EP 56: The Connection of Play and Brain-Behaviors with Prerna Richards

The Play Based Learning Podcast

Today I am chatting with Prerna Richards, an early childhood education consultant and keynote speaker with 38 years of experience in ECE. Prerna started her own company called Together We Grow, providing professional development, behavior coaching and NAEYC consulting. She believes in empowering and uplifting educators and does that through training and strength-based behavior coaching. She’s a firm believer that when we know better, we do better. In this episode, we will chat about the connection between brain behaviors and play.

Key Takeaways:

1. Play as the Cornerstone: Both Kristen and Prerna emphasize the importance of play in early childhood education, highlighting its role in reducing challenging behaviors and creating joyful learning environments.
2. Mindset Shift: Prerna discusses how adults should adopt a responsive approach by becoming behavior detectives and understanding the emotions behind children's actions rather than being reactive.
3. Connect Before Correct: Kristen and Prerna share about how to build strong connections with children through empathy and understanding. This reduces the need for constant correction, fostering a more positive learning environment.
4. Authentic Engagement: Genuine, authentic engagement involves following children's lead, respecting their perspectives, and fostering meaningful interactions that prioritize their thoughts, feelings, and experiences over rote questioning or directives.

Do you find yourself curious about how lack of play can affect children and how they behave? Then this is a great podcast to listen to!

Find Kristen here: @kristen.rb.peterson or at KristenRBPeterson.com

Find Prerna here: @togetherwegrow.online or at togetherwegrow.online.com

Also find Prerna on: Linkedin, Facebook, or YouTube