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Home › Expert Q&A › Growth and Development › Is free play an important part of childhood?

Expert Q&A

 

By Rae Pica
Physical Activity Specialist

A friend of mine won't let her child play at all during the week because he must study all evening, with the exception of his soccer practice. I feel free play is an important part of childhood and development too and there should be a balance. Am I wrong?

Isn't it ironic that a country whose constitution allows for the pursuit of happiness now feels a collective guilt about the very idea of anything fun? How did this happen? When did we begin placing so much priority on productivity and so little on leisure or on having a good time? Even given the Puritan work ethic, life in America has become so unbalanced that one side of the seesaw is pretty much grounded.

But why must we insist that our children, who by their very nature are playful, share these particular values? Why are we so anxious for our children to "act like adults"?

But wait, you may be thinking, kids play plenty these days. They play T-ball, soccer, even tennis.

Yes, these are forms of play. But the true definition of the word, as it applies to children, is that it be child-directed, open-ended and intrinsically motivated. It also focuses more on the process than the product, which cannot technically be said about T-ball, soccer or tennis, where homeruns, goals and points are typically the focus.

However, if we really must have "product" – that is, results – from our children's activities, play has plenty of that to offer, too. For one thing, many experts believe the adult personality is built upon the child's play. According to Playing for Keeps, a national not-for-profit organization whose mission is to foster a climate of constructive play through public education, collaboration and action, all of the skills children need to develop into functioning, productive adults originate from play. These skills include literacy, mathematical reasoning, creativity and social skills. Among the social skills learned, the experts tell us, is the ability to share, cooperate, negotiate, compromise, make and revise rules, and take the perspective of others.

Surely we can see the value in such benefits – that these abilities will serve our children better than the ability to name the states' capitals! But if that's not enough benefit derived, Joan Isenberg and Mary Renck Jalongo, authors of Creative Expression and Play in the Early Childhood Curriculum (Prentice Hall, 2000), argue that play does the following:

  • Enables children to explore their world.
  • Develops cultural understandings.
  • Helps children express their thoughts and feelings.
  • Provides opportunities to meet and solve problems.

Additionally, play enables children to deal with stress and to cope with fears they can't yet understand or express. Today's young children are exposed to so much so early and must cope with much more stress than their predecessors ever did. Play gives them a necessary emotional release and helps them make sense of everything they're experiencing. And as Playing for Keeps points out, when young children act out emotion-laden scenes in their play, such as reassuring a doll that mommy will return, they learn to cope with fears and gain the self-control that will bring them to the next state of development.

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