When you glimpse inside our Early Childhood settings at Michael Hall, the fact that we are a play-based setting is evident by the buzz of activity in each room.  Recently, I attended an Early Childhood conference where great minds in the sector spoke about behaviour and the impact of play.  Ben Kingston-Hughes, one of the speakers,  talked of the power of play as a foundational developmental necessity.  

"Play as one of the key criteria for healthy brain growth and as a crucial evolutionary survival trait that helps our children to become strong healthy adults.

Play performs another function though. Thanks to the work of Jaak Panksepp we know that play sits in the primitive limbic system of the child’s brain. Many of the functions of this area of the brain, when activated, create a powerful biochemical response. Positive pro-social functions such as play produce a cocktail of several biochemicals that have potent anti-depressant and anti-anxiety properties."  

You can read more of Ben's work here: www.inspiredchildren.org.uk