Research-Based Curriculum
Playful Learning is a method of early childhood education that artfully weaves together play with learning. It draws on the best studies of classroom practice as they have been and become available.[1]
We bring education to life through our in-person preschool studio, online teacher and parent lounges, and hands-on learning materials—carefully curated for the youngest learners—and the families, teachers, and schools who care for them.
Playful Learning was founded by award-winning educator and author, Mariah Bruehl in 2008, as an online resource for children, parents, and teachers.
With the goal of bridging research and practice, Playful Learning Studio opened its doors in the spring of 2015 in the village of East Hampton, New York. We provide young learners with engaging in-person preschool programs utilizing our proprietary, play-based curriculum and methods.
Our innovative early childhood curriculum and hands-on experiences are developed in-house by our team of educators based on proven best practices,[2] and implemented daily in our highly-curated early childhood classrooms and gardens.
Once the curriculum has been vetted in our studio it’s made available to teachers and schools worldwide through our online membership, professional development, and hands-on classroom materials.
Having merged both in-person and online worlds, Playful Learning shares the curriculum, research, and development taking place in our preschool studio with teachers, schools, and community organizations, interested in creating play-based programs, through our online membership and materials.
This process creates an ongoing cycle of teaching and learning where educators are consistently collaborating on, improving, and reflecting on their practice—as well as how to adapt it to meet the needs of individual students and communities.[3]
[1] For example, Toub, T.S., Rajan, V., Golinkoff, R.M., Hirsh-Pasek, K. (2016). Guided Play: A Solution to the Play Versus Learning Dichotomy. In: Geary, D., Berch, D. (eds) Evolutionary Perspectives on Child Development and Education. Evolutionary Psychology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-29986-0_5
[2] Hirsh-Pasek K, Adamson LB, Bakeman R, Owen MT, Golinkoff RM, Pace A, Yust PK, Suma K. The Contribution of Early Communication Quality to Low-Income Children’s Language Success. Psychol Sci. 2015 Jul;26(7):1071-83. doi: 10.1177/0956797615581493. Epub 2015 Jun 5. PMID: 26048887. Levine, S. C., Ratliff, K. R., Huttenlocher, J., & Cannon, J. (2012). Early puzzle play: A predictor of preschoolers’ spatial transformation skill. Developmental Psychology, 48(2), 530–542. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0025913
[3] Molly A. Schlesinger , Brenna Hassinger-Das , Jennifer M. Zosh , Jeremy Sawyer , Natalie Evans & Kathy Hirsh-Pasek (2020) Cognitive Behavioral Science behind the Value of Play: Leveraging Everyday Experiences to Promote Play, Learning, and Positive Interactions, Journal of Infant, Child, and Adolescent Psychotherapy, 19:2, 202-216, DOI: 10.1080/15289168.2020.1755084
