Integrating Social-Emotional Learning Through Play: Perspectives From Early Childhood Educators

Social-emotional skills are foundational to young children’s well-being, supporting their ability to form relationships, navigate challenges, and thrive in educational environments. Play provides a developmentally appropriate and meaningful context for fostering these skills, allowing children to explore emotions, solve problems, and develop empathy through social interaction. Grounded in Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory, this qualitative study explores early childhood educators’ knowledge, perceptions, and practices related to integrating social-emotional learning (SEL) through play. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven early childhood teachers to understand how they perceive their role in supporting SEL and how they implement play-based strategies in their daily instruction. Findings reveal that educators value SEL as a critical component of early learning and view play as a powerful tool for promoting emotional regulation, social awareness, and cooperative behavior. Teachers described using structured and unstructured play to support SEL but identified barriers, such as limited time, curriculum constraints, and more training. Despite these challenges, educators expressed a strong commitment to fostering children’s social-emotional growth through play. The study emphasizes the importance of professional development and policy support to empower educators in embedding SEL meaningfully within play-based pedagogy.