{"data":{"id":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-70-70-11-103.2a","jurisdiction":"us-ok","citation":"Okla. Stat. tit. 70, § 70-11-103.2a","heading":"Short title - Oklahoma Play to Learn Act","body":"A. This act shall be known and may be cited as the \"Oklahoma\n\nPlay to Learn Act\".\n\nB. It is the intention of the Oklahoma State Legislature\n\nthrough this act to focus on the importance of child-centered, play-\n\nbased learning as the most rigorous and most developmentally\n\nappropriate way for children in the early childhood grade levels to\n\nlearn literacy, science, technology, engineering, art and math\n\nacademic concepts.\n\nC. As used in this section:\n\n1. \"Child-directed\" means interaction in which the child is\n\nhelped to direct and lead the play in any way the child wishes,\n\nunless there is harmful or destructive activity;\n\n2. \"Domain\" means a specified sphere of activity or knowledge;\n\n3. \"Early childhood education\" means prekindergarten,\n\nkindergarten, first grade, second grade and third grade;\n\n4. \"Play\" means the spontaneous activity of children;\n\n5. \"Play-based learning\" means any learning activities that are\n\nperformed by a child for self-amusement that have behavioral, social\n\nand psychomotor rewards. Play-based learning shall also mean\n\nactivities that are child-directed, joyful and spontaneous whereby\n\nthe rewards come from within the individual child;\n\n6. \"Professional development\" means any of a wide variety of\n\nspecialized training, formal education or advanced professional\n\nlearning intended to help administrators, teachers and other\n\neducators improve their professional knowledge, competence, skill\n\nand effectiveness;\n\n7. \"Reading for pleasure\" means reading that is freely chosen\n\nor that readers freely and enthusiastically continue after it is\n\nassigned; and\n\n8. \"Socialization\" means social interaction with others.\n\nD. Instruction in support of early childhood education\n\nstandards may be engaging and may foster children's development and\n\nlearning in all domains, including physical, social, emotional,\n\ncognitive and language. To the best of their ability, educators may\n\ncreate a learning environment that facilitates child-directed\n\nexperiences based upon developmentally appropriate early childhood\n\npractices and intentional, sustained, play-based learning\n\nopportunities, including, but not limited to, movement, creative\n\nexpression, exploration, socialization, reading for pleasure, art,\n\nmusic and dramatic play. The art instruction may adhere to\n\nprekindergarten standards for fine arts, which include dance, drama,\n\nmusic and visual arts, as approved by the State Department of\n\nEducation. Educators may develop physical, social, emotional,\n\ncognitive and academic learning opportunities in all curricular\n\ndomains, which may include unstructured time for the discovery of\n\neach child's individual needs, abilities and talents.\n\nE. In support of play-based learning in Oklahoma public\n\nschools, school districts may provide ongoing early childhood\n\nprofessional development for early childhood educators and\n\nadministrators, which may include existing early childhood\n\nprofessional development programs from the State Department of\n\nEducation.\n\nF. A school district shall not prohibit a teacher from\n\nutilizing play-based learning in early childhood education. The\n\nState Board of Education shall promulgate rules, subject to approval\n\nby the Legislature, establishing guidelines for professional\n\ndevelopment programs for early childhood educators and\n\nadministrators.","path":["OK Code","Title 70"],"source_url":"https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os70.pdf","current_through":"2026-08-14","vintage":"open-us-law v2026.08, retrieved 2026-09-14","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T18:32:36Z","sha256":"98b074a27402b80e0f62e09226ce8b031f5625d32babf37c1d13563ded4d7c14","source_id":"us-ok","stale":false,"prev":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-70-70-11-103.2","next":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-70-70-11-103.3"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}