Learning’s a Game

George has brought a fire safety book from home. He and Arthur sit side by side on the couch and “read” it.

“When you notice the fire, you have to yell out loud and wake up the rest of your family.” George declares, pointing to the picture before turning the page. “Then you gots to get out. You don’t worry about grabbing stuff, you just gets all the people out. You touch the door with the back of your hand before you open it, because if it’s hot, you gots to find a different way to go because there’s a fire on the other side.”

(Not bad for four!)

“Let’s play that game today!” Arthur bounces in the seat beside George.

“Yeah!”

The boys grab the fire hats and leap into their fire trucks, aka shopping bins, and the game begins.

That’s real learning, you know. It’s never “just” play with small children. They may get the facts from an abstract source, but they are not learned, they do not become real, until they are played with. And how different is that from the way adults learn, anyway?