As the world marks World Teachers’ Day on 5 October 2026, PlayMatters is reflecting on six years of working alongside teachers, schools, communities, and Ministries of Education to understand what it takes to make Learning through Play work in real classrooms. A new technical paper, Learning through Play in Practice, brings together five key insights from implementation and research across Ethiopia, Uganda and Tanzania, where PlayMatters has reached nearly one million children in the previous phase of the project.   

One lesson stands out: supporting teachers requires more than training. PlayMatters found that teachers were more likely to adopt and sustain Learning through Play when initial training was reinforced through continuous professional development, coaching, mentoring, peer learning, supportive school leadership and effective school community engagement. Effective Learning through Play also depends on how teachers facilitate learning; actively engaging children, encouraging collaboration, adapting to learners’ needs and creating safe and inclusive classrooms.  

These lessons are backed by growing evidence. Randomized controlled trials in Ethiopia and Uganda found improvements in children’s learning and social-emotional outcomes, alongside improvements in teacher practice, wellbeingand confidence. The experience also points to the importance of embedding teacher support within wider education systems if improvements in classroom practice are to be sustained.  

As PlayMatters 3.0 has recently kicked off in July 2026, this learning will help shape the project’s next chapter: deepening systems integration and scaling Learning through Play in Ethiopia and Uganda, while expanding to South Sudan. This World Teachers’ Day, the message from six years of PlayMatters is clear: investing in teachers means investing not only in training, but in the systems and continuous support that enable them to keep strengthening their practice.  

Read the full report here