Children as designers of their play and builders of their knowledge

The importance of play in children’s development has been widely studied and confirmed in academic literature over the decades. This paper studies the intertwining of children’s play and learning processes, focused on unplanned, spontaneous instances of children’s undirected play within the constructivist educational setting of the Reggio Emilia approach. Findings include several characteristics of undirected play, including choice of objects/materials as playthings and reinventing known games and attention to detail leading to meaningful learning. The focus on process rather than result highlights the value of undirected free play, when children are the designers of their play and builders of their knowledge. This analysis aims to offer insight on observing and considering children’s play.