Anji Play places children’s own ideas at the center of early learning. Developed by educator Cheng Xueqin and colleagues in Anji County, Zhejiang Province, China, the approach brings together five principles: love, risk, joy, engagement, and reflection. Understanding these principles helps educators look beyond equipment and consider the relationships, time, and practices that make child-led play possible.
This guide explains the five principles of Anji Play and offers practical questions for education teams, distributors, and project suppliers planning environments for open-ended play.
What Is Anji Play?
Anji Play is an early childhood education approach rooted in children’s self-initiated play, educator observation, and opportunities for expression and reflection. Its development involved sustained changes to public early childhood programs in Anji County, rather than the introduction of a single activity or equipment collection.
The official history of Anji Play describes how Cheng Xueqin and local educators reconsidered adult-directed activities and began giving children greater ownership of their play. Materials, environments, and teaching practices evolved through observation of children’s experiences.
In 2020, the World Economic Forum included Anji Play among the 16 examples featured in its Schools of the Future initiative. This recognition highlighted its educational approach; it should not be treated as certification of equipment or proof of a particular outcome for every child.
Understanding True Play
The official True Play statement emphasizes sustained involvement in activities chosen by the learner. Children have meaningful choices about materials, companions, and the direction of their play. Adults remain responsible for the conditions in which that play happens.
For a project team, a useful question is: “Does this environment allow children to develop their own ideas, or does every feature lead them toward an adult’s planned result?”
The 5 Core Principles of Anji Play
The official Anji Play principles and practices describe five connected ideas. The brief explanations below summarize those ideas. The accompanying examples are practical illustrations for discussion, rather than an official implementation checklist.
1. Love: Relationships Built on Trust
Love refers to the security of dependable relationships and environments, where children experience being respected and listened to.
Practical example: A child decides to rebuild a model that collapsed. Rather than immediately correcting the design, an educator stays available and watches how the child approaches the problem. If the child seeks reassurance, the adult responds without taking ownership of the project.
Team reflection: Do our routines give children opportunities to make decisions, ask for support, and change their minds? Are quieter children heard as readily as confident speakers?
2. Risk: Exploring Uncertain Outcomes
Risk involves trying something when the result is uncertain. It can appear in physical exploration, a new idea, or a social decision.
Practical example: A child tests whether a wider base will support a taller block structure. Another child proposes a different plan to the group. Both are dealing with uncertainty, even though only one activity involves a physical construction.
Child-led challenge requires attentive supervision. Equipment limits, unsuitable surfaces, unstable components, and other hazards still need adult assessment. Children should not be encouraged to climb constructions unless the equipment and configuration are intended for that use.
Team reflection: Are we distinguishing a manageable challenge from a hazard? Can a child choose a simpler option or decline participation?
3. Joy: Satisfaction in Discovery
Joy is the inner satisfaction associated with discovery, challenge, and meaningful involvement.
Practical example: One child celebrates loudly when a channel carries water successfully. Another quietly repeats the experiment, adjusting the arrangement each time. Educators can notice different expressions of enjoyment without expecting every child to smile, perform, or celebrate in the same way.
Team reflection: What seems rewarding to the child? Are we mistaking adult approval, a tidy finished product, or visible excitement for the child’s own satisfaction?
4. Engagement: Connection and Purpose
Engagement describes a sense of purpose and connection as children explore their physical and social worlds.
Practical example: A group returns to a construction after a pause, changes its layout, and develops a new story around it. The project matters to them, so they want to continue exploring it.
Frequent transitions can interrupt this process. Review whether the daily schedule allows ideas to develop, while accommodating meals, rest, weather conditions, and individual needs. Avoid presenting one fixed duration as appropriate for every setting.
Team reflection: Do we end play because children are finished, or simply because the next adult-planned activity is ready?
5. Reflection: Making Sense of Experience
Reflection involves considering and interpreting experiences. Anji Play connects this principle with children’s expression and discussion of their play.
Practical example: After building, a child draws the part that mattered most and explains what changed. An educator records the child’s words without replacing them with an adult explanation. Other children may offer their own perspectives.
Useful invitations include “Tell me about this part” and “What happened next?” The purpose is to understand the child’s experience, rather than lead the conversation toward a predetermined lesson.
Team reflection: Are we recording what children say, or what we expected them to learn?
The Educator’s Role in Anji Play
Anji Play asks educators to observe closely, listen carefully, and reconsider assumptions about children’s abilities. Stepping back means reducing unnecessary direction while remaining present and responsive.
An educator might notice how children choose partners, change a plan, request help, or return to an unfinished idea. These observations can inform later decisions about space and materials without turning the next play period into a scripted task.
Observation and Safety Work Together
Observation should never be interpreted as a rule to remain silent when support or intervention is needed. Establish supervision arrangements, equipment boundaries, and clear procedures for responding to unsafe conditions before introducing a play collection.
A child may also need emotional reassurance, communication support, or help accessing a material. Responsive support can protect participation while preserving the child’s ownership of the experience.
Document With a Clear Purpose
Use notes, drawings, photographs, or video to revisit meaningful moments. Follow the setting’s consent and privacy procedures, and keep documentation from distracting adults from supervision.
For team discussion, distinguish observation from interpretation. “The child moved the same block three times” is an observation; “the child understood structural engineering” is an interpretation requiring more evidence.
Materials That Support Child-Led Play
Anji Play places materials within a broader educational approach. Purchasing blocks, ladders, or outdoor equipment does not by itself establish an Anji Play program.
When planning an open-ended environment, consider how a material invites several uses, fits the children’s abilities, and works within the available space. Product appearance alone cannot establish suitability.
