Dr Barbara Backshall, our presenter for this video series, brings over 40 years of expertise in early childhood education. Starting as a teacher and moving into leadership and advisory roles before earning her doctorate. Barbara has specialist experience in the early childhood curriculum, early learning mathematics & science and children’s play as well as optimising infant and toddler learning environments. She has lectured at the University of Auckland and now serves as Educative Mentoring Lead for BestStart. Passionate about connecting theory, practice and relationships with children, families and teachers, Barbara is a highly regarded educator we’re proud to work with.
Discover the 16 key areas of play and how they stimulate learning and development in young children.
Play is a child’s natural way of learning and is essential for their overall development.
For this reason, it forms the basis of New Zealand’s early childhood education curriculum Te Whariki. We want to share knowledge about 16 key areas of play to help parents understand the learning that happens during play, how it links to later learning at school and how parents can actively support their child’s development at home.
Children learn best when they have time, space and support to explore, experiment and discover. Providing engaging materials and opportunities that spark curiosity is key. Engaging in conversation and asking questions during play also helps enrich children's language and understanding of the world.
Explore BestStart's 16 areas of play
Discover and understand the learning that happens through different types of play so you can support your child’s development.
About Barbara
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