Okuzeka
Child Development & Early Education vocabulary · Play and Learning

Child-initiated play

Meaning in child development & early education, with examples

nounCommon term

In child development & early education, child-initiated play means: Play that a child chooses and leads, deciding what to play with, how and for how long, while adults watch and support only when needed.

In Turkish: çocuğun başlattığı oyun, serbest oyun

How it is used

Common in UK planning and inspection language and usually contrasted with adult-led activities. Practitioners talk about a balance between child-initiated and adult-led learning. Free play is the everyday equivalent.

Example sentences

  1. Most of the morning is child-initiated play, followed by a short group activity.

  2. During child-initiated play, she spent forty minutes building a garage.

Common collocations

  • child-initiated learning
  • child-led play
  • free play
  • periods of uninterrupted play
  • adult-led activityAn activity that an adult plans and leads with a clear learning purpose, such as a cooking session, a story or a small-group counting game.
  • playActivity that children choose freely and enjoy for its own sake, such as building, pretending, running or exploring; it is seen as a key way young children learn.
  • learning through playAn approach to early education in which children learn skills and ideas mainly by playing, exploring and experimenting, with adults supporting them.
  • learning environmentThe indoor and outdoor spaces, resources and atmosphere of a setting, arranged so that children can explore, play and learn on their own and with others.

More terms: Play and Learning

Practise with graded reading

Reading at the right level is the fastest way to make new words stick. Pick free English books by level: