essay on value of play

The Value of Play I: The Definition of Play Gives Insights

Freedom to quit is an essential aspect of play's definition..

Posted November 19, 2008 | Reviewed by Ekua Hagan

Play in our species serves many valuable purposes. It is a means by which children develop their physical, intellectual, emotional, social, and moral capacities. It is a means of creating and preserving friendships. It also provides a state of mind that, in adults as well as children, is uniquely suited for high-level reasoning, insightful problem solving, and all sorts of creative endeavors.

This essay is the first in a series I plan to post on The Value of Play . The subject of this first installment is the definition of play. Clues to play’s value lie in the definition.

Most of this essay is about the defining characteristics of play, but before listing them there are three general points that I think are worth keeping in mind. The first point is that the characteristics of play all have to do with motivation and mental attitude, not with the overt form of the behavior. Two people might be throwing a ball, or pounding nails, or typing words on a computer, and one might be playing while the other is not. To tell which one is playing and which one is not, you have to infer from their expressions and the details of their actions something about why they are doing what they are doing and their attitude toward it.

The second point, toward definition, is that play is not necessarily all-or-none. Play can blend with other motives and attitudes, in proportions ranging anywhere from 0 up to 100 percent play. Pure play occurs more often in children than in adults. In adults, play is commonly blended with other motives, having to do with adult responsibilities. That is why, in everyday conversation, we tend to talk about children “playing” and about adults bringing a “playful attitude” or “playful spirit” to their activities. We intuitively think of playfulness as a matter of degree. Of course, we don’t have meters for measuring these things, but I would estimate that my behavior in writing this blog is about 80% play.

The third point is that play is not neatly defined in terms of some single identifying characteristic. Rather, it is defined in terms of a confluence of several characteristics. People before me who have studied and written about play have, among them, described quite a few such characteristics; but they can all be boiled down, I think, to the following five:

• Play is self-chosen and self-directed.
• Play is activity in which means are more valued than ends.
• Play has structure, or rules, which are not dictated by physical necessity but emanate from the minds of the players.
• Play is imaginative, non-literal, mentally removed in some way from “real” or “serious” life.
• Play involves an active, alert, but non- stressed frame of mind.

The more fully an activity entails all of these characteristics, the more inclined most people are to refer to that activity as play. By “most people,” I don’t just mean most scholars who study play. Even young children are most likely to use the wordplay for activities that most fully contain these five characteristics. These characteristics seem to capture our intuitive sense of what play is. Notice that all of the characteristics have to do with the motivation or attitude that the person brings to the activity.

Let me elaborate on these characteristics, one by one, and expand a bit on each by pointing out some of its implications for thinking about the purposes of play.

1. Play is self-chosen and self-directed; players are always free to quit.

Play is, first and foremost, an expression of freedom. It is what one wants to do as opposed to what one is obliged to do. The joy of play is the ecstatic feeling of liberty. Play is not always accompanied by smiles and laughter , nor are smiles and laughter always signs of play; but play is always accompanied by a feeling of “Yes, this is what I want to do right now.” Players are free agents, not pawns in someone else’s game.

Players not only choose to play or not play, but they also direct their own actions during play. As I will argue below, play always involves rules of some sort, but all players must freely accept the rules, and if rules are changed then all players must agree to the changes. That is why play is the most democratic of all activities. In social play (play involving more than one player), one player may emerge for a period as the leader , but only at the will of all the others. Every rule a leader proposes must be approved, at least tacitly, by all of the other players.

The ultimate freedom in play is the freedom to quit. A person who feels coerced or pressured to engage in an activity, and unable to quit, is not a player but a victim. The freedom to quit provides the foundation for all of the democratic processes that occur in social play. If one player attempts to bully or dominate the others, the others will quit and the game will be over; so players who want to continue playing must learn not to bully or dominate. People who don’t agree to a proposed change in rules may likewise quit, and that is why leaders in play must gain the consent of the other players in order to change a rule. People who begin to feel that their needs or desires are not being met in play will quit, and that is why children learn, in play, to be sensitive to others’ needs and to strive to meet those needs. It is through social play that children learn, on their own, with no lectures, how to meet their own needs while, at the same time, satisfying the needs of others. This is perhaps the most important lesson that people in any society can learn.

This point about play being self-chosen and self-directed is ignored by, or perhaps unknown to, many adults who try to take control of children’s play. Adults can play with children, and in some cases can even be leaders in children’s play, but to do so requires at least the same sensitivity that children themselves show to the needs and wishes of all the players. Because adults are commonly viewed as authority figures, children often feel less able to quit, or to disagree with the proposed rules, when an adult is leading than when a child is leading. And so, when adults try to lead children’s play the result often is something that, for many of the children, is not play at all. When a child feels coerced, the play spirit vanishes and all of the advantages of that spirit go with it. Math games in school and adult-led sports are not play for those who feel that they have to participate and are not ready to accept, as their own, the rules that the adults have established. Adult-led games can be great for kids who freely choose them, but can seem like punishment to kids who haven’t made that choice.

What is true for children’s play is also true for adults’ sense of play. Research studies have shown that adults who have a great deal of freedom as to how and when to do their work often experience that work as play, even (in fact, especially) when the work is difficult. In contrast, people who must do just what others tell them to do at work rarely experience their work as play.

2. Play is an activity in which means are more valued than ends.

Many of our actions are “free” in the sense that we don’t feel that other people are making us do them, but are not free, or at least are not experienced as free, in another sense. These are actions that we feel we must do in order to achieve some necessary or much-desired goal, or end. We scratch an itch to get rid of the itch, flee from a tiger to avoid getting eaten, study an uninteresting book to get a good grade on a test, work at a boring job to get money. If there were no itch, tiger, test, or need for money, we would not scratch, flee, study, or do the boring work. In those cases we are not playing.

