“Play Is for Kids!...or Is It?”: Play as a Pedagogical Tool for Learners Beyond Early Childhood
By: Tomoko Hashimoto, Yuki Otsuki,
Agnieszka Szplit, and Agnes Hodi
The classroom is loud in the way only a room full of five-year-olds can be. Wooden blocks clatter onto the floor, and someone’s tower collapses with a dramatic groan. In the corner, two children kneel over a pile of pieces, arguing about which block should go on top. One insists the long one will make the bridge stronger; the other shakes their head and slides a wider block underneath instead. They try it. The bridge holds for a moment, then tips, scattering blocks across the carpet. There’s a pause—then laughter—and they begin again, adjusting, testing, rebuilding. No explicit instruction is provided, yet the children continue to refine their ideas through trial and error as they play. The lesson unfolds quietly in their hands.
The purpose of this article is to explore the concept of play and playful learning and to argue that this pedagogical approach should be embraced not only in early childhood education, where it is most commonly applied, but also with older learners. While play is often associated with very young children, research suggests that it remains a powerful vehicle for learning throughout the lifespan. This article aims to highlight the cognitive, emotional, social, and physical benefits of play and to encourage educators to recognize its potential as a meaningful and effective teaching approach across educational contexts.
What is play?
From a neurobiological perspective play is essentially a multidimensional, evolutionarily conserved behaviour. In humans, play begins in infancy and promotes neural plasticity, language development, and executive functions. As people age, a playful disposition is associated with cognitive resilience and may serve as a protective factor against neurodegenerative diseases (Canepa & Ramenghi, 2026). As far as education is concerned, when one hears the term “play,” the first researcher that many think of is probably John Dewey. Dewey said that play is essential to one’s holistic growth and understanding of the world around us. He believed that play is vital to developing the skills needed to meaningfully engage with society and recognized its educational value (Dewey, 1916).
The importance of play has also been emphasized by influential theorists such as Jerome Bruner, Friedrich Fröbel, Carl Jung, Maria Montessori, Jean Piaget, and Lev Vygotsky. These scholars recognized that play supports the development of essential skills through exploration, experimentation, and social interaction, which are processes that remain central to learning well beyond early childhood. Although the concept of play has been discussed since Ancient Greece, it does not have a single, fixed definition (Zosh et al., 2018). Rather, play is understood as a diverse and multifaceted human activity that takes many forms across cultures and age groups.
In Polish pedagogical tradition, play has also been conceptualised as a deliberate and professionally grounded educational practice, not limited to children’s spontaneous activity. Czaja-Chudyba (2006) argues that play functions as a mediating space between personal experience and formal learning, supporting identity formation, reflexivity, and the development of social competence—dimensions that remain relevant far beyond early childhood. This perspective resonates with contemporary understandings of play as a structured yet open pedagogical framework rather than a developmentally transient phenomenon.
Mardell et al. (2023) note that there is broad agreement that play is characterized by learner choice and agency, imagination, active engagement, social interaction, iterative processes, and enjoyment. These characteristics help explain why play is such a powerful tool for learning. Through play, learners are motivated to explore ideas, test hypotheses, take risks, collaborate with others, and reflect on their experiences, all of which are essential components of deep learning. At this point, we find it important to make a distinction between play and a closely related concept: games. Games are structured activities with explicit and constraining rules, goals, conflict, and usually a competitive outcome (e.g., chess, soccer) (Stenros, 2017), whereas play is a free-form, imaginative, and often unstructured activity done for enjoyment, exploration, or joy (Walther, 2003).
Play has received particular attention in early childhood education, where it is widely recognized as a foundation for joyful and successful lifelong learning (Zosh et al., 2022). Many scholars have noted that in early childhood education, an overt action or expression is more likely to be regarded as play if it meets additional criteria reflecting typical play qualities. These criteria include the following: playful thoughts and activities are (a) accompanied by positive emotions, (b) chosen freely, (c) primarily controlled by the young child, (d) motivated by the activity of play itself, (e) given meaning mainly by the child, (f) nonliteral and dynamic, (g) occur in relaxed or less stressful mental states, and (h) are reciprocally related, meaning that play actions and thoughts influence and reinforce each other (Johnson, 2016).
