Play Professional Spotlight

Mathieu Penot, Children's Media and Learning Advocate

Can you share a bit about your work with/in support of children?

I’ve always been passionate about hands-on learning and creativity. Over the past 10 years, I’ve worked in EdTech companies in Singapore and the US, mostly startups, with a focus on supporting young children’s creative growth and STEAM learning. For example, from 2021 to 2022, I led the design and production of the entire learning experience at Lelu, a monthly subscription box simultaneously supporting Spanish and STEAM learning through hands-on projects combined with original songs, board games, videos, online classes and more.

Another example is the research project I conducted while completing my Master in Learning, Design and Technology at the Stanford School of Education. A few months after I started, the pandemic happened. I constantly look for ways to engage children in meaningful interactions with their environments so I decided to explore how open-ended hands-on activities facilitated through online classes could support young children’s confidence and creative thinking - with encouraging results!

Today, I am a Product Manager at IXL Learning, supporting the international growth of our learning tools for K-12 schools and families. I continue to actively take part in the conversations around learning design and children’s education. I recently launched a podcast called Wide Walls where I interview inspiring educators, researchers, designers, and innovators to understand their vision for creating better learning experiences for children.

How does creativity and play factor into your thinking, work, and beliefs?

“How might we support young children’s creativity?” - This was the guiding question of the startup I joined in Singapore in 2015 and the reason why I joined the education world. Creativity and play have always been a North Star in my journey as an educator. I’ve explored many formats - in-person workshops, online classes, apps, subscription boxes, etc - and created hundreds of hands-on projects for children. I would always try to leave part of the experience open-ended to offer children the possibility to make it meaningful for themselves. I also thrive to build cross-disciplinary programs which promote creative thinking by encouraging children to connect ideas and concepts in new unexpected ways.

In fact, play has this amazing power to turn any learning into a joyful experience. It reduces friction and alleviates the pressure that often stems from family and school expectations. When children play, they don’t try to please anyone but themselves. Therefore, if presented with the right content in the right format, we can leverage this formidable intrinsic motivation to support their learning journey. 

Do you have any advice you’d like to share with others on how to incorporate more play into their curriculum, education, tech?

First of all, you can’t force play onto children. You need to spend time conducting research and understanding what resonates with them. Don’t underestimate their capacity to perceive the intentions behind what you present to them, so be honest and transparent about the objectives behind an activity. It doesn’t mean you have to explain everything upfront. You can certainly let them explore, tinker, discover, and then reflect back with them. But they know what to expect, they are aware of the context of your activity. It will increase their trust and make them more comfortable when engaging with the experience.

Another advice, as explained earlier, is to always leave some room for children to reframe the activity to align with their individual interests and goals. You can’t design for everyone so this is the best way to ensure each child is able to find personal meaning into their experience.

Finally, I would just encourage educators to play too! Not only is it liberating and fun, but I find that it helps create a bond with learners and break the barrier in their mind that learning is a top-down process. By showing that you can play as well, children will recognize themselves in you. It doesn’t mean to give up on your authority. On the contrary, it will be even more respected now that you showed you understood them and what brings them joy.