New podcast episode on benefits of play-based learning with Seenaryo
Background to podcast and project
After the Syrian civil war began and Lebanon started seeing an influx of refugees entering their country, Seenaryo (opens in a new tab), a theatre and play focused charity, saw an urgent need for projects in the country which went beyond satisfying basic needs like food, shelter and healthcare.
To mark International Day of Education 2022, in this podcast, we spoke with Naqiya Ebrahim (opens in a new window), Chief Operating Office and Acting Co-Director for the organisation, to learn more about their play-based learning project hosted on a mobile phone app, currently supported with a Small Charities Challenge Fund grant, and engaging thousands of three to eight year olds in both Lebanon and Jordan.
Extracts from the podcast
Naqiya Ebrahim on the benefits of play-based learning:
“I think for me the strength of play is the high human interaction which is really crucial for life skills development. I think globally, we are all understanding that life skills – for example, communication, collaboration, decision-making – are far more important than the need to boost academic achievement. And in fact you can’t really boost academic achievement without first boosting these types of skills…”
“If you turn learning into a fun, welcoming, engaging environment, children can’t help but come onboard, and for me, that is the power of play.”
Access the podcast episode
You can find out more about Seenaryo’s approach including their use of training teachers to scale-up impact, the benefits of play-based learning, and the adaptations they have made so children can continue to learn when schools have been closed due to COVID-19, by:
- Listening to the podcast in full (opens in a new tab) or
- Finding and subscribing to the podcast on its dedicated page, on Spotify, Amazon Music or Stitcher.
Related resources
- For background on another UK Aid Direct funded organisation focusing on play-based learning, discover the work of Children in Crisis in Tanzania in this article
- Or explore other podcast episodes from the Learning Post including effective interventions during education projects (opens in a new tab) and which factors had the biggest impact on effective COVID-19 project adaptations (opens in a new tab).
