- October 01, 2026
- By Christina Folz
Harnessing the power of play to help children learn math concepts can promote their understanding, according to a recent study led by a University of Maryland researcher.
Kindergartners who played with toys as part of a geometry lesson for a small group were able to communicate with each other about the content more than those who were taught in a traditional full-class lesson, the research found. It was published in the Journal of Research in Childhood Education.
“I’m not saying that instructors should never teach anything as a collective group,” said lead author Candice Love, a presidential postdoctoral fellow in UMD’s College of Education. “But we have to also think about, when is that the most productive mode of instruction and when is allowing kids to play?”
For the study, Love and co-authors Amy Parks, a professor at Michigan State University, and Madison Knowe, formerly a postdoctoral researcher at Vanderbilt University, followed a class of 26 kindergarteners for a week of math instruction.
During whole-class lessons, the teacher led a 10- to 20-minute discussion while children listened and raised their hands to interact. By contrast, in play-centered sessions, kids were given flat “geoboards” with pegs, on which they could use rubber bands to create shapes. After explaining common geometric terms, the teacher let the kids play with their geoboards while she roamed the classroom offering support. The children looked at cards showing shapes and tried to reproduce the shapes while chatting with peers.
The research team found that students in the guided-play context were more actively engaged, asking questions of both their teacher and each other, while no children asked questions in whole-class sessions.
The teacher noted that the students relied on her more for guidance in whole-class discussions. During play-centered learning, however, they naturally talked with one another, shared strategies and solved problems together, she said.
“This experience changed my approach to teaching math by helping me see the value of allowing children more time and space to explore mathematical ideas through play and discovery,” the teacher said.