To the degree that we engage in an activity purely to achieve some end, or goal, which is separate from the activity itself, that activity is not play. What we value most, when we are not playing, are the results of our actions. The actions are merely means to the ends. When we are not playing, we typically opt for the shortest, least effortful means of achieving our goal. The non-playful, goal-oriented college student, for example, does the least studying in each course that she can in order to get the “A” that she desires, and her studying is focused directly on the goal of doing well on the tests. Any learning not related to that goal is, for her, wasted effort.

In play, however, all this is reversed. Play is activity conducted primarily for its own sake. The playful student enjoys studying the subject and cares less about the test. In play, attention is focused on the means, not the ends, and players do not necessarily look for the easiest routes to achieving the ends. Think of a cat preying on a mouse versus a cat that is playing at preying on a mouse. The former takes the quickest route for killing the mouse. The latter tries various ways of catching the mouse, not all very efficient, and lets the mouse go each time so it can try again. The preying cat enjoys the end; the playing cat enjoys the means. (The mouse, of course, enjoys none of this.)

Play often has goals, but the goals are experienced as an intrinsic part of the game, not as the sole reason for engaging in the game’s actions. Goals in play are subordinate to the means for achieving them. For example, constructive play (the playful building of something) is always directed toward the goal of creating the object that the player has in mind. But notice that the primary objective in such play is the creation of the object, not the having of the object. Children making a sandcastle would not be happy if an adult came along and said, "You can stop all your effort now. I'll make the castle for you." That would spoil their fun. The process, not the product, motivates them. Similarly, children or adults playing a competitive game have the goal of scoring points and winning, but, if they are truly playing, it is the process of scoring and trying to win that motivates them, not the points themselves or the status of having won. If someone would just as soon win by cheating as by following the rules, or get the trophy and praise through some shortcut that bypasses the game process, then that person is not playing.

Adults can test the degree to which their work is play by asking themselves this: “If I could receive the same pay, the same prospects for future pay, the same amount of approval from other people, and the same sense of doing good for the world for not doing this job as I am receiving for doing it, would I quit?” If the person would eagerly quit, the job is not play. To the degree that the person would quit reluctantly, or not quit, the job is play. It is something that the person enjoys independently of the extrinsic rewards received for doing it.

One reason why play is such an ideal state of mind for creativity and learning is because the mind is focused on means. Since the ends are understood as secondary, fear of failure is absent and players feel free to incorporate new sources of information and to experiment with new ways of doing things.

3. Play is guided by mental rules.

Play is freely chosen activity, but it is not freeform activity. Play always has structure, and that structure derives from rules in the player’s mind. This point is really an extension of the point just made about the importance of means in play. The rules of play are the means. To play is to behave in accordance with self-chosen rules. The rules are not like rules of physics, nor like biological instincts, which are automatically followed. Rather, they are mental concepts that often require conscious effort to keep in mind and follow.

A basic rule of constructive play, for example, is that you must work with the chosen medium in a manner aimed at producing or depicting some specific object or design. You don’t just pile up blocks randomly; you arrange them deliberately in accordance with your mental image of what you are trying to make. Even rough and tumble play (playful fighting and chasing), which may look wild from the outside, is constrained by rules. An always-present rule in play fighting, for example, is that you mimic some of the actions of real fighting, but you don’t really hurt the other person. You don’t hit with all your force (at least not if you are the stronger of the two); you don’t kick, bite, or scratch. Play fighting is much more controlled than real fighting; it is always an exercise in restraint.

Among the most complex forms of play, in terms of rules, is what play researchers call sociodramatic play—the playful acting out of roles or scenes, as when children are playing “house,” or acting out a marriage , or pretending to be superheroes. The fundamental rule here is that you must abide by your and the other players’ shared understanding of the role that you are playing. If you are the pet dog in a game of “house,” you must walk around on all fours and bark rather than talk. If you are Wonder Woman, and you and your playmates believe that Wonder Woman never cries, then you refrain from crying, even when you fall down and hurt yourself.

To illustrate the rule-based nature of sociodramatic play, the Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky wrote about two actual sisters—ages seven and five—who sometimes played that they were sisters.[1] As actual sisters, they rarely thought about their sisterhood and had no consistent way of behaving toward one another. Sometimes they enjoyed one another, sometimes they argued, and sometimes they ignored one another. But, when they were playing sisters, they always behaved according to their shared stereotype of how sisters should behave. They dressed alike, talked alike, always loved one another, talked about the differences between themselves and everyone else, and so on. Much more self-control , mental effort, and rule following was involved in playing sisters than in being sisters.

The category of play with the most explicit rules is that called formal games. These are games, like checkers and baseball, with rules that are specified, verbally, in ways designed to minimize ambiguity in interpretation. The rules of these games are commonly passed along from one generation of players to the next. Many formal games in our society are competitive, and one purpose of the formal rules is to make sure that the same restrictions apply equally to all competitors. Players of formal games, if they are true players, must adopt these rules as their own for the period of the game and be willing to stick to them. Of course, except in “official” versions of such games, players commonly modify the rules to fit their own needs, but each modification must be agreed upon by all the players.

The main point I want to make here is that every form of play involves a good deal of self-control. When not playing, children (and adults too) may act according to their immediate biological needs, emotions, and whims; but in play they must act in ways that they and their playmates deem appropriate to the game. Play draws and fascinates the player precisely because it is structured by rules that the player herself or himself has invented or accepted.

