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Development
Play is critical for a child’s learning and development; play is intertwined in every activity a child is part of. In play, children develop key understanding of the world around them and gain essential knowledge and skills. Play can be hard to define, yet it is agreed that play is meaningful, play is joyful, play is actively engaging, play is iterative, play is socially interactive. An adult’s role in play is to facilitate it, sustain it, and extend it through intentionally designed opportunities that are developmentally appropriate. Developmentally Appropriate Practice is founded in research on how young children develop and learn. Three important considerations in DAP are knowing the norms about child development and learning, knowing each child as an individual, and understanding each child’s social and cultural context. In a few words, it is meeting the children where they are at and offering them challenging but achievable experiences.