Laughter, movement, and creativity filled the campus at Northlands Primary School as students spent the day learning through play during Wednesday’s Global School Play Day, a worldwide initiative that promotes unstructured, screen-free play as a vital part of child development.

Northlands Primary has proudly represented Bermuda on Global School Play Day for the past six years. This year’s event reflected the school’s focus on student well-being and social-emotional learning, aligned with the National School Counsellors’ Week theme, “Amplify Student Success.”

Throughout the day, students participated in a wide range of hands-on activities designed to support brain development, emotional regulation, and essential life skills. Children brought their own toys to encourage sharing and cooperation, created chalk art to express creativity, and engaged in board games such as checkers, puzzles, Connect Four, Jenga, and Snakes and Ladders to strengthen problem-solving and executive functioning skills.

Sensory play stations included water activities and hands-on tasks such as sorting, stacking, organising, and tower building. Movement-based activities, including trampoline play, dancing, skipping, bowling, ping-pong, hula-hooping, and netball, supported physical well-being, coordination, focus, and teamwork. Group activities like parachute games encouraged listening, cooperation, and following directions, while team sports promoted communication and collaboration.

The Minister of Education, the Hon. Crystal Caesar, JP, praised the school’s School Counsellor and leaders for organising Global Pay Day. Minister Caesar said, “Initiatives like Global School Play Day nurture well-being while helping our young people build the social and life skills they will carry with them well beyond the classroom. It’s truly heart-warming to see students at Northlands Primary School fully engaged in good old-fashioned, hands-on learning through play.” 

Teachers and staff actively joined in throughout the day, modelling connection, joy, and community alongside students.

“Play is a powerful social-emotional learning tool,” said School Counsellor La-Keesha Bean, who coordinated the event. “Through play, students strengthen relationship skills, self-management, responsible decision-making, and social awareness. It supports the diverse learning and emotional needs of both children and adults.”

Northlands Principal, Dr Holly Richardson, remarked, “There is no better way to learn and grow than through play for adults and children.  As Heather Shumaker has said, ‘Playtime is precious.  Play builds brain pathways for thinking, creativity, flexibility, empathy and many other lifelong skills.’  There was a lot of building that occurred as both students and teachers engaged in play at Northlands Primary during our Global Play Day.”

The day also built on professional development delivered to educators across the Bermuda Public School System at the start of the current school year, which emphasised the health, developmental, and social-emotional benefits of play.

By prioritising unstructured, screen-free play, Northlands Primary continues to create an inclusive, supportive environment where students feel safe to explore, connect, and grow.