When teachers use play to deliver their content in the classroom, they stir the creative skills of children and help in developing their imagination, physical, cognitive and emotional strength. Play is not frivolous as some people would have you believe. It is a brain-building tool. Several studies have shown that play is the fulcrum around which children’s learning, confidence, development and wellbeing revolve.

Ghana can boast of several traditional games that are played in our homes and schools on daily basis, which are culturally relevant, emotionally useful, and educationally significant that when they are well deployed by our teachers, they will help in improving the learning outcome of our children in school. These games which continue to be transmitted from one generation to another include, ‘ampe,’ ‘oware,’ ‘pilolo’ (akin to hide and seek), ‘kyin dan ho’ (a game you get to circle a house), ‘chaskele’ (called Ghana’s cricket), ‘kpiting3’ (a game where you stick an empty pen with a broomstick into a heap of sand), and ‘counters ball,’ among others.

It is important to point out that while many of these games are child-friendly, socially, culturally, and educationally useful in the classroom, there are others such as ‘zanzama’ (where you take turns to knock each other on the head), which should not be encouraged because of the pain they inflict on participants. I must admit that there are many other games that some Ghanaians have creatively developed that are similarly useful.

It is worthy of note that many of these games are played by children in our schools every day especially during break time and Physical Education (PE) period because of the fun, social connection, and teamwork, among others that they bring. But sadly, parents and caregivers continue to berate their children when they participate in these games, labelling such exercises a 'complete waste of time.’ The truth is that engaging in these games is not a waste of time. What we did not know while growing up was that the many games we participated in at the school level and also at home subtly helped to build our self-worth, communication skills, ability to work in teams, and social connection.

Another sad reality is that our hard-working teachers have not found space to direct or use these games as tools in delivering the new standard-based curriculum. What is true is that many of these games can be used to teach the approved subjects for primary schools in Ghana such as mathematics, science, English, and art, among others, with ease. The good news is that the use of these games will shape the worldview of our children, making them useful members of the global village.

The American Academy of Pediatrics noted rather remarkably that “play is fundamentally important for learning 21st-century skills, such as problem-solving, collaboration, and creativity.” While building our children physically (good physical fitness, agility, balance, coordination, and stamina), play improves their cognitive, social, and emotional well-being. When we make room for play in our teaching, our children get to learn the key skills that they need for study, work and relationships. These skills include self-esteem, resilience, interaction, social skills, independence, curiosity, confidence, and coping with challenging situations.

According to The LEGO Foundation, the charity wing of The LEGO Group, a Danish toy production company, when one observes children play, it would not be difficult to see them “experiment, imagine, work together, and overcome emotional ups and downs.” This the Foundation believes helps to stretch the minds and muscles of children. “They’re learning. And they’re picking up the skills to thrive today and flourish tomorrow – whatever tomorrow looks like,” the Foundation observed. The President of Reggio Children, an international centre for the defence and promotion of children’s rights, Carla Rinaldi, aptly noted that “play and learning are like the two wings of a butterfly – one cannot exist without the other.”

It is this use of play to deliver content in the classroom that experts have termed as playful learning. The Harvard Graduate School of Education has noted that “playful learning involves more than games and fun activities.” The US ivy-league school said that playful learning “entails activating a mindset where experiences are framed as occasions to be curious and creative, and where teachers and learners can experience joy and agency.” This reinforces what the renowned American psychologist, Abraham Maslow said when he wrote that “almost all creativity involves purposeful play.”

Researchers and play experts have identified certain characteristics of playful learning such as; (a) joyful, (b) actively engaging, (c) iterative, (d) socially interactive, and (e) meaningful, among others. The fact is that when teachers employ learning through play in their classrooms; their children experience joy; it helps them to find meaning in what was taught; it engages them actively; the experimentation helps them; and, it improves their social interaction.

Thanks to Right To Play, an international charity organization that protects, educates and empowers children across the world, Ghana joins other high-profile countries where playful learning innovations are taking place. According to the Washington-based non-profit public policy organization, The Brookings Institution, among 166 countries where playful learning innovations are taking place namely, South Africa, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Chile, Germany, China, France, Austria, Pakistan, and Brazil, among others, a total of 27 countries had only one playful learning innovation such as Angola, Algeria, Iran, Guyana, and North Korea, among others. Playful learning innovations include the various support mechanisms extended to teachers to help them concentrate on their core duties such as lesson planning or other direct teaching duties.

With its partnership with the Ministry of Education and its agencies namely the Ghana Education Service (GES), National Teaching Council (NTC), National School Inspectorate Authority (NaSIA), and the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA), Right To Play now operates in seven districts in three regions across Ghana. The international organisation is training teachers on lesson note and teaching and learning material (TLMs) preparation, the effective use of play-based learning methodology, and the need to provide a safe environment for their children under two of its projects namely the Gender-Responsive Education And Transformation (GREAT) Project funded by Global Affairs Canada and the Partners in Play Project (P3) funded by The LEGO Foundation.

Also, the organisation is equipping school management committees (SMCs) and Parent-Teacher Associations within its partner schools with the relevant knowledge, skills and tools, to work effectively towards the development and growth of their children, while promoting an effective school-community relationship. In the area of out-of-school engagement, Right To Play is empowering a number of partner community-based organisations to undertake supplemental learning and sensitisation exercises targeted at children and parents/caregivers respectively. Aside from providing educational materials and sports equipment to their partner schools, Right To Play has also constructed playgrounds and changing rooms for girls in some selected schools in the Greater Accra, Volta and Northern regions, all in a bid to provide a safe environment for Ghanaian children to learn and aspire to be who they want to be in future.

Despite the good work, Right To Play is operating in a handful of schools, which means that there are many schools that are not benefiting from the technical know-how of the organisation in the area of playful learning, thereby creating a yawning gap in the smooth implementation of the new standard-based curriculum. The chief reason obviously may be limited funding.

But this is where the Ministry of Education and its agencies would need to step in to ensure that all teachers in Ghanaian schools from KG to lower primary is provided with the requisite assistance (material, infrastructure, and technology), of course with the technical support of Right To Play, to scale-up the use of learning through play across the country. In addition, there is a great need for a pronounced and profound national policy on play-based learning and this can be achieved by bringing together the relevant policymakers, Parliament, government agencies and international development organisations with expertise in this area, to bring Ghana’s education to the level of international standard.

We have seen many groundbreaking social interventions started by some local and international development organisations in the areas of health, and education across the country, abandoned and discontinued by state institutions at the end of those projects when a continuation by the government could have led to an improvement in the living standards of Ghanaians. It should not be business as usual for us this time around.

At least, one good news is that the new standard-based curriculum implemented in 2019 places significant emphasis on the use of games by teachers to deliver content in their classrooms. We need to rally the necessary resources and consensus to sustain the use of play-based learning methodology in Ghanaian classrooms. Also, the learning through play methodology must be encouraged in our teacher training institutions to ensure that trainee teachers become all-familiar with the pedagogy.

The journey to scale-up play-based learning across Ghana would require a political will and we must be ready to locate this at all costs if we ever care about providing our children with 21st skills.

Playful learning is the present and future of quality primary education in Ghana because of its transformative power and contribution to the holistic development of children. When Ghanaian teachers, particularly those in the kindergarten and primary levels, use play to teach, it helps children to learn about their world and themselves, while promoting the development of social skills.

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The author, A. Kwabena Brakopowers is a development communication practitioner, an essayist and broadcast journalist who has written extensively on international relations, education, politics, economy, and health.