In education, research is often associated with data sets, assessment frameworks, and measurable outcomes. While these are important, they can sometimes distance us from the most natural form of inquiry humans engage in — play.
Albert Einstein’s statement that “Play is the highest form of research” captures something deeply profound about early learning. Before children can articulate hypotheses or record observations, they investigate the world through movement, repetition, and experimentation. When a child stacks blocks only to knock them down, they are testing gravity, balance, and cause-and-effect. When they return to the same activity repeatedly, they are refining their understanding.
Play-based exploration is research driven by curiosity. It is motivated not by outcomes but by the desire to understand. This kind of learning is self-directed, embodied, and deeply meaningful — qualities that formal education often struggles to preserve.
Many adults remember moments of childhood “research” that didn’t feel like learning at the time: observing insects, mixing mud and water, building imaginary worlds, or reenacting stories. These experiences weren’t guided by lesson plans, yet they formed the foundation for later thinking, problem-solving, and creativity.
In early childhood settings, play allows children to ask questions without words.
What happens if I try this?
What changes if I add that?
What does this feel like?
Through play, children gather information, test ideas, and revise their understanding — exactly what research is meant to do.
When play is undervalued, children lose access to this natural investigative process. Play becomes something that happens “after learning” rather than the medium through which learning occurs.
Reframing play as research challenges us to reconsider how we design environments, assess learning, and define success.
If we truly value inquiry, creativity, and lifelong learning, then protecting play in early childhood is not optional — it is essential.