I'm further inspired by Gever Tulley's TED talk on his Tinkering School. There really is so much learning that can happen during play with a purpose, from problem solving. Near the end of the clip, I can imagine how much confidence these activities can build - imagine a 7 year old building a mini roller coaster. Or the the team of kids who weaved a rope bridge out of plastic bags that could hold their weight (8 kids I think).
Drawing from my own experience of purposeful play with my toddler nephew, I could see how rapidly he was learning through play as we fiddled with Lego - colors, numbers, intuitive understanding of the physics of our world (car rolls down a Lego ramp, the steeper it is, the faster it goes). And even comprehension as I coached him through the Lego instructions, a little teamwork as we collaborated.
How can parents not set aside time for play? Purposeful play.
