have been developed with new equipment and – at the pupils’ own request – we have a much wider range of specialist sports equipment for them to use in their sessions. Getting the most from physical play The curriculum offers every child a wide range of benefits, regardless of their age and current level of physical ability. The curriculum is purposefully broad in order to help every pupil get the most out of it, so not only do we explore specialist sports and specific paired skills like catching and throwing, kicking and receiving, etc, we also introduce elements like yoga, dance, gymnastics and other movement-based activities. This range of activities really helps build gross and fine motor skills as well as specific physical attributes like strength, balance, endurance, aim and more.
Every session combines structured physical play with an element of ‘free choice’, where pupils can decide for themselves which activities they want to do and how they want to interact with the equipment. This allows them to independently explore their own physical abilities while at the same time encourages them to be curious, learn new things and take risks in a responsible, managed way. For example, we might encourage pupils who have shown an aptitude for basic gymnastic activities to try a forward roll or more advanced manoeuvres, all in safe and supervised play environment. In each case, we tailor our approach to the individual child’s natural strengths and their preferences in order to reinforce success and, equally importantly, keep the sessions fun and enjoyable.
What’s next for physical play at Hiba Academy Shanghai? Already, I feel extremely proud and privileged to see how the curriculum has developed as we work together to improve it. At every step, we are continually asking ourselves: “What will the pupils respond well to? What will help them learn best? What can we offer them that will be exciting and also useful?” We recently completed a purchase order that will see this inventory of equipment and resources grow even larger, which means that hopefully every child will be able to access the things they want during every session as well as during shared play time. This additional equipment will further support the children's development in all areas of the broad curriculum. Another very exciting development is the new outdoor play area kits that will be arriving soon. These are modular kits that the pupils can shape for themselves, creating their own setups for travelling under, over and around obstacles in new and challenging ways. Again, we feel that it is vital to keep stretching our pupils to be creative in their physical play, to keep them on their toes (sometimes literally!) and encourage them to be bold, to be curious and to keep developing their physical abilities as they grow. It has been such an amazing journey already, and I personally cannot wait to see what our Hiba Nursery pupils will do next with the opportunities set before them.