The student of play who most strongly emphasized play’s rule-based nature was Lev Vygotsky, whose example of sisters playing sisters I just mentioned. In an essay on the role of play in development, originally published in 1933, Vygotsky commented, as follows, on the apparent paradox between the idea that play is spontaneous and free and the idea that players must follow rules:

“The … paradox is that in play [the child] adopts the line of least resistance—she does what she most feels like doing because play is connected with pleasure—and at the same time she learns to follow the line of greatest resistance by subordinating herself to rules and thereby renouncing what she wants, since subjection to rules and renunciation of impulsive action constitute the path to maximum pleasure in play. Play continually creates demands on the child to act against immediate impulse. At every step the child is faced with a conflict between the rules of the game and what she would do if she could suddenly act spontaneously. … Thus, the essential attribute of play is a rule that has become a desire. …. The rule wins because it is the strongest impulse. Such a rule is an internal rule, a rule of self-restraint and self-determination …. In this way a child’s greatest achievements are possible in play, achievements that tomorrow will become her basic level of real action and morality .”[1]

Vygotsky's point, of course, is that the child's desire to play is so strong that it becomes a motivating force for learning self-control. The child resists impulses and temptations that would run counter to the rules because the child seeks the larger pleasure of remaining in the game. To Vygotsky's analysis, I would add that the child accepts and desires the rules of play only because he or she is always free to quit if the rules become too burdensome. With that in mind, the paradox can be seen to be superficial. The child's real-life freedom is not restricted by the rules of the game, because the child can at any moment choose to leave the game. That is another reason why the freedom to quit is such a crucial aspect of the definition of play. Without that freedom, rules of play would be intolerable. To be required to act like Wonder Woman in real life would be terrifying, but to act like that in play––a realm you are always free to leave––is great fun.

Along with Vygotsky, I would contend that the greatest of play’s many values for our species lies in the learning of self-control. Self-control is the essence of being human. We commonly say that people behave like “animals,” rather than like humans, when they fail to abide by socially agreed-upon rules and, instead, impulsively follow their immediate drives and whims. Everywhere, to live in human society, people must behave in accordance with conscious, shared mental conceptions of what is appropriate; and that is what children practice constantly in their play. In play, from their own desires, children practice the art of being human.

4. Play is non-literal, imaginative, marked off in some way from reality.

Another apparent paradox of play, also pointed out by Vygotsky, is that play is serious yet not serious, real yet not real. In play one enters a realm that is physically located in the real world, makes use of props in the real world, is often about the real world, is said by the players to be real, and yet in some way is mentally removed from the real world.

Imagination , or fantasy , is most obvious in sociodramatic play, where the players create the characters and plot, but it is also present to some degree in all other forms of human play. In rough and tumble play, the fight is a pretend one, not a real one. In constructive play, the players say that they are building a castle, but they know it is a pretend castle, not a real one. In formal games with explicit rules, the players must accept an already established fictional situation that provides the foundation for the rules. For example, in the real world bishops can move in any direction they choose, but in the fantasy world of chess they can move only on the diagonals.

The fantasy aspect of play is intimately connected to play’s rule-based nature. Because play takes place in a fantasy world, it must be governed by rules that are in the minds of the players rather than by laws of nature. In reality, one cannot ride a horse unless a real horse is physically present; but in play one can ride a horse whenever the game's rules permit or prescribe it. In reality, a broom is just a broom, but in play it can be a horse. In reality, a chess piece is just a carved bit of wood, but in chess it is a bishop or a knight that has well-defined capacities and limitations for movement that are not even hinted at in the carved wood itself. The fictional situation dictates the rules of the game; the actual physical world within which the game is played is secondary. Through play the child learns to take charge of the world and not simply respond passively to it. In play the child’s mental concept dominates, and the child molds available elements of the physical world to meet that concept.

Play of all sorts has “time in” and “time out,” though that is more obvious for some forms of play than others. Time in is the period of fiction. Time out is the temporary return to reality—perhaps to tie one’s shoes, or go to the bathroom, or correct a playmate who hasn't been following the rules. During time in one does not say, “I am just playing,” any more than does Shakespeare’s Hamlet announce from the stage that he is merely pretending to murder his stepfather.

Adults sometimes become confused by the seriousness of children’s play and by children’s refusal, while playing, to say that they are playing. They worry needlessly that children don’t distinguish fantasy from reality. When my son was four years old he was Superman for periods that sometimes lasted more than a day. During those periods he would deny vigorously that he was only pretending to be Superman, and this worried his nursery school teacher. She was only partly mollified when I pointed out that he never attempted to leap off of actual tall buildings or stop real railroad trains and that he would acknowledge that he had been playing when he finally did declare time out by removing his cape. To acknowledge that play is play is to remove the magic spell; it automatically turns time in into time out.

An amazing fact of human nature is that even 2-year-olds know the difference between real and pretend. A 2-year-old who turns a cup filled with imaginary water over a doll and says, “Oh oh, dolly all wet,” knows that the doll isn’t really wet. It would be impossible to teach such young children such a subtle concept as pretense, yet they understand it. Apparently, the fictional mode of thinking, and the ability to keep that mode distinct from the literal mode, are innate to the human mind. That innate capacity is part of the inborn capacity for play.

The fantasy element of play is often not as obvious, or as full-blown, in adults’ play as in children’s play. That is one reason why adults’ play is typically not of the 100% variety. Yet, I would argue, fantasy occupies a big role in much if not most of what adults do and is a major element in our intuitive sense of the degree to which adult activities are play. An architect designing a house is designing a real house. Yet, the architect brings a good deal of imagination to bear in visualizing the house, imagining how people might use it, and matching it with some aesthetic concepts that she has in mind. It is reasonable to say that the architect builds a pretend house, in her mind and on paper, before it becomes a real one.

When I say that my writing this blog is about 80% play, I am taking into account not only my sense of freedom about doing it, my enjoyment of the process, and the fact that I’m following rules (about writing) that I accept as my own, but also the fact that a considerable degree of imagination is involved. I’m not making up the facts, but I am making up the way of stringing them together, and I am imagining how you might respond to what I am writing. Sometimes my fantasy goes even further, and I imagine that the ideas I’m presenting will have certain positive effects on society. So, fantasy is moving me along in this, much as it moves a child along in building a sandcastle or pretending to be Superman. The fact that parts of my fantasy could possibly turn into reality does not negate its status as fantasy.

5. Play involves an active, alert, but non-stressed frame of mind.

This final characteristic of play follows naturally from the other four. Because play involves conscious control of one’s own behavior, with attention to process and rules, it requires an active, alert mind. Players do not just passively absorb information from the environment , or reflexively respond to stimuli, or behave automatically in accordance with habit. Moreover, because play is not a response to external demands or immediate strong biological needs, the person at play is relatively free from the strong drives and emotions that are experienced as pressure or stress. And because the player’s attention is focused on process more than outcome, the player’s mind is not distracted by fear of failure. So, the mind at play is active and alert, but not stressed. The mental state of play is what some researchers call “flow.” Attention is attuned to the activity itself, and there is reduced consciousness of self and time. The mind is wrapped up in the ideas, rules, and actions of the game.

This point about the mental state of play is very important for understanding play’s value as a mode of learning and creative production. The alert but unstressed condition of the playful mind is precisely the condition that has been shown repeatedly, in many psychological experiments, to be ideal for creativity and the learning of new skills. Such experiments are normally not described as experiments on play, but it is no stretch to interpret them as that. What the experiments show is that strong pressure to perform well (which induces a non-playful state) improves performance on tasks that are mentally easy or habitual for the person, but worsens performance on tasks that require creativity, or conscious decision making , or the learning of new skills. In contrast, anything that is done to reduce the person’s concern with outcome and to increase the person’s enjoyment of the task for its own sake—that is, anything that increases playfulness—has the opposite effect.

Strong pressure to perform well inhibits creativity and learning by focusing attention strongly and narrowly on the goal, thereby reducing the ability to focus on means. In the pressured state, one tends to fall back on instinctive or well-learned ways of doing things. That way of responding to pressure is adaptive in many emergency situations. When a tiger is chasing you, you use whatever means you have already learned for getting away or hiding; that is not a good time to experiment with new ways. Experts in any realm can usually perform well in the pressured state because they can call on their well-learned, habitual modes of responding and don’t need to learn anything new or act creatively. Their attention can focus on producing the best possible outcome using the repertoire of actions that are already second nature to them.

When we pressure students to do well on their schoolwork by constantly evaluating their work, we put them into a non-playful, goal-directed state that may motivate those who already know how to do it to perform well, but inhibits experimentation and learning in those who don’t already know how. Pressure widens the performance gap between experts and novices. Even experts, though, must play at their activity of expertise if they are going to rise to still higher levels of expertise. And, in some realms, such as art and essay writing, creativity is required no matter how much experience a person has had, and a playful mind always performs best in those realms.

When an activity becomes so easy, so habitual, that it no longer requires conscious mental effort, it may lose its status as play. That is why players keep making the game harder, or different, or keep raising the criteria for success. A game is a game only if an active, alert mind is required to do it well.

Does this extended definition of play make sense to you? Does it fit with the way that you think of play in everyday life? I ask this question genuinely. I want, for my own work, to be sure that I am using a concept of play that fits with the concept of play that people find useful in everyday discourse. I would very much appreciate your comments on this.

As I said, over the next few weeks I will be elaborating on the various functions of play, both for children and for adults, and I will refer from time to time to the definition of play that I have provided in this post. Stay tuned.

And now, what do you think about this? … This blog is, in part, a forum for discussion. Your questions, thoughts, stories, and opinions are treated respectfully by me and other readers, regardless of the degree to which we agree or disagree. Psychology Today no longer accepts comments on this site, but you can comment by going to my Facebook profile, where you will see a link to this post. If you don't see this post at the top of my timeline, just put the title of the post into the search option (click on the three-dot icon at the top of the timeline and then on the search icon that appears in the menu) and it will come up. By following me on Facebook you can comment on all of my posts and see others' comments. The discussion is often very interesting.

Lev S. Vygotsky, “The Role of Play in Development,” in M. Cole, V. John-Steiner, S. Scribner, & E. Souberman (Eds.). Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes , 92-104. (1978, original essay published in 1933).

Peter Gray, Ph.D. , is a research professor at Boston College, author of Free to Learn and the textbook Psychology (now in 8th edition), and founding member of the nonprofit Let Grow.

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What is play?

Play is multi-faceted, complex and dynamic, eluding easy definition. It is usually felt to be a universal activity and children are often portrayed as having an inherent desire and capacity to play.

Play has been defined as an activity that is:

• characterised by engagement and engagement, with high levels of involvement, engrossment and intrinsic motivation
• imaginative, creative, and non-literal
• voluntary or freely chosen, personally directed (often child-initiated) and free from externally imposed rules
• fluid and active but also guided by mental rules and high levels of metacognition and metacommunication (communication about communication) which give it structure
• process-driven rather than product-driven, with no extrinsic goals

Play can take different forms, with common categories that can and do overlap within an given episode of play. These include exploratory play with objects, physical play, pretend, fantasy or dramatic play, games and puzzles  and other play involving explicit rules, constructive play (including artistic and musical play), language play (play with words and other features of language such as rhyme) and outdoor play.

Play can also be categorised in relation to the relative amount of power and control afforded to the players:

• Free or ‘pure’ play: Children have all the control, and adults are passive observers
• Guided play: Teacher-child collaboration, with the child’s interests foregrounded
• Playful teaching: The teacher is in charge

These three kinds of play are associated with different outcomes and are relevant to teachers in determining the kinds of play, or combinations of kinds of play, to offer within school and early childhood settings.

What is free play?

Free play is child-initiated and child-directed. Children choose their activities and focus, enabling  unconstrained freedom of expression and open-ended interactions with their environment. Play is initiated, sustained and developed by children, free of adult influence, although this does mean that it focuses on ideas, content and language that are already familiar and known to children. Some researchers question the extent to which free play is truly free, as children’s choices about what, how, where and with whom to play may be influenced by the play environment and its associated rules and boundaries (which are controlled by adults), and the choices of others about what to play. Gender, ethnicity, social class and disability may also affect their patterns of participation.

What is guided play?

