How long is normal for free-play in nursery?

amother

Hydrangea ↓

Today at 11:28 am

15-20 minutes at a time. Most things this age are 15-20 minute time slots. They should be having some sort of circle time, some learning, and some projects. And play should also really be rotating between fine motor skills, gross motor skills and open ended play.

amother

↑ Hydrangea ↓

Today at 12:13 pm

Elfrida wrote:

First thing in the morning, when children are still arriving, it can be longer. The first hour can be free play, while children arrive, settle down, and have time to play before starting the more formal part of the day.

Most places will have centers, as in different activities at each table set up for the morning arrival.

amother

↑ Khaki

Today at 1:07 pm

I don’t know. But I’m surprised by some comments here. I’d assume a 3-4 yr old should be playing freely with friends longer than 15 min slots. Don’t we want kids to learn to play independently.
I’d expect structured time. Like learning about parsha, aleph bais, some fun science, singing, social skills, basic curriculum. But otherwise lots of play. I had a Morah at that age take them outside as long as there was no rain for 1 hour. I thought it was the healthiest thing to have that I structure free play.

amother

↑ Hydrangea ↓

Today at 1:11 pm

amother Khaki wrote:

At home yes. In school it doesn’t work so well. There are so many different needs you need to juggle at the same time. Longer periods of time leads to problems and boredom. Outdoor play is also different than 15 kids crowding over 3 dolls and some play food for an hour.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Today at 1:20 pm

My dc wasn’t doing well during free play so I asked how long it is and it was an hour and 15 min followed by lunch, which also isn’t structured. I was shocked that they were left to play for so long. Outdoor is very different!

amother

Seafoam

Today at 1:36 pm

amother OP wrote:

Then morah needs to help him learn how to play not just sitting on the side chilling.

amother

Lawngreen ↓

Today at 2:29 pm

When dd was in nursery they had free play in the morning while the Morah was eating breakfast at her desk. Almost every day there were kids fighting and hurting each other and most of the time my dd was the one hurting other kids. She eventually switched classes and in her new class the morah would be sitting with the kids doing structured activities until breakfast.
It made all the difference.
Free play is important at this age but the morah must be involved and supervising!

amother

↑ Lawngreen

Today at 2:30 pm

amother

Apple ↓

Today at 3:33 pm

amother Hydrangea wrote:

Um.
why do they have to crowd around 3 dolls??
at my daughters school they play for an hour every morning and I noticed that they have 3 table top toys set out on the tables (such as puzzles and magna doodles) as well as a building toy on the carpet.
A healthy 3 year old should be able to entertain themselves with toys for 60 min.
in fact I once heard a school psychologist say how sad it is that nursery has a whole intense 'curriculum'
let children be children.

amother

Alyssum

Today at 4:17 pm

It's not a one size fits all. But I noticed in several schools,daycare and playgroups over the years that nice variety of toys are severely lacking. I'm not talking about places that get headstart and vouchers specifically for toys. But the ones that don't. Also someti.es teachers don't want a big mess so they will take out less toys which causes the kids to crowd around the toy. Each building with a few pieces and theirs one kid that just wants to sit their and build a hug magnetize tower or some other big project by herself and she's stuck staring. Or the kid that hates the 2-3 toys that are out but does t have Amy other choices.

scintilla

Today at 4:44 pm

amother OP wrote:

I don't know how it is in their class, but I was a preschool teacher for many years and we always did at least an hour of free play in the morning and on rainy days in the afternoon too. Often as the kids play skills improved further on in the year they could play happily and be fully engaged for up to 2 hours! However, that doesn't mean they are left to their own devices. The teachers should still be fully present and helping facilitate play, without getting in the way of the kids developing their skills. Play is such an incredibly important part of child development and good teachers will be able to help kids play and build their independent/collaborative play skills so they can sustain free play for long periods of time.

This also requires a carefully set up classroom, with some centers rotated on a regular basis (others like Lego, blocks etc can stay pretty consistent throughout the year imo with only slight variations) but the teachers being present is the most important part.

This was with ages 3, 4 and 5 (different ages over the years).

amother

Denim

Today at 5:39 pm

Preschool morah here-

You can set up centers in a classroom in a way that it looks like free play but, for example, kids will rotate between dress up center, craft table / blocks / etc. and yes that can go for an hour with teacher supervision. The idea is not that the morahs have to be super involved with everything- she can step back and let the kids play but she should be available to help with conflicts and demonstrate how to use the materials (for example if one of the center is making a project of some sort)

Younger kids (like twos and younger threes) obviously need more and I’ve found centers with two year olds to be really hard. Not impossible. Just they have very short attention and all want to do what the other is doing all the time.

amother

↑ OP

Today at 7:01 pm

The Morahs work one on one with kids during that time, maybe on projects they’re trying to complete. So the kids are left to their own devices and there’s a lot of fighting and kids getting into trouble. They also have centers in the morning. Like two hours before this second “free play”.

ddmom

Today at 7:05 pm

amother OP wrote:

Only 1 morah? How many kids?
Maybe she needs to reorganize her schedule if it's not working!