Course | Certificate of Education - Development and Play

Play is crucial to development and contributes to the cognitive, social and emotional wellbeing of children and youth. If you work in education, this course is ideal professional development for you.

Certificate of Education (Development and Play) is an online professional development course that shows you how to support, plan and implement holistic play-based learning for children.

In this play-based learning course, you will explore holistic learning and development methods, including supporting emerging physical skills and fine and gross motor skills, encouraging play and social experiences and supporting children with difficulties.

You’ll also learn about curriculum planning, childhood development, play-based pedagogies and features of play-based pedagogy. You will also discover how to support children to connect with nature by bringing the natural environment indoors, creating outdoor play opportunities and discussing sustainability.

On completion of this course, you will have a comprehensive understanding of how to support child development and education through play.

Course Structure

Unit 1 - Support the holistic learning and development of children
• Supporting emerging physical skills
• Encouraging physical development
• Daily routines and benefits of routines
• Developing and practising new skills
• Arranging equipment to develop movement skills
• Fine and gross motor skills
• Encourage challenge, choice and spontaneity
• Health and wellbeing
• Safety – making a child feel safe and secure
• Encouraging play and social experiences
• Accepting responsibility for actions
• Support and consequences
• One-to-one and small-group interactions
• Care, empathy and respect
• Support children with difficulties understanding or communicating
• Modelling language
• Developing collaborative relationships
• Respecting and valuing individual differences
• Making informed choices about behaviour
• Positive reinforcement and behaviour modelling
• Experiencing pride and confidence in achievements
• Supporting frustrated children
• Psychological responses
• Expressing and regulating feelings
• Developing and modelling empathy
• Perseverance and developing resilience
• Sharing children’s successes
• Exploration and problem-solving
• Materials, resources technologies and experiences
• Exploring concepts and ideas
• Conversation and critical thinking
• Linguistic heritage
• Home languages
• Reading and storytelling
• Stimulating children’s enjoyment with props
• Developing pre-writing skills
• Communicating listening and questioning
• Symbols and patterns
• Group discussions
• Modelling language
• Developing skills across five domains
• Brian development
• Development milestones
• Variations in development
• Scaffolding children’s learning
• Challenge, curiosity and discovery
• Accommodating privacy, solitude or quiet
• Spontaneous teaching moments
• Sharing information with colleagues
• Childhood development – links to the learning framework
• Development theories
• The curriculum planning cycle and child development
• National Quality Framework (NQF)
• National Quality Standard (NQS)


Unit 2 - Provide experiences to support children's play and learningSetting up areas for specific activities
• Curriculum plan
• Safety protocols
• Safe and stimulating play areas
• Indoor and outdoor play
• Resources and materials
• Using natural, real and repurposed materials
• Teamwork and collaboration
• Observations and reflection
• Unstructured and free play
• How children learn
• Participation
• Engaging children in discussions
• The benefits of routine
• Intentional teaching
• Spontaneous teaching and learning
• Extensions of play
• Flexible use of experiences, resources and materials
• Encourage creativity and confidence
• Encouraging participation in new activities
• Group activities
• Praise
• Holistically evaluate the implementation of play
• Reflection on learning and development outcomes
• Identify improvements
• Pedagogical practices
• History of play and childhood across cultures
• Features of play-based pedagogy

Unit 3 - Support children to connect with natural environment
• Discussions with children regarding the natural environment life and land
• Role models
• Respect care and appreciation for the environment
• Provide children with information and resources
• First Nations peoples’ connection to the natural environment
• Spirituality and culture
• The use of the environment – what we can learn
• Natural and recycled materials in learning environments
• Bringing the natural environment indoors
• Recycled and repurposed materials
• Natural materials
• Creative experiences
• Outdoor play areas and resources
• Providing children with opportunities to explore
• Discussions on sustainability
• Reducing impact on the natural environment
• Reducing negative impact on the natural environment
• Approved learning frameworks
• Experience growth and care of living things

Study Hours

Estimated duration 45 hours

Course Delivery and Start

Start anytime, self-paced and 100% online

Assessment

Assessment will be comprised of written exercises, including short-answer questions, reflective tasks, short reports and/or projects. There are no examinations or due dates for assessment. As a result, you can complete training in your own time and at your own pace with the assistance of unlimited tutor support.

Graduation

A Certificate of Attainment and Statement of Results will be issued upon successful completion of this course.

Career Pathways

Professional Development for:
• Childcare
• Child carer
• Educator
• Early childhood