Guided play (also called ‘scaffolded play’ or ‘mutually directed’ play) is child-centred and goal-directed. Guided play invites children’s active engagement, free exploration and direction of play, but also has clear learning goals so that play behaviours are limited in useful ways and distraction is reduced. Children’s initiatives, reflections, choices, and creativity are important as a context for teachers to extend children’s knowledge, understanding and skills. They allow teachers to naturally integrate desired learning outcomes with children’s play and infuse play with new and unfamiliar content and ideas. Teachers are sensitive and responsive to children’s interests and interactions while maintaining a focus on learning goals through deliberate, purposeful, and intentional teaching strategies. These might include commenting on discoveries, offering feedback, demonstrating use of equipment, reinforcing specific vocabulary or helping the child explore new strategies for problem-solving, within the context of the activities that children are constructing.

Teachers also initiate and co-construct play with children. They might design a learning activity that incorporates a child’s specific interest, or choose themes and contexts for dramatic play that is based on children’s interests or significant events and links to specific learning objectives. Teachers and children collaboratively design the context of the play, including the theme and its resources, and then children develop their play within the rules and actions of that context.

What is teacher-directed play?

Teacher-directed play involves teacher-determined activities, outcomes and modes of engagement. Teachers use a playful, engaging manner to develop children’s academic skills and knowledge, focusing on playful learning processes, fun and enjoyment, and the use and development of children’s creativity to invite children’s active engagement. However, unlike free and guided play, teachers retain tight control over what occurs, outlining specific rules of play for children to follow, specifying how children are expected to engage in the activities, and generally structuring activities within a given time frame to ensure specific learning outcomes.

The development of play

During early childhood, children’s play becomes increasingly complex, involving high levels of organisation and requiring increasingly sophisticated social, physical and cognitive skills. Although all children engage in a range of different play types, some are more prevalent at different ages. Infants and toddlers engage in exploratory and social play (such as ‘peek-a-boo’). Exploration precedes play, and is a time of gathering information and discovering the properties and attributes of an object, situation or idea. Toddlers develop ‘functional play’ involving the repetition of particular physical actions and early pretend play.

With the development of imagination, older children engage in constructive play, pretend play and language play. They demonstrate increasing problem-solving skills, language, and collaboration, and show increased attention to processes, structures, and outcomes. They are highly intentional in their activity, and better able to combine and use materials in more complex ways. Sociodramatic play, involving cooperation and the coordination of play between two or more children, usually begins when children are 4 or 5 years old, and is cognitively demanding as children simultaneously hold in mind what they have negotiated for their role and character, the other children’s characters and what has been agreed as the plot, as well as what different objects represent.

Does play lead to effective learning?

Research into the effectiveness of play for supporting children’s learning is complex, given contrasting definitions and conceptualisations of play and its different types, the overlap between play types, and outside influences on play such as the environment or structuring and involvement of adults. Play is a complex activity with many integrated dimensions that each have a potential impact on children’s outcomes, making it difficult to separate out play as an influence on learning. Play may include particular kinds of adult interactions, or engage children in specific content, and it may be these features of children’s play that are responsible for learning gains, rather than play itself.

The current research does not make it possible to determine whether play is crucial to development, whether it is merely one way to promote development alongside others which may work as well or even better, or whether play is a byproduct of other capacities that are the actual source of children’s learning and development, such as social intelligence or language skill. Many studies of the impact of play on learning are found to have methodological weaknesses and there is a lack of replication of findings between studies that have small and relatively homogeneous samples. Some of the research findings directly conflict each other, and lead to opposing recommendations for practice.

However, much of the research concludes that play is a powerful learning mode and central to children’s learning. Play integrates children’s experiences, knowledge and representations in order to help them create meaning and sense and to understand the world. Pretending requires children to think of things that are not actually present, a skill required in many learning and life situations. The impact of play is multifaceted, supporting cognitive, emotional, social and physical development including:

• Benefits for well-being , including higher self-efficacy, higher expectations for one’s success, intrinsic motivation, and positive attitudes towards the early childhood setting or school.
• Academic/cognitive benefits : play supports exploratory skills and discovery, the use of abstract thought and symbols, communication and oral language skills, verbal intelligence, imagination and creativity, and reading, writing and mathematics. Play also encourages important learning dispositions, engagement and participation and the integration of different cognitive processes. Play develops self-regulatory executive function skills (such as controlling attention, suppressing impulses, flexibly redirecting thought and behaviour, and holding and using information in working memory), metacognitive skills and problem-solving.
• Social and emotional benefits including social skills such as making friends, empathy, expressing emotion, and conflict resolution. Play can also build resilience.
• Physical benefits in terms of the development of large and small body muscles and motor skills, while the physicality of play is associated with improved cognitive function, behavioural and cognitive control, and academic achievement.

Is one kind of play pedagogy more clearly linked to positive outcomes?

Both free play and more guided and directed approaches are found to foster achievement. In general, research that focuses on developmental outcomes finds free play significant, whereas research that focuses on academic outcomes finds guided and teacher-directed play more effective. However, some research comparing play-based approaches finds no significant difference in children’s learning through free play, guided play and teacher-directed play.

Free play has been found to support a number of more general learning outcomes. It supports:

• socioemotional development, particularly self-regulation, and social skills
• creativity and imagination
• problem-solving and persistence
• engagement in literacy activities (where literacy materials are embedded in play scenarios and environments)
• general cognitive development (through activities such as planning, problem-solving and comprehension)

Free play may be less useful for learning content, developing key concepts, or for supporting children to focus on important dimensions of new learning. Free play can vary in quality, lack challenge and limit learning opportunities. The research suggests that free play, while still important for a range of less measurable outcomes, is best complemented by high quality scaffolded and guided play in which teachers are involved.

