Episode 12: Jo Harris: Why Play Matters

My guest today, Joe Harris is passionate about play for children. 

She is a trained Early Childhood Teacher with over 25 years of local and international experience working in a variety of settings in  Australia, the United Kingdom, and Belgium. Jo was awarded Exemplary Teacher status in 2018  through a strict validation process. 

She has taught in the VET (Vocational Education and Training) system at TAFE (Technical and  Further Education) and has hosted parent and teacher workshops.  

Jo is a Reiki Seichem Master and a Tapping  Practitioner. 

She is currently an Early Years Advisor for a  company that supplies educational resources to early years services across Australia.  

Specializing in social and emotional health and wellbeing, she strives to share key tips and strategies with parents and educators that will encourage warm and meaningful engagement with their children and students.  

Jo contributes her knowledge from experience as an Educational Leader and mentors teachers within roles held throughout her career focused on an inclusive pedagogy of environments that stimulate play in collaboration with educators that shape and scaffold learning. 

In today’s episode, Joe talks about why play is important, why it matters.

She shares how so much can happen when a child plays. So much learning happens for them during this time. 

It contributes to health benefits - our brain’s health, our emotional health, and is completely non-threatening! It allows discovery and healing that can happen by not having any pressure for the child playing. 

We talk about incorporating nature into play, and how beneficial that is as well. So many kids are disconnected from nature and it’s a shame because children will naturally connect with nature if we just provide it for them! Even if it’s just a park in the city.

“The thing about play is it works faster than anything else. So when we’re learning a new skill, when it’s taught formally, there are several repetitions that need to be made for everything to marry up. So when we’re playing the actual neuropathways are lit up much faster because when you’re playing, you’re not thinking, “Am I getting this right?” There’s not a technique. You are in a completely different space. Play lights up the brain like nothing else.” - Jo Harris

We also talk about how preschoolers and young kids play is a great way to learn and at what age does that start to fade and you have to start learning the way school teaches you to learn? 

Jo shares about her Reiki and Tapping experience and what kind of results she has experienced herself and typically sees in her clients.

You can find out more about Jo and follow her on Facebook @Joharrisjoyfulteacher

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julie hatch