Construction and Loose Parts
Blocks and other suitable loose parts can be arranged, compared, combined, and reorganized. Include manageable sizes and weights so children can participate in different ways. Larger pieces should be selected with handling, storage, and supervision in mind.
Movement Equipment
For balance, climbing, or other movement activities, confirm the intended use of each component and permitted combination. Review load limits, connection methods, required clearances, surfacing, and inspection instructions with the supplier and project team.
Ordinary construction pieces should not be assumed to support children. Similarly, a portable mat should not be assumed to provide the impact protection required for a particular activity.
Sand, Water, and Natural Exploration
Suitable channels, containers, and tools can support experiments with flow, volume, and changing arrangements. Plan water supervision, drainage, cleaning, and storage. Assess natural or reused materials before introducing them rather than assuming they are suitable because they are locally available.
Accessible Storage
Storage affects how independently children can select and return materials. Check shelf stability, reachable heights, clear paths, and the weight of items stored overhead. Picture labels may help children identify where components belong.
Putting Anji Play Principles Into Practice
Teams interested in Anji Play should begin with official learning resources and professional discussion. The following planning steps are suggestions for reviewing a local setting, not an official certification process or prescribed rollout schedule.
- Study the approach: Use official resources to discuss the five principles, educator responsibilities, and children’s ownership of play.
- Review the environment: Assess access, supervision, surfaces, weather exposure, storage, and opportunities for individual and group play.
- Review the schedule: Identify unnecessary interruptions and protect time for children to develop their ideas.
- Introduce suitable materials: Select a manageable collection with clear use and maintenance guidance.
- Listen and observe: Record relevant moments, invite children’s perspectives, and discuss what the team actually noticed.
- Adjust thoughtfully: Change access, materials, or arrangements in response to observed needs, rather than expanding automatically.
Include Different Ways to Participate
Consider children who prefer smaller groups, need additional processing time, communicate without speech, or require physical access adaptations. Provide meaningful choices and avoid treating visible activity or verbal confidence as the only signs of involvement.
Family conversations can also help teams understand children’s experiences and interests. Explain how observation works and how safety responsibilities are maintained, using concrete examples from the setting.
What Learning Can Educators Observe?
Anji Play offers a framework for noticing children’s intentions and experiences. Rather than promising superior results, look for specific examples that can be documented and discussed.
- Problem-solving: A child changes an arrangement after noticing that it does not work as intended.
- Communication: Children explain a plan using words, gestures, drawings, or objects.
- Cooperation: A group agrees how to share materials or organize a project.
- Movement: A child chooses and adjusts a suitable physical challenge.
- Reflection: Children revisit an experience and offer different explanations of what happened.
These examples can guide observation, but they are not guaranteed outcomes or a diagnostic assessment. Interpret them in context and avoid drawing broad developmental conclusions from one play episode.
Sourcing Open-Ended Equipment for Education Projects
For distributors, importers, education groups, and project suppliers, the practical task is to match equipment specifications to the intended setting. Keep educational philosophy, product suitability, and professional training as distinct considerations in a project brief.
Before ordering, request details for the exact models and configurations under consideration:
- Intended age group, use environment, dimensions, and component weights.
- Permitted assemblies and any load-bearing or occupancy limits.
- Relevant product testing and documentation for the destination market and product category.
- Installation, supervision, inspection, cleaning, and storage instructions.
- Outdoor exposure limits and maintenance requirements.
- Replacement parts, packaging, and available OEM or ODM options.
Compare total project costs, including freight, installation, storage, maintenance, and replacement needs. Avoid assuming a fixed service life or financial return without supporting product and operating information.
Frequently Asked Questions About Anji Play
What are the five principles of Anji Play?
The five principles are love, risk, joy, engagement, and reflection. They work together as part of an approach centered on children’s own play experiences.
Who developed Anji Play?
Educator Cheng Xueqin developed the approach with early childhood educators in Anji County, Zhejiang Province, China. It evolved through changes to local educational practice.
Is Anji Play the same as buying outdoor loose parts?
No. Materials are one part of the approach. Relationships, children’s choices, observation, reflection, and the organization of time and space are also important.
Do teachers stop supervising during child-led play?
No. Educators remain attentive and responsible for safety. Reducing unnecessary direction does not remove the need to respond to hazards or provide support.
Can every wooden block be used for climbing?
No. Use components for climbing only when that use and configuration are supported by the manufacturer’s specifications. Ordinary building blocks should not be treated as load-bearing movement equipment.
Where can educators learn more?
Start with the official introduction to Anji Play history, principles, and practices. Seek appropriate professional learning when planning a program rather than relying on an equipment catalog as an implementation guide.
Planning With Children’s Ideas in Mind
Anji Play invites educators to reconsider how trust, choice, and reflection shape children’s experiences. A useful first step is to observe an existing play period: what do children choose, what interrupts them, and what do they want adults to understand?
Use those observations to inform professional discussion and environment planning. Equipment decisions become more meaningful when they respond to actual needs and have clear specifications for their intended use.
Explore Open-Ended Play Materials With Sing2sky
Sing2sky supplies educational play materials through B2B distribution, OEM, and project partnerships. Explore our outdoor play collections and product catalog when preparing an equipment brief.
The product images in this article illustrate Sing2sky play materials. Their inclusion does not indicate official Anji Play endorsement or authorization.
For wholesale, OEM, or education project inquiries, contact Sing2sky with your destination market, intended age group, available space, and required quantities. Schools can inquire about suitable local distribution partners.
