How the Reggio Emilia Approach Enhances Play-Based Learning for Toddlers
Play-Based Approach
Last updated on 25 April 2025
Lily Valley PreschoolLily Valley PreschoolPlay-Based Approach
Last updated on 25 April 2025
How the Reggio Emilia Approach Enhances Play-Based Learning for Toddlers
Play-Based Approach
Last updated on 25 April 2025
For many people, one of the biggest draws of the Reggio Emilia philosophy is its synergy with the idea of play-based learning for toddlers.
We have shared before about the importance of play for brain development. In brief, play is one of the critical vehicles through which children first discover and interact with the world!
The Reggio Emilia philosophy ties into this by placing children at the centre of their learning journeys and giving them myriad opportunities to play and explore. By empowering children’s play, this philosophy also turbocharges their learning.
If you’re interested in how we implement our own play-based learning philosophy, read on. This can help you figure out if it’s the perfect fit for your child.
The Reggio Emilia approach is a pedagogical approach defined by a belief in the child as an active learner. Children in Reggio Emilia-inspired schools can construct their own learning, and often negotiate it in ways unique to themselves.
Children also collaborate with their peers, parents, and teachers during the learning process. Guidance and support are provided, but not through one-size-fits-all curricula like those in more structured approaches.
Curricula are emergent in the Reggio Emilia approach. This means they arise only after the teacher or parent has discovered what languages of learning a child prefers to employ, or how the child best learns.
Given the exploratory and highly flexible nature of the approach, play is a key part of it. And the Reggio Emilia approach is often categorised as one of the play-based learning approaches for this reason!
This approach enriches play-based learning experiences for toddlers in a variety of ways. Below are some of the key points to this:
In Reggio Emilia-inspired establishments, the child is at the centre of the learning journey, which means that all learning projects or exercises are shaped by them.
Each child’s interests and capabilities are considered in Reggio Emilia play, which means that the play activities offered to children in this approach are always relevant and meaningful to the specific learner involved.
This makes our play-based learning philosophy a highly personal, tailored one. Instead of assuming that the types of play that work for all children are the same, we try to find the ones that each child actually benefits from.
Exploration and discovery are at the heart of the learning process in the Reggio Emilia approach – and play is a key instrument for these.
Through play, educators encourage children to investigate and question what’s around them, making discoveries while indulging in their curiosity about the world.
The fear or intimidation of the unknown vanishes when its discovery is phrased as play. This does a lot to help children feel more confident about trying or learning new things about the world around them.
In the Reggio Emilia philosophy, the environment serves as the third teacher. This supports play-based learning in a variety of ways, such as by showing the potential of the environment as a source of creativity and stimulation for young learners.
The hands-on experiences of Reggio Emilia-inspired play tie into this well, as most educators will actively set up children’s learning environments to support discovery and growth.
For example, at Lily Valley, we not only have multiple learning ateliers available for children, but also provide a wide range of open-ended materials and resources to support their imaginative play all over our facilities.
At the same time, we provide a preschool layout designed to foster teamwork and social interactions, such as collaborative play among peers!
Because of the concept of an emergent curriculum, teachers employing the Reggio Emilia approach have to observe, document, and reflect on the children in their care. This is how they learn how each child learns best, for instance, as well as come up with ideas for further play that can support the child’s growth.
Play in such a pedagogy becomes enriched with meaning and purpose. The best teachers can tailor their approaches with exquisite precision to suit each child’s play preferences, keeping learners highly engaged even as they grow.
In summary, the Reggio Emilia approach supports a play-based learning philosophy by creating an environment and system where play can better stimulate children’s development.
In Reggio Emilia-inspired schools, children not only get to engage in play in more meaningful ways, but are constantly empowered to discover new ways of building meaning and knowledge through play.
If you want your child to benefit from an approach that integrates play seamlessly into the learning experience, come and see our own facilities and educators as they demonstrate how it works. Register your interest for a school tour with us at Lily Valley Preschool today!