Apr 4, 2023

The Power of Play

We at iACT talk a lot about the importance of play for children, but we know play can be just as valuable for adults.

iACT infuses all of our trainings - both for coaches and teachers - with play. If you walk into an iACT training session, you are bound to hear lots of laughter as you see full-grown adults running in circles in a game of Snake Tag or Duck, Duck, Goose, faces alight with joy.

A group of teachers in a semi-circle outside ready to play a game with one in front holding a ball. — Little Ripples teacher trainees in camp Iridimi, eastern Chad, learn about outdoor play with iACT Board Member and Little Ripples Adviser Merri Weir.

During our most recent trip to Chad, many of the trainees in the Little Ripples Teacher Training I session started out the first day a bit shy and timid. But as we began to introduce the theory of learning through play, there was almost an immediate shift. Once we started playing interactive games, everyone let their guard down and laughed together, and it ultimately led to lots of engagement from the group for the rest of the training.

Playing together isn't just good fun, it also serves as preparation for the work the trainees will do in their classrooms. The games we teach are examples of games teachers can use with their students. We walk teachers through the difference between free play (playing without instructions) and guided play (playing with instructions). Teachers learn how each type of play can happen in each class, as well as strategies for how each can be done both indoors and outdoors.