Mexico tells early learners: You need to play more.
| Mexico City
Suri Amaizani Gonzalez Pe帽a is trying to make her Lego brick 鈥渢alk.鈥� She knocks it lightly on the tabletop, giggling, and whispers 鈥渁zul鈥� (blue).
Two physical therapists and her mother, sitting at the same small, circular table, encourage her to try again 鈥� but louder.
鈥淲hat color is that block? I can鈥檛 hear it!鈥� cheers physical therapist Magdalena Ferrusquia, knocking her own red brick on the wooden table, announcing the color.听
Why We Wrote This
Mexico鈥檚 experiment with prescribing songs and games for young children to improve their development is prompting discussion around the question 鈥淲hat is the role of play in education?鈥�
Suri, age 5, who has a speech delay and trouble walking on her own, tilts her head to the side shyly and smiles. She tries again.
This is one of a series of exercises 鈥減rescribed鈥� by Suri鈥檚 doctor. It鈥檚 a prescription to play, and last fall more than 60,000 children at early childhood centers in 13 states in Mexico started receiving a similar regimen of activities to encourage learning.听The team behind the experiment 鈥� a collaboration between the health and education sectors and civil society 鈥� hopes that tapping into Mexico鈥檚 robust educational infrastructure, and focusing on training educators and empowering parents, will have long-term effects on development and educational opportunities here.
鈥淲e realized a lot of parents don鈥檛 know what to do [with their young children] and we wanted to strengthen their capacities,鈥� says Dr. Antonio Rizzoli, who teamed up with the Lego Foundation in Mexico to launch the play prescription program beyond his private practice. 鈥淲e have different threats [to learning and development] in the 21st听century, and the most important thing is to promote love, interaction, and social engagement. There鈥檚 no other way to do that than through play.鈥�
Early childhood development 鈥� and education 鈥� has received more international attention in recent years. Between the ages 0 and 3, experts say fundamental building blocks are laid for future learning and development. But a 2014 study released by Mexico鈥檚 leading education-advocacy group,听Mexicanos Primero, served as a wake-up call for policymakers and families here. The report, titled 鈥淭he Invisibles,鈥� found that a large swath of children in Mexico are听听by lawmakers and excluded from education or early childhood development opportunities in their key developmental years, whether because of poverty or the maze of bureaucracy involved in social security systems.听
Encouraging play听
The prescription approach is being piloted with pediatricians in a handful of states for Mexicans who are in the听conditional-cash-transfer program known as Prospera, which requires medical visits for children. Each prescription, a small pamphlet, encourages parents and adults to interact with children in a way that promotes early childhood development via language and motor skills.听They鈥檙e also being used as a training tool for educators within the department for child and family services.
Preschool is mandatory at the age of 3 in Mexico, but the country has traditionally put very little emphasis or value around the idea of play.听
There are 鈥渉idden curriculums鈥� that come from the home on how one is supposed to educate children, says Robert G. Myers, director of projects at Toward a Democratic Culture (ACUDE), a听nongovernmental organization that听focuses on education and children鈥檚 rights in Mexico. 鈥淥bedience is still a very important trait Mexican families believe kids should have: Adults should be listened to; kids are talked at and told what to do,鈥� Dr. Myers says. 鈥淭here鈥檚 lots of love. That鈥檚 important,鈥� he adds, despite the often rote relationship between educator and child.听 听
鈥淚 think we鈥檙e on the edge of change鈥� when it comes to early childhood development in Mexico, Myers says. 鈥淭he discourse is changing, but the practice hasn鈥檛 yet,鈥� he says, pointing to a deadly fire at a preschool in 2009 that killed nearly 50 children as a central reason for the more recent lags.听There鈥檚 often a bigger emphasis now on health and safety 鈥� hairnets on cafeteria workers and clearly marked fire exits 鈥� than child development in early childhood centers and preschools, he says.
The lack of play between adults and young children 鈥� or a misunderstanding of what play means, relying instead on screen time 鈥� translates to many children missing out on a critical window for development, experts say. Mexicans have ,听limiting the amount of time parents have to play and interact with their children. Others want to help their children, but don鈥檛 know where to begin, or how.
Tools for adults听
Back at Suri鈥檚 doctor鈥檚 appointment, mother Laura Brenda Pe帽a Camacho says they are three prescriptions in and so far the approach has been life-changing for her as a parent.
鈥淚 wanted to help my daughter, but I didn鈥檛 know how,鈥� Ms. Pe帽a says. They live in Mexico state, and travel over an hour to get to the National Children鈥檚 Hospital Federico G贸mez for their monthly consultations. 鈥淚 have a better understanding about what鈥檚 going on with Suri, but I can also use the tools we鈥檙e learning for her back home with my other children. I feel like she鈥檚 advancing, but so am I.鈥澨�
Some activities in the prescriptions involve Lego bricks (which are gifted to families participating in the program), but most rely on singing songs, engaging parts of the body, or using common household items.
鈥淢ost of the things we do are things parents already know or have access to, we鈥檙e just helping them to organize activities and make play more intentional,鈥� says Ms. Ferrusquia, the physical therapist. 鈥淓ven something as simple as a metro ride to come to our offices can be turned into a developmental game 鈥� asking questions about colors or sounds the child is observing,鈥� she says.
The importance of play is increasingly touted by medical professionals.听鈥淧arents have moved to devaluing play and thinking that it鈥檚 frivolous,鈥� says Michael Yogman, a Boston-based pediatrician and researcher who co-wrote an article on play prescriptions in the journal听Pediatrics published in August.听
In addition, there鈥檚 a misconception among some families听in Mexico that children don鈥檛 begin to learn until they can speak, researchers say, creating missed opportunities for development in the first two years.
The benefits of play include 鈥渆nhancing brain function, 21st-century skills like executive function, problem-solving, and collaborative play, and听a chance in a guilt-free way for parents and children to engage and enhance their relationship,鈥� Dr. Yogman says.听
A focus on quality
During a pilot program in Puebla state, researchers found that of the 300 students involved, 70 percent in their development within the first six months 鈥� particularly with language and communication.听
鈥淥ur value add doesn鈥檛 come from infrastructure or building schools. What we are good at is adding quality,鈥� says Diego Adame, former director of the Lego Foundation in Mexico, on why they got involved in this project. 鈥淢exico has a lot of infrastructure, lots of government resources, and good access to education. But it has a big, big quality problem.鈥�
Mexico is also home to one of Lego鈥檚 largest factories, in the northern city of Monterrey. Mr. Adame says launching in Mexico was a way of directly giving back to the nearly 3,000 Lego factory employees and other citizens. For families involved in the play prescription program, each month when they graduate to the next prescription, they are gifted a few new Lego blocks, something Adame and Rizzoli see as an added incentive for participants.
Meyers says he鈥檚 interested in seeing the results of the play prescriptions and particularly the training of educators in using play in the classroom. But he thinks it might take more than a few training sessions for preschool and early education professionals to really implement the spirit of the idea.
鈥淚n the centers where we observe, something like playing with blocks is still kind of restricted and it鈥檚 slotted into something like, 鈥楴ow we are going to learn鈥� instead of something that鈥檚 truly about play,鈥� Meyers says.
Still, he says, he鈥檚 not entirely without hope. 鈥淭his is part of a long process that I think has to occur in changing mind-sets and experiences of the people in charge of early childhood education.鈥�
