Introduction
Play is widely acknowledged as central to children's learning, significantly influencing their cognitive, emotional, social and linguistic development (Moyles, 2010). In the early years, play facilitates creativity, curiosity and enquiry –skills critical for developing historical understanding (Chicken & Whitehouse, 2021).
Within primary education, playful approaches offer authentic, meaningful experiences, enabling teachers to vividly bring the past alive (Whitehouse, Vickers-Hulse & Carter, 2018). Here, we will explore play’s crucial role in children's historical understanding, focusing on storytelling, role-play, personal history, chronological awareness and artefacts.
Play and Cognitive Development: Theoretical Perspectives
Play shapes how children interpret and reconstruct and construct knowledge (Piaget, 1962; Vygotsky, 1978). Piaget (1962) describes play as critical for constructing meaning from experiences, essential for understanding abstract historical concepts like time and cause and consequence. In contrast, Vygotsky (1978) suggest that play is inherently social, providing contexts through which children acquire cultural and historical understandings.
Whitehouse, Vickers-Hulse & Carter (2018) further illustrate how fostering curiosity through playful pedagogy promotes deeper engagement with historical narratives, supporting children’s critical thinking skills and conceptual understanding. Further to this, Whitehouse (2019) suggests that planning for creative play underpins children’s cognitive development, which can enable young children to engage meaningfully with historical concepts and cultural narratives.
Stories offer structured frameworks that foster early chronological skills, which are crucial in historical understanding (Bruner, 1986; Cooper, 2013). I would argue that picture books are an essential tool in fostering the historical skills of curiosity and chronology. Visual literacy is an important skill for young historians and developing the ability to ask questions about whether what they see is of vital importance.