Research indicates that guided discovery approaches are more effective than free or unassisted play for supporting more specific learning outcomes. Guided play is found to

• better support science learning, and language, literacy and mathematics outcomes
• improve vocabulary and support greater engagement in social interactions
• foster literacy and mathematics skills and general learning of content
• support higher levels of creative and flexible exploration and more effective problem-solving
• improve self-regulation skills such as inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility

Teacher-directed play in the form of carefully designed and challenging activities that include free choice, practical and intrinsically motivating tasks, and peer interactions is consistently associated with positive outcomes. Research reports that teacher-directed play:

• supports literacy skills, mathematics and general academic learning  
• improves children’s mathematical learning gains (with greater gains for children learning through card and board games than children experiencing more formal training)
• increases children’s affect and engagement through the addition of a play component to learning experiences

Overall, child-centred and playful learning approaches are more likely to foster academic improvements that are sustained than traditional, formal approaches, but some research finds that children are more likely to learn content in teacher-led contexts. It is important to consider the information and skills to be learned when determining the most effective approach for learning through play.

A note of caution: Critical views on the use of play pedagogies

While there is much rhetoric around the importance of play for young children’s learning, in these discourses play can sometimes be romanticised, while descriptions of play in curriculum documents can be reductive and fail to acknowledge the complexity of children’s play experiences. 

Some researchers critique the elevated status of play as a pedagogy for learning. They argue that:

• Learning can be supported in diverse ways , and play need not form the only catalyst for learning. Play is a cultural phenomena that is highly dependent on adult mediation and engagement. Where adults encourage pretending and other playful forms, children engage in these behaviours, but in other contexts where pretending and play are not encouraged, children learn in other ways, such as through real life tasks, storytelling, and organised games.
• Children’s play repertoires and experiences vary , and richly resourced, free play environments that reflect Western perspectives on play may not resonate with culturally diverse families. Children may be disadvantaged by approaches that emphasise independence, self management and free choice if these are inconsistent with home expectations, or if they have limited prior experience of play themes or the complex social processes required.
• Children may not be able to express their interests and needs through play activities . The freedom to choose may offer some children an advantage over others.
• Play is not value-neutral . Because of the unequal power relations between teachers and children, play can never be ‘free’. The use of play as pedagogy for the early years privileges particular (Western) constructs about children and ways of learning, in terms of ideas about appropriate play, which are then used to regulate children’s behaviour. In these ways play reinforces children’s positioning within social hierarchies including those of gender and race.
• Play can be cruel , involving teasing, pranks and playing tricks. It can also be characterised by self-interest, and exploitation and manipulation of situations, which is another way in which some children can experience loss of agency.

Further Reading

Gray, P. (2017). What exactly is play, and why is it such a powerful vehicle for learning? Top Language Disorders, 37(3), 217-228.

Hirsch-Pasek, K. & Golinkoff, R. M. (2008). Why play = learning. In R.E. Tremblay, M. Boivin, & R.D. Peters (Eds), Encyclopedia of Early Childhood Development. Quebec, Canada: Centre of Excellence for Early Childhood Development and Strategic Knowledge. Retrieved from http://www.child-encyclopedia.com/documents/Hirsh-Pasek-GolinkoffANGxp.pdf .

Weisberg, D. S., Hirsh-Pasek, K. & Golinkoff, R. M. (2013). Guided play: Where curricular goals meet a playful pedagogy. Mind, Brain and Education 7 (2), 104-112.

White, J., O’Malley, A., Toso, M., Rockel, J., Stover, S., & Ellis, F. (2007). A contemporary glimpse of play and learning in Aotearoa New Zealand. International Journal of Early Childhood, 39 (1), 93-105.

Dr Vicki Hargraves

Vicki runs our ECE webinar series and also is responsible for the creation of many of our ECE research reviews. Vicki is a teacher, mother, writer, and researcher living in Marlborough. She recently completed her PhD using philosophy to explore creative approaches to understanding early childhood education. She is inspired by the wealth of educational research that is available and is passionate about making this available and useful for teachers.

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Study Today

Largest Compilation of Structured Essays and Exams

Essay on Importance of Play for Children and Students

January 21, 2018 by Study Mentor Leave a Comment

Life is vast. Life is complex. Life is sublime. To sail through the complexities of life we always need quality time. In all these hurdles, obstacles of life playing keeps us alive, young. It plays the vital part in our life. Without it life becomes dull, boring.

Play makes us feel enthusiastic about life. When we talk about play the words like revitalization, freshness, rejuvenation comes to our mind. Playing is something that while doing it we find ourselves away from all the hindrances, obstructions and obstacles of life.

Table of Contents

Definition of play in today’s world

Play has been an integral part of human life as playing gives us enthusiasm to enjoy life. The type of play we used to play has been changed throughout the time, but playing has been still a significant part of our life.

The type of playing we used to play included jumping around, hopping and the play which children used to play without any goal or motive just for fun every day. That kind of playing were called free play without observation of anyone. Free plays were unorganized.

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In today’s modern world the cities have become more crowded, the people have become more career oriented, the safety has become a concerning issue and time has been of limited source. Nowadays play includes art lesson, music lesson, sports coaching etc. that boosts confidence and enhances social skills.

The type of playing is no more of free play because it is not about only fun but also about taking steps towards goal. Parents are also preferring this kind of play over free play because it involves physical goods with mental and practical benefits and safety of children.

Play in our modernized world has no age limit. Almost all age group are involved in play.

“Play is the highest form of research”    – Albert Einstein

Play as an integral part of childhood

“Play is so integral to childhood that a child who does not have the opportunities to play is cut off from a major portion of childhood.”

As we have mentioned earlier that play holds an important key factor in a child’s life and play no more involves free play. Play with motive is good but free play shapes a child in way more than we can imagine.

Children should indulge free play as it makes them more imaginative, innovative without any pressure and improves brain function as children think, interact, meet, laugh with each other. Playing improves the power to focus.

Playing ameliorates the learning process of a child as it involves most of the brain work with an enjoyable environment. By playing children learn. In our modernized world parents think that education should be the highest priority for their children.

In this cut throat competitive world, they are forgetting the fact that play is the practical way of learning. In a recent study it is found that kids do better learn while they have given recess. Play enhances emotional growth and makes more sociable. It is the main factor for building self-esteem and self-confidence.

