Why Play and Learning Go Hand in Hand at Geo Journey

Although some might see play and learning as different activities, here at Geo Journey we’re total believers that the two can’t be separated. 

Ask any primary school teacher and they’ll say the same thing. Not only do children naturally want to play, it’s also crucial to their development as they grow and learn about the places around them. 

In a world where children’s activities are often structured and timetabled, Geo Journey wants to make adventure gifts that are so engaging to play with, kids don’t even know how much they’re learning in the process. 

Read on to find out why we think play and learning go hand in hand. 

Play Helps Children to Understand the World

We know that children love to dress up and roleplay, whether that’s as a vet, astronaut or superhero. When they do, they’re using their imagination as well as developing social skills with one another and becoming more confident. 

Children naturally copy parents too, so time spent washing the car together or cooking in the kitchen might not look like learning, but it is. As children take part in activities like this, they’re developing the kind of skills they’ll need for later life.  

Our Geo Journey subscription boxes all contain souvenirs from the different countries we explore each month. A boomerang from Australia might inspire a game based in the outback or a pair of clogs might prompt an imaginary trip to Holland. It’s the perfect example of play and learning going hand in hand. 

Play Helps Children to Develop Practical Skills

When learning is very structured, it can be a struggle for some children. However, once their minds are engaged with a topic they find fascinating, things become much easier. 

As children become involved in activities that fuel their imagination, practical skills like manipulation and pencil control become part of their journey of learning. 

Letters and a travel journal to complete come in each Geo Journey pack. There’s lots of opportunity to practice reading, letters sounds and imaginative writing or use skills to match stickers to pictures or solve problems. 

Play is a Child’s Naturally Happy State

There are many studies that show the relationship in children between happiness and playtime. In fact, at Geo Journey, we’re sure that giving children time to play is as crucial as giving them food to grow! 

Letting children play in a way that’s flexible and not too prescriptive gives them the natural freedom they crave and encourages, not inhibits their development. When children are happier, they are naturally receptive to learning. 

As they play with things in a “small world”, like a farm set, or drawing faces on pebbles, they become more in touch with their own feelings, imitate voices and make sense of the world that they’re living in. 

Our Geo Journey pack comes every month and that means we’re constantly fuelling children’s imaginations to encourage their learning. We love to travel and explore the world and we’re sure that when play and learning go hand in hand, our children can love it too.