Noticing Learning
- 2 days ago
- 5 min read
By Playeum
What problems would you like to solve where you live?
Nine-year-old Evan* and eight-year-old Hansel* could not stop thinking about the litter they saw around their neighbourhood. They noticed drink cups left on benches, tissue papers caught in bushes, and overflowing rubbish scattered near common spaces. They worried that much of it would eventually end up in the ocean.
“If we throw rubbish in the ocean, the fishes will die (or get) sick. If the fishes die, we will not have the world to be clean.”
They began imagining what they could do. Their imagination became action.
Their idea started modestly. They wanted to create a trash bin that would encourage residents to throw rubbish into the right place. Using cardboard boxes, tape, markers, and whatever materials they could gather, they began constructing a prototype by hand. The cardboard bent in places, and the tape loosely held some corners together. A solution was beginning to take shape.
As they worked, another question emerged. What if some residents could not understand the sign “Please throw trash inside”? Singapore is a multilingual society, and many senior citizens live in the neighbourhood. How could they make sure everyone in the community felt included?
They asked for help. Trusting that their friends would support the idea, Evan and Hansel invited other children to contribute. Soon, some children gathered around the project, discussing words, translations, and ways to communicate the message clearly to as many residents as possible. Together, they created signage in four local languages, each carefully written to remind residents to throw their rubbish into the bin.
Learning is already happening
What the two boys were experiencing could easily be seen as just “playing with cardboard”. But when we observed them closely, deep learning was already unfolding.
Language and communication (writing signs, explaining solutions, and engaging in social conversations)
Social studies (observing community issues and thinking about shared spaces)
Engineering (constructing, testing structures, figuring out how materials could hold together, and revising ideas when problems emerged)
Mathematics (measuring sizes, considering balance and space, and thinking about how much rubbish the bin could contain)
Design and art (creating visually clear signage and expressing ideas through materials, colours, and symbols)
While all these were happening, we held space for multiple possibilities to emerge. A variety of materials were intentionally made accessible so children could independently choose what they needed, experiment freely, and use resources in their own ways.
The playmakers observed closely, listened carefully to the children’s conversations, and responded to their evolving ideas. When questions surfaced, they supported the children in exploring further.
Education for children has traditionally been organised into separate subject disciplines such as Mathematics, English, Science, and Art, each taught and assessed independently, reflecting a long-standing curricular structure rooted in how knowledge is classified in schooling systems (Bernstein, 1971; Young, 2008).
At the same time, play and creative expression, although central to children’s learning and development, are often marginalised in formal schooling contexts where academic achievement is prioritised (Elkind, 2001; Gray, 2013).
Yet when we observe children closely, learning rarely happens in compartments. Children move naturally between language, mathematics, engineering, creativity, collaboration, and social understanding as they respond to real problems that matter to them. Children experience learning as interconnected because life itself is interconnected (Dewey, 1938; Vygotsky, 1978; Zosh, et al., 2017).
Learning emerges through relationships
In the following weeks, as Evan and Hansel continued working on the project, other children began lingering around the space where they worked. Some stood quietly watching them adjust pieces of cardboard and redraw signs. Others crouched beside the prototype, examining the compartments and labels with curiosity.
Soon, questions began emerging.
“Is this waterproof? Can I throw wet trash?”
“How do we motivate people to throw rubbish?”
“Who will collect it?”
We invited the children to write their questions down for the two boys. Sheets of Post-it notes slowly filled with handwriting, doodles, and thoughts scribbled excitedly in pencil and marker.
The questions opened up new possibilities for thinking. Evan and Hansel read through them thoughtfully, sometimes pausing for long moments before replying. Alongside the questions came encouragements and ideas from the growing community of children around the project.
“I like it so much.”
“I love how it looks. I even love the notes.”
“Make it bigger.”
“Make a door opener for trash to be thrown in.”
“Put wheels on the dustbin so it can move around to pick up trash and keep the place clean.”
This was just one of many possibilities that emerged through cardboard. With other children, cardboard boxes transformed into a smoothie shop that provided healthy food for people in need, a shelter for stray cats, and even a “security robot” designed to protect artworks in museums.
What stood out to us was not only what the children created, but how they used materials to think, communicate, negotiate, and imagine together. Beyond adults listening to children, we created conditions for children to listen to one another, respond to one another, and realise that their ideas could influence others and create change in the room.
Earlier this year, we listened to Minister for Education Desmond Lee speak during the Committee of Supply debate in Parliament (Ministry of Education Singapore, 2026), and found ourselves deeply connected to a question that emerged: in an age increasingly shaped by AI, what do we need to do differently about our children’s education?
The answer lies not only in academic outcomes, but in deeply human qualities such as curiosity, empathy, imagination, communication across differences, and a sense of purpose. We saw these qualities emerge in the children that day through their play, their conversations, and their desire to create change in the communities around them.
If education today is no longer about simply acquiring more content and knowledge (Prime Minister’s Office Singapore, 2025), then perhaps we need to ask a different question: what conditions are we creating for children to think, collaborate, care, question, and co-create new possibilities together?
Perhaps the issue is not whether children are learning at all, but whether adults recognise the many ways learning already unfolds around us. The challenge may not be to make learning happen, but to slow down enough to notice it, respond to it, and create conditions where it can continue to grow.
*We’ve used pseudonyms to protect the children’s identities.
REFERENCES
Bernstein, B. (1971). On the classification and framing of educational knowledge. In M. F. D. Young (Ed.), Knowledge and control: New directions for the sociology of education (pp. 47–69). Collier-Macmillan.
Dewey, J. (1938). Experience and Education. New York: Macmillan Company.
Elkind, D. (2001). The hurried child: Growing up too fast too soon (3rd ed.). Da Capo Press.
Gray, P. (2013). The decline of play and the rise of psychopathology in children and adolescents. American Journal of Play, 6(1), 1–23. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ985541.pdf
Ministry of Education Singapore. (2026, March 3). MOE Committee of Supply Debate 2026 response by Minister for Education Desmond Lee. www.moe.gov.sg/news/speeches/20260303-moe-committee-of-supply-debate-2026-response-by-minister-for-education-desmond-lee
Prime Minister’s Office Singapore. (2025, August 17). National Day Rally 2025. www.pmo.gov.sg/newsroom/ndr/
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Harvard University Press.
Young, M. (2008). Bringing knowledge back in: From social constructivism to social realism in the sociology of education. Routledge.
Zosh, J. M., et al. (2017). Learning through play: A review of the evidence. LEGO Foundation. https://cms.learningthroughplay.com/media/wmtlmbe0/learning-through-play_web.pdf
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