Sesame Workshop and Lego Foundation unveil critical study on learning through play

Sesame Workshop held an Advocacy Event in North Riding to present the findings of their five-year study, Play to Learn Impact Evaluation, which was done in partnership with the Lego Foundation. The study, conducted in the Free State and the Eastern Cape, aimed to improve learning-through-play skills among educators, caregivers, and social workers working with young children in Early Childhood Development (ECD) centres. This initiative reached over 138 000 children.

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Play is a natural part of childhood. It helps children imagine, express, explore, and understand the world around them. However, many educators and caregivers do not always recognise the link between play and learning. To address this, Sesame Workshop and the Lego Foundation launched the play to learn initiative in 2018. The goal was to show how important it is for caregivers to understand this link and to integrate play into their teaching practices.

The event included an informative panel discussion where panellists discussed the development of cognitive and social-emotional skills, using interactive media to enhance play experiences and best practices in children’s media. The panellists agreed that learning through play is vital for a child’s development, helping them grow, explore, problem solve, and regulate their emotions.

The panel discussion was hosted by MC Elana Afrika-Bredenkamp and included experts from Unisa, Unicef, and the South African Department of Basic Education. They discussed how learning through lay (LTP) is essential for education and child development.

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The panel included Mari Payne from Sesame Workshop, Prof. Hasina Banu Ebrahim from Unisa, Kgopotso Tryphosa Khumalo from Unicef, Pearl Phoolo from Standard Bank South Africa and Dr Janeli Kotzé from the South African Department of Basic Education

Fathima Rawat from Sesame Workshop led a quiz challenge which the audience got to participate in and was won by Melissa Cannell and Lauren van Niekerk.

The interactive activity was to demonstrate the power of learning through play. Mari Payne, deputy managing director and senior director of education and outreach at Sesame Workshop International South Africa (Swisa) highlighted that incorporating play into teaching brings joy, keeps children engaged, and helps them learn faster.

The study showed that educators and caregivers are more likely to use playful learning practices after participating in workshops, caregivers reported an increase in playful learning after watching Takalani Sesame episodes, co-viewing (watching together) is linked to better caregiver-child interactions and at the end of the study, caregivers showed more support for playful learning practices through media.

Kerry Kassen, regional director for Africa at the Lego Foundation, emphasised that learning through play is crucial for advancing childhood development. The study also found that Takalani Sesame remains popular with families and that children love the characters, which helps with their learning.

Mari Payne concluded that play-based learning supports children’s curiosity and helps build their sense of safety, trust, and empowerment from a young age. The event highlighted the importance of integrating play into early childhood education to benefit children’s holistic development.

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