British International School of Stockholm<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Play is serious. Sometimes it’s hard to get this across to people.\u201d (Rosen, M. in Bradbury, A. et al., 2025)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Early Years educators know the value of play but are increasingly feeling pressured to adopt more formal, top-down pedagogical approaches (Veale, V., 2024)
This presentation explores Chapter 9 of \u2018Play Matters\u2019 (Bradbury,A. et al, 2025), for which I was a contributing author, and will give some background information into the Play Matters project – how it came about and why it is so important.
I will introduce the five vehicles for play covered in the chapter (Continuous Provision, Outside Learning, Hands-On Experiential Learning, Cross-Curricular and Project-Based Learning) and go into greater depth about how we developed outside learning at the British International School of Stockholm, including making use of the local forest and our approach to outside learning in the depths of Swedish winter.
I will also highlight some of the barriers to play (Availability and Access; Understanding and Training; Perceptions of Play) and some of the key benefits of play – not only for learning but also physical and mental health.
Bradbury, A., Wright, D., Boardman, K., Thompson, P., Jarvis, P., Cowley, S., Veale, V., Wayne, D., Swailes, R., Scollan, A., Grimmer, T., & Renshaw, K. (2025) Play Matters. Available at: https:\/\/www.early-years-reviews.com\/play-matters \u298dAccessed on 24th March 2025\u298c
Veale, V. (2024) Learning To Play Well Together in Reception Classes, TACTYC. Available at https:\/\/www.tactyc.org.uk\/post\/blog-by-dr-viki-veale-learning-to-play-well-together-in-reception-classes [Accessed on 7th May 2025]
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