KINGSTON, Jamaica- Educational institutions and parents are being reminded of the importance of including play in the teaching and learning process in schools and at home.

This was highlighted on Wednesday as the Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information in partnership with the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) and Kingston Creative, celebrated Global School Play Day with students from Edward Seaga Primary.

The day was nationally recognised as ‘Play Day Ja’ with a session of play and a tour of the Art Walk on Water Lane in downtown Kingston.

Education Minister, Senator Dana Morris Dixon, took part in the day’s play and tour session by interacting with the children in games, including a foot race.

She charged parents to include play in the daily lives of children, as the activities aid in their educational and personal development.

“I always remind our parents that play is essential to the development of our children. We need to include play in everything that we do with our children. They need the space to learn about sharing, to learn about resilience – when we fall down we get back up – and we learn about teamwork. There are so many values we learn when we play,” Morris Dixon said.

Education Specialist at UNICEF, Rebecca Tortello, said that play has many benefits, not only for children but for families.

“I wanted to promote play because I think that its benefits are so vast and so long-term that the more opportunities that our children have to play the better we all are, and as parents as well, it makes memories for families,” Tortello told JIS News.

She added that play is also vital in the teaching and learning process and is just as essential for children as reading.

“Both are really important, and they help each other,” Tortello stressed.

“Today is also World Read Aloud Day so we can read and we can play, and we can read playfully, we can read in our playing. Sometimes games require reading, so it is versatile. So that was the impetus and now we want to advocate for more spaces in our communities,” she pointed out.

Reading was incorporated in the Play Day Ja event, as the students were taken on a tour of some of the murals. They were engaged in a game of ‘I-Spy’ where they were asked to point out shapes and other items and read or spell words on the paintings.

Tortello explained that schools were initially targeted to explore the benefits of play, as there are not many spaces in communities for children to play.

She said that over the years interest has grown, evidenced by an increase in the number of corporate companies, foundations, volunteers, UN organisations creating relationships with schools and taking part in the activities.

–         JIS