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In Aberdeen, Scotland, Dyce Primary School has undergone an impressive academic transformation by making learning more playful. In a wooded area near the school, even the smallest students are free to take risks in an unstructured environment—climbing trees, building structures from tarps, planks, and tires, exploring the landscape—while teachers observe from a distance. Once they are back indoors, the perseverance, independence, and resourcefulness the children developed while at play improve their focus and their academic work, as they dive into hands-on, largely student-directed learning initiatives.

To learn more about the research behind the practices seen in the video, check out the links below.

• The American Academy of Pediatrics’ (2018) 
• Kayleigh Skene, Christine M. O’Farrelly, Elizabeth M. Byrne, Natalie Kirby, Eloise C. Stevens, and Paul G. Ramchandani’s (2022) 
• Rachel Parker, Bo Stjerne Thomsen, and Amy Berry’s (2022) 
• The American Academy of Pediatrics’ (2013)
• Elizabeth Bonawitz, Patrick Shafto, Hyowon Gweon, Noah D. Goodman, Elizabeth Spelke, and Laura Schulz’s (2011)
• Jennifer M. Zosh, Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, Emily J. Hopkins, Hanne Jensen, Claire Liu, Dave Neale, S. Lynneth Solis, and David Whitebread’s (2018)
• Deena Skolnick Weisberg, Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, Roberta Michnick Golinkoff, Audrey K. Kittredge, and David Klahr’s (2016)