Teacher professional days provide a mixed bag of best practices — but on Friday, Austin elementary teachers found that one of those was simple play.

Educators gathered at Woodson Kindergarten Center to learn all about connecting play to learning areas.

Instructors used — or rather, played with — things such as books, Legos, coding applications, robots, even cardboard boxes, to help understand the connection between play and youth development, as well as how they might use the tools in the classroom. For three and a half hours, the educators rotated between three play areas, trying out the items.

Neveln principal Dewey Schara watched teachers create toys in a makerspace area, out of cardboard, construction paper, yarn and tape.

Schara said in a short amount of time, “I’ve already heard from at least 50 percent of my staff; they are so excited,” he said. They’re already figuring out ways to introduce the play — which at its base is about engaging students and allowing creative thought without boundaries — into subject areas like science and social studies. Research has shown that play has strong impact on the development of literacy, intellectual growth and physical development and growth.

Facilitators were Austin Public Schools tech integrationists, instructional coaches and building level principals as well as Lana Peterson from Learning Technologies Media Lab (LTML),
Funding in part for training was given by the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation.