What if play made you smarter?

Turns out, there’s research to suggest it does.

Play teaches us the social rules of our community. It teaches us about action and consequence, cause and effect. It teaches us to use our imagination, to interact with the world and nature — and to interact with each other.

When people think of school readiness, most of the emphasis is focused on academic-related skills. And those are vital.

But the lessons play teaches build a child’s equally important social and emotional development, the “soft skills” that adults will look for in them later on.

Can we solve problems, think critically, and work together in a team? Do we quit when we meet adversity, or if our idea isn’t chosen? Can we deal with disappointment? Can we manage our emotions and read the emotions of other people? Can we build a team and persuade others to work with us?

Are we a good sport — whether we win or lose?

At Studer Community Institute, we believe that children learn alot from play – and so could adults.

All of our work supports efforts to teach parents, families and caregivers about the important role that talk and interaction play in early brain development.

One way we do that is through the design and installation of decals that support early learning and kindergarten readiness skills in public spaces and play areas.

These colorful, fun decals reinforce concepts that will be important for children when they start school. Skills like counting, letter naming, shape and color identification are built into the design of these decals.

But as they used to say on “Reading Rainbow,” you don’t have to take my word for it. 

SCI has wonderful community partners in this project, starting with 

Cristina Williams, vice president of Pensacola-based Kool Graphics.

“What we love about being part of this project is that our children are our future,” Williams said. “We wanted to make a difference in their lives. We believe this teaches children to play together and builds their minds at a young age, which gives them the fundamentals in life to be successful as they grow older.”

Cantonment Rotary Club is among the first groups to commit to the decal project, sponsoring nine decals in Carver Park, a neighborhood park on Webb Street in Cantonment.

Club President Bobby King said the project was a great match for Rotary’s commitment to community, education and improving the lives of children.

“The research of Studer Community Institute on becoming an effective Early Learning City shows that focusing on early brain development of the children in our community will help tremendously,” King said. “The Make Play Smart decals will reach children and engage their minds while having fun playing at the same time. 

“Carver Park has been recently renovated through the efforts of Cantonment Improvement Community (CIC),” King said. “Their organization is dedicated to helping the children by improving this community. Their efforts and dedication has inspired us.  For us at Cantonment Rotary, this was an easy and clear decision to utilize our Rotarian grant for this project. It is a piece of the puzzle in making a difference.  Seeing the smile on a child’s face while learning and interacting with the decals is special.”

The decals are a great project for civic groups, but individuals can sponsor them, too.

Pensacola resident Ella Manziek sponsored a set of decals at Henry Wyer Park on the corner of Belmont and Reus streets.

“The increasingly popular Belmont-DeVilliers neighborhood only has this one park, and we do not often see children in it. It is a pretty little park, with very nice playground equipment, and it deserves to be better appreciated by the neighborhood,” Manziek said.

“We hope that this gift inspires children and their parents to come to Henry T. Wyer park and enjoy themselves and each other,” she said. “And we hope that it inspires others to support their neighborhood parks in this way.”

Why did she want to participate in the project?       

“We would like to help Pensacola children prepare for school, and for life, while having a bit of fun at a park,” Manziek said.

For more information or to apply for one of these decals, email [email protected].