How Do Children Learn How to Learn? Promoting Early Development at Home through Play: A Scoping Review

Early childhood is a critical time in human development, during which children are discovering and practicing countless skills, from basic motor and language skills to problem-solving, self-regulation, memory, and other foundational abilities like literacy and math skills. From infancy through childhood, play is thought to be the primary condition under which most early skills are developed and perfected. During this time, young children are especially vulnerable to adversity and negative environmental influences due to their brains’ high plasticity; adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) impact an individual well beyond early childhood, specifically in early skills deficits. Play is known to be a protective factor in healthy development and positive life outcomes. Play-based learning (PBL) is well-supported by a body of research for its supportive role in developing fundamental skills during childhood. As managers of the home environment and children’s opportunities, parents and primary caregivers are immediately responsible for mitigating risk and promoting protective factors and can offer the most consistent, direct support for child development, but there are few resources for caregivers on best strategies. The purpose of this scoping review is to summarize themes from play-based academic sources (n=29), based on five outcome domains (sensorimotor, language, socioemotional, cognition & executive function, and behavior, health & wellbeing), and make recommendations to caregivers on how to support PBL at home. Findings from this study provide evidence that PBL is an effective approach to supporting early development and a feasible strategy for parents and primary caregivers to implement at home.