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March 25, 2025

PLAY. LEARN. REPEAT. The Importance of Repetition in Early Childhood

Kate Puzan, Education Specialist

 

“Repetition is the mother of learning, the father of action, which makes it the architect of accomplishment.” Zig Ziglar

“Repetition is the key to real learning.” Jack Canfield

“The eight laws of learning are explanation, demonstration, imitation, repetition, repetition, repetition, repetition, repetition.” John Wooden

 

Have you ever noticed that young children, from the moment of infancy, are doing most things “on repeat”? Once they learn something new, they keep doing the same action over and over – whether it’s a skill they just figured out how to do, a sound they managed to create, or an action that gave them the result they were hoping for. Or perhaps during play, you have noticed children exploring the same material over and over to better understand it.

This “repetition” exhibited in the early years is a fundamental part of the learning process for young children and crucial to their development. Repetition is what allows them to make sense of the world and understand how things work, build and master skills, recognize cause and effect relationships, and learn how to communicate with others.

The Science

Every time a child learns something new, a neural pathway is created in their brain. Each repeated exposure after that comes with new learning, gradually becoming more complex as the neural connections strengthen. “Perhaps the first few times they use a shape sorter they’re learning about trial and error. The next few times they might have some memory of where certain shapes go. As time goes on they’ll be colour matching and shape matching and eventually learning how to identify the different shapes by their properties.” (https://www.inventorsandmakers.com/post/repetition-in-the-early-years)

Repetition not only allows children to understand things better but also strengthens those skills they are just beginning to learn. We’ve all heard the saying, “Practice makes perfect.” This couldn’t be truer when thinking about repetition in early childhood. For example, think about a child who is just learning how to walk. This skill is not mastered the first time they do it. They begin by wobbling and taking a step or two. But with continued practice, they become more skilled and confident and eventually conquer the ability to walk. When a child learns how to form a new letter, they need to write it over and over before they are able to master its formation. By the time we are adults, neural pathways are so well-developed that the things we do become more “automatic” and are done without much thought (writing, speaking, riding a bike, driving a car, making simple calculations, etc.).

Why “Repetition” Matters

In the early years, so much of what little ones see, taste, hear, feel, and experience is NEW and EXCITING. Because of this, they have a natural desire to understand it all better through repeated engagement and exploration. As adults, we don’t have this same desire. By adulthood, our experiences are countless, and we’ve spent decades learning about the world around us and how it works. However, there are still moments when a repeated activity (even as adults) still leads to new discoveries. For example, maybe you find yourself learning or noticing something new in a movie you’ve seen many times already. Or, you learn a new word and then repeatedly incorporate it into your everyday language in order to better understand its meaning and usage.

At Doodle Bugs!, our BRAVO! curriculum (in all age groups) is intentionally written so that classroom experiences are not only repeated multiple times a week, but continue to appear in other units throughout the school year. These experiences include throwing or catching a ball with accuracy, matching/identifying colors or shapes, exploring sensory bottles, stringing/lacing activities, stacking blocks, sorting shapes or objects into categories, trying specific art techniques at the easel, counting, identifying cause & effect relationships, and exploring specific toys/materials in the classroom. With each repeated experience, children’s developing skills are refined and any concepts they are learning are better understood and grasped.

While teachers and parents may not find doing things “on repeat” very exciting, for little ones, it’s the complete opposite. They find a great sense of comfort in doing things over and over – with these experiences feeling both familiar and predictable. This familiarity increases their self-confidence and makes them more likely to engage in the activities. Not only that, but when children feel comfortable, the environment naturally feels calmer, and they are better able to learn.

Helping Children to Benefit

To help children benefit the most from “repetition” both at home and in the classroom, there are few things you can do:

• Ensure activities are being done more than once.
• Keep experiences familiar to children (don’t change them because YOU want to).
• Allow free choice (vs “station rotation”) during play so that children’s interests help guide their decision to engage in an activity (and they are able to participate in the activity as long as they’d like).
• Strike a balance between repeated activities/experiences and new ones. This reduces the chance of children becoming bored or frustrated.
• Extend activities (when appropriate) by providing support to child(ren) through guided facilitation and asking plenty of open-ended questions. Activities can also be extended with a simple refresh – switching out tools being used or changing the color or quantity of something.

As parents and/or teachers, one of the best things you can do to support children’s development is guarantee they have repeated exposure to songs, books, nursery rhymes, and activities. By doing so, you are helping little ones to not only strengthen the neural pathways in their developing brains (leading to both mastery of skills and knowledge retention), but you are also helping to build their self-confidence, making them feel more secure, and encouraging deeper, more complex levels of thinking.

Sources:

https://www.famly.co/blog/play-learn-repeat-repetition-early-years

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-baby-scientist/201907/why-children-like-repetition-and-how-it-helps-them-learn

https://www.inventorsandmakers.com/post/repetition-in-the-early-years