Although sometimes not explicitly described as play, there are early childhood studies conducted of a playful learning environment based in various fields such as architecture (e.g., Hashimoto et al., 2025), language (e.g., Toub et al., 2018), and music (e.g., Kemple et al., 2004). Research shows that play supports children’s motivation, creativity, autonomy, imagination, and social development, while also providing a relatively low-stress environment for learning (Gray, 2013). Although some scholars caution that certain forms of play, such as aggressive or war-related play, may raise concerns in specific contexts (Smith & Pellegrini, 2023), the overwhelming body of research points to play as a largely positive and beneficial experience for children.
According to Zosh et al. (2017), children experience the most powerful learning through play when activities are joyful, meaningful, actively engaging, iterative, and socially interactive. The list of characteristics is grounded in previous research, which identifies that an extensive understanding of concepts is based on children being active, engaged, and socially interactive, while possessing a playful mindset (Hirsh-Pasek et al., 2015). The same conditions are widely recognized as indicators of effective learning environments for older students as well. Learners of all ages benefit from opportunities to actively construct knowledge, collaborate with peers, and engage with content in ways that are personally meaningful and motivating.
What is playful learning?
As the discussion of play extends past early childhood, the term playful learning becomes particularly useful. Playful learning refers to a mindset of enjoyment, exploration, and self-direction, combined with intentional learning goals (Mardell et al., 2023). In classroom settings, playful learning often involves learning environments thoughtfully designed by educators, where students engage with academic content through meaningful, enjoyable, and interactive experiences. Świtalski (2021) demonstrates that adult learners engage most effectively when play is experienced as a voluntary, meaning-making activity embedded in clear educational purposes. In this view, playful learning supports autonomy, motivation, and cognitive engagement without undermining academic rigour, making it particularly relevant for older learners. While these environments include clear learning goals and structure, they also allow space for curiosity, experimentation, and student agency.
Importantly, play and serious learning should not be viewed as opposites. Although in previous centuries, the concepts of play and learning were disconnected, the idea that play is separate from serious learning is a misconception (Hirsh-Pasek & Golinkoff, 2008). More and more researchers focus on the reunification of these two, i.e., the use of play for learning to increase motivation and learning efficiency (Juhász, 2023). In reality, in an educational context, learning frequently occurs through play, and different types of play support different learning outcomes, from academic knowledge to social, emotional, and problem-solving skills (Zosh et al., 2018). One helpful way to understand this relationship is to view play along a spectrum (Zosh et al., 2018). At one end is free play, initiated and directed entirely by the learner, and at the other is direct instruction, led by the teacher with explicit learning goals. Between these two ends lie guided play, games, co-opted play, and playful instruction (Zosh et al., 2018).
Understanding play as a spectrum allows educators to see how play can be realistically and effectively integrated into classrooms for older learners. It offers a flexible framework that supports both academic rigor and learner engagement, making it easier to imagine how play can be meaningfully incorporated across subjects and age groups.
Another useful framework that helps educators in designing activities is the task-play continuum (Juhász, 2023). It defines task, playful task, educational play, and play as fluid categories, and states that play in a school context cannot be classified in a clear and specific category because what is considered play varies from student to student. Many factors influence the extent to which a student perceives an activity as a play or a task (Juhász, 2023).
Playful learning example in Japanese elementary school English
What might playful learning look like when implemented in Japanese elementary school English education? Within the set curricula, one may be able to observe playful characteristics in students during task-based language teaching (TBLT) (e.g., Otsuki & Hashimoto, 2025). However, it may be easier to implement playful learning outside of the official curriculum due to fewer restrictions. The following example illustrates a lesson that was observed in an optional, one-class-period, extracurricular English lesson at a public elementary school. The class included twelve students from grades two through five.
The lesson integrated English language learning with physical education, focusing on soccer. This theme was selected because the city in which the school is located is home to a local professional soccer team. Members of the team appeared in a pre-recorded video in which they demonstrated physical movements while modelling English words and phrases in a program called “Spoglish,” where English is introduced through sports.
After introducing key vocabulary and target phrases—such as “I come from ___,” “My favourite ___ is ___,” and “I can ___,” students were invited to create their own short dialogues and act them out with their classmates. For example, one boy introduced himself as being from Machida City, shared that his favourite sport is soccer, and mentioned that he can bounce a ball on his knee. As they performed, students used their bodies to express physical actions while incorporating the English expressions they had learned. Throughout the activity, the teacher moved around the classroom, asking open-ended questions and offering language support when needed.
