Health and well-being (children and young people) Iechyd a llesiant (plant a phobl ifanc)
Experiential learning Dysgu arbrofol

Experiential learning is the process of learning through experience. For children and young people, experiential learning enables them to follow their own ideas and work through problems as they arise. It also enables them to experience failure and find out how to overcome challenges. Children gain confidence and develop their self-esteem as they work through challenges and solve problems. Children and young people who experience experiential learning are more likely to think creatively in the future and look at alternative ways of completing tasks. Through play, children can act out alternative scenarios and find different ways to express their feelings and their social or emotional difficulties. They can learn assertiveness, social skills, ways of leading situations and how to resolve conflict and will be able to use these skills in later life.

Experiential play is unstructured, untimed and has no set rules. It can occur during a variety of activities e.g. outdoor play, creative activities, role play, movement and dance.

The Foundation Phase is the statutory curriculum for all three to seven-year-olds in Wales. It was designed to provide a developmental, experiential, play-based approach to teaching and learning.

Children learn through first-hand experiential activities with the serious business of ‘play’ providing the vehicle. Through their play, children practise and consolidate their learning, play with ideas, experiment, take risks, solve problems, and make decisions individually, in small and in large groups. First-hand experiences allow children to develop an understanding of themselves and the world in which they live. The development of children’s self-image and feelings of self-worth and self-esteem are at the core.

Y broses o ddysgu drwy gael profiad uniongyrchol o rywbeth yw dysgu arbrofol. I blant a phobl ifanc, mae dysgu arbrofol yn eu galluogi i ddilyn eu syniadau eu hunain a datrys problemau wrth iddynt godi. Mae hefyd yn eu galluogi i gael profiad o fethu a dysgu sut i oresgyn heriau. Bydd plant yn magu hyder ac yn meithrin hunan-barch wrth iddynt weithio i oresgyn heriau a datrys problemau. Mae plant a phobl ifanc sy'n dysgu drwy brofiad yn fwy tebygol o feddwl yn greadigol yn y dyfodol ac edrych ar ffyrdd amgen o gwblhau tasgau. Drwy chwarae, gall plant actio senarios amgen a dod o hyd i wahanol ffyrdd o fynegi eu teimladau a'u hanawsterau cymdeithasol neu emosiynol. Gallant ddysgu pendantrwydd, sgiliau cymdeithasol, ffyrdd o arwain sefyllfaoedd a sut i ddatrys gwrthdaro, a byddant yn gallu defnyddio'r sgiliau hyn yn nes ymlaen mewn bywyd.

Mae chwarae arbrofol yn ddistrwythur, ni chaiff ei amseru, ac nid oes iddo reolau penodedig. Gall ddigwydd yn ystod amrywiaeth o weithgareddau, e.e. chwarae yn yr awyr agored, gweithgareddau creadigol, chwarae rôl, symud a dawnsio.

Y Cyfnod Sylfaen yw'r cwricwlwm statudol i bob plentyn rhwng 3 a 7 oed yng Nghymru. Fe'i cynlluniwyd er mwyn cynnig dull dysgu ac addysgu datblygiadol, arbrofol ac sy'n seiliedig ar chwarae.

Bydd plant yn dysgu drwy weithgareddau sy’n cynnig profiadau uniongyrchol gyda’r busnes difrifol o ‘chwarae’ yn darparu’r cyfrwng. Drwy eu chwarae, bydd plant yn ymarfer a chadarnhau eu dysgu, yn chwarae gyda syniadau, arbrofi, cymryd risgiau, datrys problemau, ac yn gwneud penderfyniadau’n unigol ac mewn grwpiau bach a mawr. Mae profiadau uniongyrchol yn galluogi plant i ddatblygu dealltwriaeth o’u hunain a’r byd y maent yn byw ynddo. Mae datblygiad hunanddelwedd plant a theimladau o hunan-barch wrth wraidd y cyfnod hwn.