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We are the Play Learning Lab, run by Dr. Angela Pyle at the

University of Toronto, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.

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Examples of Play

Scroll through our library of play examples to check out activities along the play continuum.

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📚✨ Read & Play with ”All the Ways to Be Smart“! ✨📚

Celebrate all the unique ways kids can be smart with this fun, interactive activity inspired by All the Ways to Be Smart by Davina Bell! The ”Rhyme and Shine“ Matching Game lets children explore phonemic awareness and vocabulary through rhyming word pairs like ”cat“ and ”hat“ or ”bee“ and ”tree.“ 🐝🌳

🌟 Kids build collaboration and communication skills while discovering that being smart comes in many forms. At the end of the game, they share their favorite rhymes, fostering a sense of community and celebrating each other‘s strengths!

🔗Find out more details about this activity through our bio link

📚✨ Read & Play with “Ada Twist, Scientist”! ✨📚

Join Ada on her journey of curiosity, creativity, and endless questions as she explores the world through science! Perfect for budding young scientists, this fun and inspiring book encourages kids to think big, experiment, and never stop wondering. Paired with hands-on activities, it’s the ultimate way to spark a love for learning!

🔍 Available now to inspire your little one’s curiosity!
Find out more details about this activity through our bio link🔗

Calling all veterinary assistants!

This Read & Play will allow students to develop their spatial sense skills through geometry. At the same time, the element of pretend play makes this read-aloud all the more engaging!

Find more details about the activity at the link in our bio🔗

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom 🌴 is an all time classic and although it is fun to read on its own, why not add some play!

Get your students to put on their detective hats 🔍 and search the classroom for pictures that have been hidden. You can even modify this activity and take it outdoors 🌱 by getting students to find objects that start with their assigned letter!

You can find the full activity description at the link in our bio 🔗

Get building with this next Read & Play!

"6 Sticks" will inspire your students to get creative with a limited amount of materials.

Check out the full activity description and examples at the link in our bio🔗

To continue our Read & Play series, here is an activity you can do with Mattland by Gail Herbert and Hazel Hatchins.

With an added outdoor element, this activity will be a great addition to your read-aloud!

Find the activity at the link in our bio 🔗

Hello All!

Welcome to our new series called "Read & Play"

Reading books is already a great learning opportunity, but when paired with an activity, you can take learning to the next level!

Find the Brown Bear and Friends activity in the link in our bio 🔗

Here is an example of how to practice phonics in your classroom!

Using the PDF bingo sheets provided in the link in our bio 🔗, call out letter sounds to the class. Students then must cover the letter that corresponds to the sound.

Educators can also practice alphabetic knowledge by saying the letter name instead of its sound 🔠

Happy Playing!

Hello Everyone!

Using a whiteboard, whiteboard markers or magnetic letters, write the ending of a word (eg. 'um') on the board. Then, ask the student(s) to place another letter (eg. 'g') somewhere in the word that makes sense.
Ask the student(s) to sound out each letter separately, then ask the student or class to sound out the whole word.

Find the game in the link in bio 🔗

Have a great week!

Happy August everyone 🌞

In this learning through games activity, students must rhyme their name with other words 🖍

TEACHER says: “I say (a word that rhymes with a student’s name”.

Then, STUDENT should reply saying: “You say (student’s name that rhymes with the word)”.

To extend the activity, the teacher or student writes the rhyming words on a whiteboard or with magnetic letters.

Find the link for this game in our bio🔗

Stay tuned for more posts that discuss language foundations and examples of how to implement them playfully in the classroom!

Congrats educators on your final week of the school year! 🔆

As a wrap-up activity, take your class out for extra outdoor time and ask them to collect an object (leaf, rock, etc.).
Then, take turns sharing your objects in a sharing circle and encourage them to explore their questions throughout the summer - they are their own primary investigator!

Link in bio 🔗

Lights... camera... ACTION - Let’s do a 2022-2023 recap!

Have students think-pair-share about their favourite parts of the school year (this can also be done as a whole group!).
This is an excellent opportunity to involve writing skills by having students create their own scripts!

When the time comes to present - don’t forget to use fun props!
🎤 📹

Link in bio🔗

Does your classroom have a case of end-of-year wiggles?

With only a few weeks left of the 2022-2023 school year, let’s get moving!

In this ‘Learning through Games’ activity, students can partner up or work solo to roll a die to complete all the tasks on the sheet. For static moves, the student holds the pose for 5 seconds, for active moves, do them 5 times. Students can even make their own versions to challenge a classmate!

Stay tuned for more fun and simple play activities for the end of the year!

Find the resource in our link in bio 🔗

Today’s the day! We’re sharing our first play-based extension for a read aloud!

In Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall, Jabari finds the courage to jump off the high diving board with the help of his family and a shift in perspective. This book is an excellent jumping off point for social-emotional learning as it dives into Jabari’s feelings throughout.

We want to share an alternative way to extend this read aloud through play-based learning. The diving board is described throughout the book as rather tall. After reading, create a diving board building challenge using various materials in the classrooms. As students build their own diving boards, you can then introduce measurement using non-standard units. See how tall the students can build their diving boards, record the heights, compare various heights or even test out the stability of various building materials.

There are so many possibilities!

❓What other ways might you use Jabari Jumps in your classroom?

📚We’re excited to share our first play-based learning activity tomorrow in our book series! Each activity in this mini-series will provide examples of ways to extend a read aloud through play-based learning! Check back in tomorrow!

At the Play Learning Lab, we LOVE books and we love sharing our favourite books with all of you!

A great book can open so many conversations and possibilities for play-based learning activities! Over the next few days, we’ll be highlighting ways to extend play-based learning from a read-aloud in the classroom.

❗️Drop your favourite read-aloud (or a few favourites… we know it’s a tough choice) in the comments!

📚It’s been a while since our last book recommendation and we’re excited to share this one! Written by the author of Last Stop on Market Street, this book follows a child’s journey on the subway with their grandmother and sister. While riding the subway to visit his incarcerated mother, Milo imagines the lives of those around him and draws his own representations.

🐕Pet Shop

Creating a pet shop opens up so many opportunities for math and literacy! Students can label the parts of the shop, write appointment schedules and select prices.

❓What would you include in a pet shop centre?

➡️Find the full activity at the link in our bio!

Are you heading back into the classroom after winter break? We’re here for you! Check out our library of play-based learning activities on our website!

Shadow drawing is a wonderful low-material activity to bring to your classroom after winter break! Playing with shadows and light invites questions and conversations that can be led by children’s curiosity!

Tonight we had the opportunity to share the Play Learning Lab’s research and activities with colleagues at OISE. Thank you @aphdatoise for a wonderful evening! We loved chatting about our research and the ways we connect with educators!

📢 Are you a current or former ECE or Kindergarten Teacher?

Check out the link in our bio!

Happy November! With this new month comes new classroom planning. Head over to our website to find information about play-based learning and our library of activities! There are a variety of subject areas and of course types of play. We know you’ll find something you and your students love 💕

Before spooky season ends, try this haunted house collaborative play activity 👻

Anyone else… ALWAYS find new books for your classroom when you’re just browsing?!? We love filling our shelves with amazing books. Maybe it’s really not a problem after all 📚📚📚

Creating 2D shapes!

🔺While providing students with popsicle sticks, straws or play dough, encourage students to create shapes!

🔸Children will be getting creative with the materials provided and will be exploring different shapes!

❓How do you incorporate 2D shapes in your classroom?

➡️ Find the full activity on our website!

✨Have you ever wondered what play-based learning looks like in the classroom? Well, it can take many forms!
✨Check out the play continuum and our play-based learning activities at the link in our bio!

✨This research spotlight highlights a framework for assessment in play-based learning kindergarten classrooms. Pyle, DeLuca, Danniels and Wickstrom identified seven common pathways to assessment within play-based kindergarten. Find the full article at the link in our bio!

With many new faces joining our Play Learning Lab community, we want to take this opportunity to re-introduce ourselves!

👥 We are the Play Learning Lab, run by kindergarten teacher turned researcher Dr. Angela Pyle.

📍We’re located at the Dr. Eric Jackman Institue of Child study @oiseuoft in Toronto, Ontario.

❓As a group of collaborative educators and researchers, we aim to share resources and discuss play-based learning through this platform!

📢 We love connecting with other educators, researchers and families interested in play-based learning!

➡️ You can find our full play-based learning activity library at the link to our website in our bio!

Pandemic Play

❓Is there equity of access to play-based learning?

✨Attention #kindergarten teachers and #ECEs! The @playlearninglab is looking for participants for a 10-minute survey on equity and access to play-based learning in kindergarten during the COVID pandemic.

Click here to share your perspectives:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/K7F7K2R

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Q & A with Dr. Pyle

Check out this Q & A that lab director, Dr. Angela Play did with Early Learning Nation about incorporating play into learning. Click here to read the article.

ECA National Conference

Dr. Angela Pyle delivered a key note and shared some of the incredible work we get to do here at the Play Learning Lab. Read more about the conference here.

Key Note

"Playing shouldn't be this hard"

Dr. Pyle delivered the key note address at the International Symposium at DCU Institute of Education. Click here to learn more

Expanding Notions of Play

Click here to read about a community workshop for Wisconsin's early childhood educators and here to listen to a podcast with Dr. Pyle in collaboration with UW−Madison School of Education's Wisconsin Center for Education Research.

Welcome to our Lab!

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