**Acknowledgements**

I would like to acknowledge two community retired teachers Mrs. Nomfusi Klass and Ms. Nomvuyo Njovane and Ms. N Bambiso, a colleague from the University of Fort Hare for assisting with data collection in the schools. I would like to humbly thank teachers of Grade R learners in the Eastern Cape specifically in Queenstown for sharing their views about games with me during data analysis. I would also like to thank their principals for accommodating me during playtime of their youngest students and the trust they had in me. Parents in my home township showed appreciation and belief in education and trusted me with their young ones. I would like to thank them and their precious young children. In addition, I would like to thank the National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa for funding the study this paper contributed to.
