Fundamentals of PlayTM

Helping Educators Understand the Real Learning Happening Through Play

Preschool Boost Program | Professional Learning, Resources & Implementation Support

Children do not “just play”.

Play is how children communicate, explore, regulate, problem-solve, build relationships, test ideas, process experiences, and make sense of their world.

Fundamentals of Play™ helps educators understand play more deeply so they can see children’s behaviour, interests, development, and learning through a new lens.

This program supports educators to move from:
“Why are they doing that?”
to:
“What is this play telling us about this child’s development, needs, interests, and learning?”

Enquire About Fundamentals of Play™Use Preschool Boost Funding
Simple illustration of four stylised flowers with yellow centres and differently coloured petals, standing in a row above a curved blue line.

Watch : About

Fundamentals of PlayTM

A woman in a pink blazer stands smiling in a doorway, with children’s drawings and artwork displayed on the walls and cartoon figures framing the image.
Professional Learning for Educators

Building Confident Educators Through Play

Why This Program Matters

Many educators know play is important, but do not always feel confident explaining what is happening within play or how to intentionally support it.
Sometimes children’s play can look challenging, repetitive, messy, risky, or difficult to understand.
But when educators understand the inner workings of play, everything changes.

They begin to recognise:

  • Why children repeat certain behaviours
  • How schemas show up in everyday play
  • How play stages support social development
  • How temperament influences engagement
  • How play supports communication, wellbeing, problem-solving, and learning
  • How intentional environments can reduce behaviour challenges and increase participation

Fundamentals of Play™ gives educators the knowledge, language, and practical tools to understand children more deeply and support development through rich, intentional play.

What the Program Explores

Fundamentals of Play™ supports educators to explore:

The Program Is Ideal For Educators And Teachers Wanting Either A Refresher Or A Deeper Understanding Of How Play Aligns With Children’S Development And Curriculum Planning.

Four abstract flowers with large yellow centres and differently coloured, irregular petals on thin stems, set against a plain background.
How It Is Delivered

Fundamentals of Play™ can be delivered flexibly to suit your service.

Delivery options may include:

  • 2 x 2-hour training sessions
  • 1 x 4-hour face-to-face training session
  • 2 x 2-hour online training sessions
  • 6-hour service visit working alongside the team
  • 1-hour follow-up coaching call
  • Optional additional coaching and implementation support

 

Four abstract flowers with large yellow centres and differently coloured, irregular petals on thin stems, set against a plain background.
What Educators Gain

After participating in Fundamentals of Play™, educators will feel more confident to:

  • Understand children’s play behaviours
  • Identify schemas and play stages
  • Adjust environments based on children’s play interests
  • Support children’s social and communication development
  • Reduce behavioural challenges through intentional planning
  • Use play data to inform curriculum decisions
  • Explain children’s learning through play to families
  • Strengthen play pedagogy across the service

This is professional learning that helps educators see children differently.

And when educators see children differently, they respond differently.

Real Services. Real Change

What Happens When the Right Support Is in Place

A Practical Ongoing Partnership Designed to Strengthen Your Whole Service

Case Study: Hackham East Kindergarten

At Hackham East Kindergarten, educators were noticing play behaviours that seemed hildren aged 3–5. Through younger than expected for HGT EDU’s work with the Noarlunga 2 Partnership, Michelle Walsh helped teams connect these behaviours to schemas, play stages, play styles and the cycle of play.

The team began collecting data using HGT EDU’s mind-map template and used this information to identify children’s play interests, intentions and developmental needs.
As educators adjusted the environment to support identified schemas, they noticed meaningful changes. For example, children with rotational and trajectory schemas were given opportunities such as rolling barrels down a hill, which reduced the number of times children threw items over the fence.

Educators also noticed a shift in their own thinking. They began questioning what they knew about play skills, documenting reflections, and intentionally supporting children’s development through play. The team observed improvements in children’s social skills, communication skills and wellbeing.
Families were also included in the learning journey through a parent evening about play skills, with one parent sharing:

“This event was good for thinking, problem solving and seeing how my child thinks.”
A woman with long brown hair and glasses sits outdoors with a laptop. Children play on the grass in the background. Decorative drawings frame the photo.
Who It Is For

Why Services Choose Fundamentals of PlayTM

This program is not just about learning more theory.
It helps educators apply play knowledge directly into practice.

Through training, coaching, resources and implementation support, educators learn how to observe play, adjust environments, scaffold children’s learning and embed play pedagogy into teacher-led preschool programs.

The program has been delivered in early childhood settings including Hackham East Kindergarten, Woodville Gardens School B-6 Children’s Centre, Karrara Kindergarten, First Choice EEC, and Coombs Early Learning, and has also been delivered through Nature Play SA professional development.

Enquire About Fundamentals of Play™

Perfect For Services Wanting To:

Strengthen play-based learning

Support children’s communication and social development

Better understand children’s behaviour

Build educator confidence

Embed practical play pedagogy across the service

Support children with developmental vulnerability

Strengthen curriculum planning through play

Create more intentional learning environments

Improve family understanding of play

Simple illustration of three flowers with yellow centres and petals in pink, dark grey, and orange, each on a thin black stem against a plain background.
Happy Clients

Real Services. Real Impact

Hear directly from early learning leaders and educators who’ve strengthened quality, team capability, and confidence through working alongside HGT EDU.

One notable project we introduced as a result of Michelle’s training was the Play Fundamentals project. This initiative has had a significant impact on the development of our children, especially those who are developmentally vulnerable. The project has allowed us to better support these children by focusing on foundational play skills that enhance their cognitive, social, and emotional development. It has been incredibly rewarding to witness the positive effects, as the children are now more engaged, confident, and willing to explore their learning environment.

— Emma – Director Hackham East Kindergarten DfE.

During a Play Fundamentals session we hosted, focused on Play Skills, Learning Dispositions, and Schemas, Michelle’s expert facilitation helped our team better understand how all children learn and engage with their learning environment. We were able to understand the communication and need behind expressed behaviours and learn how to adapt our experiences to accommodate this for each child. This deeper understanding has translated into tangible outcomes, including noticeable improvements in our pedagogical practices, particularly in our responsiveness to children. Additionally, we have seen a positive shift in how everyone—adults and children alike—accesses learning experiences within our Kindergarten setting.

— Tahnee – Aldinga community

The sessions are fantastic and a revolution for the brain!

Ideas come effortlessly during these trainings, so inspiring!

— Teeka – Aberfoyle Hub Community

Child-like drawing of a person with a blue head, yellow torso, pink legs, raised arm, and scribbled black lines for hair and facial features.
Ready to Strengthen Play Across Your Service?

Fundamentals of Play™ helps educators understand what children are really showing us through play — and how to use that understanding to support development, learning, wellbeing and connection.

Child’s drawing of a person with a round pink face, black eyes, pink lips, yellow hair, and a multicoloured background.
Child-like drawing of a person with a blue head, yellow torso, pink legs, raised arm, and scribbled black lines for hair and facial features.Child’s drawing of a person with a round pink face, black eyes, pink lips, yellow hair, and a multicoloured background.
0
    0
    Your Cart
    Empty CartYour cart is emptyReturn to Shop
    Continue Shopping