Invitations to Play....

Today I saw a invitation to a twitterchat, which given time I will more than likely join in, where the chat is about "Invitations to play".

It got me thinking... what exactly does this mean?

Why are we inviting children to play? Isn't this something that they do? Isn't this how they explore the world and connect with each other?
Shouldn't our focus be on how do we create the TIME and SPACE for children to play?

OR, maybe (more than likely) the title is referring to how we educators can influence their play... how we can extend their play, how we can put a pedagogical lilt on their play. Really, it's not about making play available to children, but how we can manipulate play... that might not be a bad thing... but it is something we need to be aware of... that power we have over the children and their play.

OR, the title could be referring to how we as educators can learn from play... what invitations do we put out for the children so that we can learn more about what the children already know, how they interact with each other and the materials, about the children's problem solving skills, to learn about the children's various learning styles... there is much we can learn by observing children at play... that will enable us to know what materials we can put out that will invite the children to extend their play, to deepen their understanding of the world around them.

So I am looking forward to this evening... 20:00 GMT, 21:00 CET (me) which would make it
15:00 EST - for those of you across the pond that might be able to make it, despite being the middle of the afternoon. If not, why not check out the chat afterwards to see what was discussed and what ideas were presented as play invitations

#EYshare is the hashtag to use... you can find me on twitter @SuzanneAxelsson. My twitter account is only used for sharing learning, play and Early Years ideas.