Many of us are probably wondering what the new Ontario Kindergarten Curriculum will look like in classrooms that have embraced play-based learning for so many years. How will play fit into our teaching now that the curriculum places a stronger emphasis on structured literacy and numeracy?
The most substantive change in the 2026 Kindergarten Curriculum is the focus on evidence-based systematic and explicit instruction in foundational language and mathematics. However, I don’t see this as a rejection of the 2016 Kindergarten Program. Instead, I see it as an iteration that builds on what we have already been doing while placing a stronger emphasis on intentionally teaching foundational knowledge and skills.
For me, this means that play is not something we move away from. Instead, it is something we become even more intentional about. The curriculum recognizes three instructional approaches: evidence-based systematic and explicit instruction, student-centred play, and inquiry-based learning. As educators, we determine which approach, or combination of approaches, will be most effective when planning responsive and inclusive Kindergarten programs.
One of the things I have always loved about teaching kindergarten is creating simple invitations to play. There was something joyful about setting up materials with intention before students arrived and then watching their curiosity lead them.
With the new curriculum, those invitations still have an important place in our classrooms. Rather than thinking that every learning experience needs to begin with an invitation or that every experience needs to begin with direct instruction, we can think more intentionally about the learning goal and which instructional approach will best support it. Sometimes that may mean explicitly teaching a skill first and then providing opportunities for children to practise and apply it through play. At other times, play or inquiry may be the starting point that allows us to observe children’s thinking and determine what they are ready to learn next. This balance is what I find most exciting.
Outdoor learning continues to be one of my favourite places for this to happen. It is a powerful environment where children can build on classroom learning while developing oral language, early reading, number sense, and problem-solving in authentic and meaningful ways.
Let’s imagine that you have just finished teaching a lesson on one-to-one correspondence. Rather than moving to a tabletop activity or a worksheet, students head outside to an invitation filled with pinecones, sticks, and stones. Suddenly, those natural materials become tools for counting with accuracy, comparing quantities, making sets, creating patterns, and talking about their mathematical thinking. The same materials can also become a follow-up to a literacy lesson where students describe, label, sequence events, and build their oral language and vocabulary.
In this example, the play experience is not replacing explicit instruction. Instead, it provides children with an opportunity to practise and apply the knowledge and skills they have been taught in a meaningful context. The learning is intentionally connected to the curriculum and to the learning that came before it, while still allowing children the freedom to explore, problem-solve, communicate, and make choices within their play.
The other day, while spending time outdoors with a group of kindergarten students, we started talking about the hot weather and all the ways we like to stay cool. It immediately brought back memories of some of my favourite outdoor invitations. It also made me realize that many of these experiences fit beautifully within the new curriculum with just a slight shift in our planning.
One outdoor setup that became a class favourite was a fence music wall made from old pots, pans, lids, and wooden spoons. Students gathered to explore sounds and rhythms, and every group used it differently. Some created songs, others made repeating rhythm patterns, and a few worked together to put on their own performances.
Now, we might explicitly teach students to hear and produce syllables, clap simple rhythm patterns, or identify beginning sounds in words and then provide opportunities for students to practise these skills through play. To further build on the connection between the lesson and the play, we could add word cards to the music wall using words from our explicit instruction. Students can clap the syllables in each word, identify beginning sounds, read familiar words, or use the cards as they create chants and rhythms. Once outdoors, students can continue practising those same skills by experimenting with rhythm, creating rhymes, and sharing ideas with one another. The invitation becomes a meaningful way to reinforce foundational literacy skills while keeping the joy and agency of play at the centre.
Another favourite was our PVC waterfall wall attached to the fence. Equipped with funnels, tubing, cups, and containers, children spent long stretches of time testing ideas, changing the flow of water, and solving problems together.
Following explicit instruction on comparing capacity or using mathematical language such as full, empty, more, less, and equal, we can provide opportunities for children to practise those concepts in a hands-on way outdoors. They can estimate, compare, measure, test predictions, and explain their thinking as they work together. In this way, the play experience reinforces mathematical language and concepts while giving children opportunities to apply what they have learned in a meaningful and engaging context.
There are so many other outdoor invitations that can be adapted just as easily.
Looking back, I realize that invitations to play have always been about creating meaningful opportunities for children to explore and make sense of the world around them. That hasn’t changed.
What has changed is the way we may think about the relationship between explicit instruction, play, and inquiry. The 2026 Kindergarten Curriculum does not mean that we need to choose between explicit instruction and play-based learning. Instead, it asks us to be intentional about how and when we use different instructional approaches to support children’s learning.
If anything, the new Kindergarten Curriculum reminds us that explicit instruction and purposeful play can work beautifully together. When we intentionally teach foundational skills and then provide engaging opportunities to practise and apply them through play, we create learning experiences that are both purposeful and joyful. The goal is not to replace play with explicit instruction, but to create a thoughtful balance where children receive the instruction they need while still having meaningful opportunities to explore, experiment, communicate, problem-solve, and learn through play.