This lesson exemplified a teacher-designed learning environment with clear objectives, while allowing students to take an active and playful role in constructing meaning. The activity included language scaffolding, social interaction, physical movement, and student choice, all of which reflect the principles of guided play described by Weisberg et al. (2016). The teacher remained sensitive to students’ engagement and attention, which is essential for achieving learning goals.
Students laughed, leaned toward one another, and naturally formed a circle as they interacted, appearing to demonstrate high levels of engagement. They eagerly spoke out, asked questions, and seemed highly motivated to communicate in English. Their joyful participation, cognitive involvement, and sense of agency were seen to clearly reflect a playful learning mindset.
Reimagining play in older learners’ classrooms
Play is often misunderstood as a distraction from learning rather than a pathway to it, in a whole-class, collective environment. Yet previous research shows that play is one of the most natural and powerful ways humans make sense of the world. When learning is joyful, meaningful, and socially interactive, students are more motivated, more engaged, and more willing to take intellectual risks. This misconception is particularly strong in formal educational contexts, where play is frequently associated with a lack of seriousness or didactic control. However, analyses of play-based and playful pedagogical practices show that the educational value of play depends not on its form, but on the quality of didactic design and the degree of learner agency (Bilewicz-Kuźnia, 2015; Czaja-Chudyba, 2006). This supports the argument that playful learning can be systematically and responsibly integrated into classrooms for older learners without compromising learning outcomes.
For educators, embracing playful learning does not mean abandoning structure or academic expectations. It means designing lessons that invite exploration, creativity, and collaboration while keeping learning goals in focus. For instance, whether through games, simulations, inquiry projects, or role-play, playful learning offers a flexible and effective approach for today’s diverse classrooms. Santucci and Sobral (2024) describe an assignment in a university arts and language acquisition course, in which students individually construct a short story through seven steps. Each step corresponds to one line of the narrative, and the completed story must include a beginning, middle, and end. After composing their stories, students practice reading them aloud. Following a teacher demonstration of the procedure, students then form two lines facing one another. One at a time, they walk toward a partner in the opposite line, taking one step for each line while reciting it. The activity is designed to facilitate the acquisition of verbs through physical movement, drawing on principles of embodied and playful learning. The assignment involves composing sentences, rehearsing them, and ultimately performing the story in front of classmates in an enjoyable and engaging way. In this way, opportunities for language input and output arise naturally as students work toward a communicative goal rather than being explicitly imposed.
As education continues to change, the question is no longer whether play belongs in older learners’ learning, but how we can use it more thoughtfully and intentionally. Play is not just for young children, but is a lifelong resource for learning. By reimagining play as a valuable pedagogical tool beyond early childhood, educators can create classrooms where students thrive academically, socially, and emotionally. So why not consider implementing playful learning into your classroom? You may see your older learners laugh wholeheartedly for the first time in their English lessons.
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Tomoko Hashimoto, PhD, is an associate professor at Tokyo Future University in Tokyo, Japan, where she teaches English to pre-service early childhood educators and elementary school teachers. Her research focuses on the psychological aspects of second language acquisition, cooperative learning, and children’s language development. More recently, she has developed a strong interest in exploring how playfulness can be effectively integrated into classroom practice. ORCID: 0000-0001-5277-7143
Yuki Otsuki, PhD, is an assistant professor at Meisei University in Tokyo, Japan, where she teaches in the teacher education program for elementary and secondary school educators. Her research interests include second language acquisition, oral fluency, interaction, assessment of young learners, and research on teachers for intercultural coexistence in school contexts. ORCID:0000-0001-7331-0198
Agnieszka Szplit, PhD, is an associate professor at the Jan Kochanowski University of Kielce (Poland) and President of the Association for Teacher Education in Europe (ATEE). Her scientific interests focus on teacher education, teacher and teacher educator professional development, also in the international context, and early foreign language learning. ORCID: 0000-0002-5756-6393
Agnes Hodi, PhD, is an associate professor at the Department of Kindergarten Education, Juhász Gyula Faculty of Education, University of Szeged (Hungary). She prepares future early childhood educators and researches young children’s language and early literacy development, and the meaningful integration of digital technologies and play-based approaches in kindergarten education. ORCID: 0000-0003-0325-1449