Have you ever said to yourself (or maybe even out loud!), “The children in my 2s and 3s class want to play in Sunday School. I know at their age that is natural, but isn’t it a waste of time?”
While the central focus of Sunday School is certainly to learn God’s Word, play serves a vital role in the 2s and 3s classroom. When children engage in play, they are learning about themselves, other children, and the world. They learn about the Lord as you tell them about His creation, love, and teachings during informal conversation while playing. Deuteronomy 6:7 tells us to use every teachable moment during the day (which must include playtime!) to instruct children in the ways of the Lord. “Thou shalt teach them [words and commands of God, v. 6] diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.”
Playtime as part of the 2s and 3s classroom experience promotes the children’s social, emotional, mental, and spiritual development.
The “Good Stuff” That Comes from Play
Playtime enriches students’ lives. At this stage of their development, little children learn through play. To an adult, play is leisure; to a child, play is learning. Let’s look at different areas children develop as they play.
Children gain confidence through play
Children learn that God helps them do many things. He enables them to build, climb, talk to their teacher on the toy phone, twirl, “cook,” put the baby to bed, drive a truck, and even make its engines roar. Playing allows children to develop their abilities without fear of failure. They begin to sense that they can make things happen. You are helping the children develop a can-do spirit for future service for the Lord.
Children develop language skills through play
At first your students may not talk at all. Then they will talk only to you or to themselves. Eventually they will begin to converse with their peers. Children’s vocabulary grows as they converse, learning names of objects and adding descriptive words. Children grow in their understanding that communication is a two-way process: sending and receiving.
The ability to read comes from listening to language, understanding spoken language, and speaking language. You are laying the foundation that will enable your students to read Scripture in just a few years!
Children learn problem-solving strategies through play
Two- and three-year-olds encounter many difficulties as they play. They may wonder why a driver won’t fit into a toy dump truck or why a screw won’t pull out of the workbench. They push and hit and twist until they make the toy work, or until they give up.
What are children learning? They are discovering the problem-solving strategy of trial and error. They can put the toy driver into another truck, and it will fit. They are learning cause and effect by discovering that if they twist the screw, it will come out. These moments of difficulty also teach children that life doesn’t always go their way, that they must keep trying, and that sometimes it’s best just to find a new way!
Children grow in their social skills through play
“Mine!” and “No!” are two common words twos and threes use when they play together. Their sin nature shouts out, “I want my way!” As the children enter this age group, they play alongside but not with each other. As they begin to play with others, many conflicts erupt. They want the same toy, same chair, or same crayon. Some children are bossy, while others are submissive. Each child has his or her own ideas and has great difficulty seeing things from another child’s viewpoint. In play, children begin to learn to share, help, and cooperate. What tough lessons to learn! Children need repeated assistance from the teacher in learning to say things nicely, in taking turns, and in sharing the toys.
Every child in your class is a potential member of the body of Christ. During these early years of development, you are helping children learn how to work together with their church friends. You are introducing the concept of what it means to “walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:1–3).
Guided Play Time in Your
Classroom
Every 2s and 3s lesson in your teacher’s guide begins with Guided Play Time. Every week you have a choice of four or more play activities that relate to the central Bible truth of the lesson. This part of the morning can be structured (engaging the children in learning centers with helpers assisting), unstructured (giving the children free choice in play), or even semi-structured (choosing one activity to relate the children’s play to the lesson theme of the day). Whatever degree of structure you choose to use, guided play is a valuable use of time!
Once children are engaged in play, sometimes it is difficult to get them to stop playing, put their materials away, and come to the area in the room designated for Bible Time. You may want to select one activity from the Guided Play Time suggestions to use with the whole group at the end of playtime. This will help the children change their focus from play to the Bible lesson.
Think about Your Classroom
- Your RBP teacher’s guide gives conversation suggestions for you to use with the children during Guided Play Time. Think about next week’s lesson. What activities will you use during Guided Play? Make up your own conversation starters to use with the children to help them think about God or the lesson theme as they participate.
- Which activities in your Guided Play Time lend themselves to your students’ growth in problem-solving strategies? language skills? Which activities help the children gain confidence or learn how to relate to each other better?
- Choose one activity to add to your Guided Play Time. (You may refer to the ideas in your teacher’s guide.) How could you incorporate that activity into your existing Guided Play Time? Here are some things to think about: When will you use the activity? Will the entire group, a small group, or just one individual participate at a time? What part of the room will you use? Who could help you with the activity? What materials do you need to gather?