“Do not keep children to their studies by compulsion but by play”      – Plato

Importance of play for an Adult

“ We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.”

The above saying holds the truth as most people think that playing is only for children and there should be age limit to play. It is also true that play is a work of child. In our hectic environment to feel young and alive we should bring the child among ourselves. Play makes us enthusiastic and lively by bringing the child in us.

As an adult, people stick to television sets or smartphones to relieve stress. But this is the worst way to relieve ourselves from hectic environment and to have a healthy body as our body needs movement and mind needs cheerfulness. Play is the best way for relaxation and enjoying yourself free from all work and tight schedule.

Playing improves the productivity in work as it stimulates the brain function and builds emotional growth. It is found that most of the companies are also introducing leisure time and indoor plays for their employees.

Play as a key factor for sound health

“A sound mind resides in a sound body.”

A person needs strong body and mind to fulfill the purpose of life. A mentally or physically weak person cannot achieve the goal in life. Life becomes burden for a sick person. Wealth or power cannot make a person happy without mental or physical well being.

Playing increases the power of concentration and tolerance. Playing relieves stress which makes us mentally strong. It builds the immune system strong resistance to diseases.

People do intense workouts to have a sound body. Instead of doing intense workouts playing is far better as it involves pure fun and creativity. As we live in a world of tightly scheduled, workaholic environment to feel stressed and feverish is unavoidable. Playing enhances the ability to withstand the pain.

Playing vital for social and emotional growth

“You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.”

As human beings are called social beings, we cannot live without being sociable or to live alone. So, it is important for us to be amiable with others. Playing involves activities like meeting, sharing, trusting, interacting, laughing with each other. Be it a child or an adult everyone needs to play as it

involves the above activities which are the main factors for social growth. Fun, laughing, sharing activities makes the relationship bonds stronger. A playful and friendly nature helps to make new friends, to build business relationships. Playing in groups is a practical fun way of group activities which teaches us how to coordinate and leadership qualities.

“Have regular hours for work and play; make each day both useful and pleasant.”

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Why Play Is Important for Your Child’s Learning and Growth

• August 17, 2021

Play is more than just fun and games: It’s vital to a child’s learning and growth.

But it’s not always easy for a child to have time for spontaneous, unguided play, especially with other children. Some children are limited by the geography of where they live. Many families have busy schedules packed with pre-planned activities. It can be hard for a child to get time for unstructured play with peers.

We’ll look at why play is so important, as well as how playdates can help you make sure your child gets to spend time in unstructured play.

Why Is Play Important for Children?

First of all, play is just plain fun. But more than that, play is an important part of a child’s mental and social development. Playing with other children helps build a child’s brain, and is also good for their physical development.[1]

While playing, children can improve their strength, muscle control, and coordination. They also learn to try new things and take risks, which can help them in other aspects of life.[2]

There are specific elements of play among children—social play—that are particularly helpful to your child’s social and emotional development . When children play together, undirected by a grown-up, they share ideas, listen to one another, and learn to negotiate and reach compromises. This makes social play (like what you’ll find in a playdate) an important part of growing up.

Play also has the following benefits for kids:

• Building self-confidence
• Boosting creativity
• Developing social skills
• Helping memory, language, and symbol recognition
• Teaching stress management
• Promoting healthy physical development

While self-play and play among children is important, it’s also important for you and other loving caregivers to play with your child. It tells them that you’re paying attention to them, and it allows children to express themselves through play. It’s a valuable opportunity to engage fully with your children.[1]

Setting Up and Preparing for a Playdate

You can consider starting with an outside location, like a favorite playground, that’s familiar to both children. This helps them get plenty of fresh air, and gives them lots of space for activities (and you won’t have to tidy up beforehand). Outdoor gatherings are also best at limiting the sharing of airborne germs.[4]

If the weather won’t cooperate, or if your child is nervous about new experiences, you can try hosting the playdate at your house. Your child may feel more comfortable there, and it’s easy for you to monitor the situation.

You’ll likely want to keep the playdate small and short, with only one or two other children, and planned for an hour or two.[3]

One of the most important benefits of a playdate is helping to develop social skills such as sharing. But there might be some times when that’s not an option, say with a special toy. If your child has a prized toy they might not be willing to share, you may want to put it out of sight before the playdate begins.[3]

Learning Lessons From Playing With Other Children

It’s hard to know what goes on inside a child’s head, so it might not always be obvious when children are playing well together or if things are starting to go off course. The Harvard Graduate School of Education has some pointers on how to make sure everyone’s having a good time.

Look for the three indicators of playful learning: choice, wonder, and delight.

• Choice : Children are setting their own goals, sharing ideas, negotiating, and choosing how long to play.
• Wonder : Children can create, explore, and pretend.
• Delight : Children are happy, being silly, and generally at ease.[2]

After the playdate, help your child reflect on how to behave in social situations by pointing out positive behaviors. For instance, you could praise them for letting the other child go first at a game or for when they shared a toy.

You may also take the chance to gently nudge them about social skills they can work on. For instance, if they weren’t great at sharing, you might ask them about it in a kind, non-judgmental way. (“It’s hard to share our favorite toys sometimes, isn’t it?”)[5]

Play is important, and it’s worth doing whatever you can to let your child explore free play time with others and by themselves.

• Ginsburg, Kenneth R. “The Importance of Play in Promoting Healthy Child Development and Maintaining Strong Parent-Child Bonds.” Pediatrics. January 2007. https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/119/1/182
• Shafer, Leah. “Summertime, Playtime.” Harvard Graduate School of Education. June, 2018. https://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/uk/18/06/summertime-playtime
• EncouragePlay. “Tips for Setting Up Playdates.” September, 2015. https://www.encourageplay.com/blog/tips-for-setting-up-playdates
• Mills, Melissa. “The Post-COVID-19 Playdate Checklist Every Parent Needs.” Parents. July, 2020. https://www.parents.com/health/coronavirus/the-covid-19-pre-playdate-checklist-ever-parent-needs/
• Bright Horizons. “Getting The Most From Play Dates: Teaching Kids About Friendship.” https://www.brighthorizons.com/family-resources/playdates-and-teaching-kids-about-friendship

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Power of Play in Early Childhood

“Play is not just about having fun but about taking risks, experimenting, and testing boundaries.”

Play builds the brain and the body. Play has been shown to support brain structure and functioning, facilitating synapse connection and improving brain plasticity.

Play is also critical to safe, stable, and nurturing relationships, supporting developmental milestones, and mental health.

Depending on the culture to which children grow up, they learn different skills through play.

How does play support child development?

Children learn by exploring their environments and building context from their experiences. Learning thrives when children are given control of their own actions to play.

Play builds motor competence to master fine and gross motor skills, and the confidence to engage in more active play. Motor skill competence lays the foundation for preferences of physical activity. Supporting infants, toddlers, and preschoolers to practice and master their motor skills build their ability.

Play enables social skills such as listening to directions, paying attention, resolving conflict, and negotiating relationships. Play and stress are closely linked. High amounts of play are associated with low levels of cortisol. Play, when supported by nurturing caregivers, may affect brain functions by buffering adversity and reducing toxic stress.

Children learn new words by interacting with others, and repeated exposures to words in various settings. Play supports language development by asking children to decipher meaning and listen and observe cues from others.

Play allows children to practice the language skills they have learned and build on their expanding vocabulary. Interacting with adults and peers also enables children to refine their speech sounds through listening to others.

Play builds skills such as intrinsic motivation and executive functioning. Executive functioning includes working memory, flexible thinking, and self-regulation. Children use these skills to learn, solve problems, follow directions, and pay attention. Play also supports early math skills such as spatial concepts. Executive functioning skills are foundational for school readiness and academic success.

Prescription for Play: Promoting Play in Primary Care

Pediatricians should encourage play at every well child visit especially in the first 2 years of life. Providers can provide strategies for incorporating play in every day interactions. Explore example strategies provided below.

Tummy time! Tummy time helps build your baby’s neck and shoulder muscles to support sitting, crawling, and eventually walking. Babies benefit from 2 to 3 tummy time sessions each day for a short period of time (3 to 5 minutes). As your baby grows they will enjoy longer sessions.

Don’t forget to play with your child. Get on the floor eye to eye with your baby. Make faces, wiggle your fingers, slowly move a colorful object in front of your baby’s eyes from about 10–12 inches away.

• Offer your baby safe objects to mouth. Watch as he gazes at the object that interests him, reaches for it, and then mouths it to figure out what it is!
• Sing, chat, tickle, count toes
• Make faces, smile, laugh, roll your eyes or poke out your tongue.
• Offer different objects to feel – soft toys, rattles or cloth books with pages of different textures are lots of fun to explore.
• Read to your baby. Don’t be afraid to have fun too! Use silly voices, point out pictures and colors.
• Let your child choose what to play. Talk about what you and your child are doing during play. Repeat words or phrases many times to help your child learn new words.
• Turn everyday activities into opportunities for play. Play make believe while cleaning the house; take turns making a story while running errands, sort foods into colors or shapes while shopping.
• Chunky puzzles
• Memory-type games
• Stacking cups or ring stacks
• Shape-sorters and bead mazes
• Make your own Memory game using photos of family members or favorite places.

Preschoolers

• Make-believe play such as dress-up, dressing and feeding a doll- let your child lead the story
• Your child enjoys sorting objects into groups or creating simple crafts. Allow them to sort everyday objects such as kitchen utensils, cardboard boxes, shoes, etc.
• Simple board games
• Make a game out of dressing- ask your preschooler to name their body parts

Supporting Families

Parents may feel they need expensive toys and experiences for their child. However, children’s creativity and play is enhanced by their experiences with caregivers and their friends. Many inexpensive toys such as balls, puzzles, crayons, and simple household objects are great options for play.

Message to families: Your child loves playing with you. You can find simple items such as crayons, paper, empty cardboard boxes, balls, and others things to play with together.

Families may also struggle finding time to play in between long work hours. Play can be anywhere and for small amounts of time. The quality of time and level of play is most important.

Message to families: Playful moments are everywhere! Make believe while running errands, sort foods at the grocery store, turn cleaning into a game.

Many children do not have safe places to play. Parents wisely choose their child’s safety over outdoor play opportunities.

Message to families: It can be hard to find safe places for your family to play. Lets think of ways to play in your home or find safe places in your community.

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The Value of Play

Most recognize that play is good for children yet we are confused by the dangers we see in the wider environment and so often restrict children’s natural opportunities to play. As a result children’s play has gained increased awareness amongst a variety of professions working with children, many of whom have different approaches to play and children. The Value of Play is explained using the Integral Play Framework, a model that draws together differing views on the purpose of play and its various types. These ideas are then used as the basis for chapters of the book: showing why playing is valuable to our bodies, our minds, and culturally and socially. There are examples of how play can be supported both informally and formally, at home and in children’s settings. As well as theory, there are relevant, practical approaches for play activities, and observations of playing children to help explain the processes. Key questions are asked at times to help those who may be engaged in a more reflective form of practice. The Value of Play has been written to be accessible by a broad spectrum of readers, including all those training to work with children; those specifically engaged in playwork as a field in itself; and those on Childhood Studies programmes.

Outdoor Play Canada

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The Importance of Play: On Finding Joy in your Writing Practice

How to approach your work with open hands, not closed fists.

This article originally appeared in Issue #62, Winter 2017 issue of  Creative Nonfiction .

On the last morning of a writers’ retreat I went to a year ago, there was a tiny bell lying on the seat of every chair in the spacious conference center. The weekend was unlike any gathering of writers I’d ever been to: for two days, we attendees had listened, enthralled, to one heresy after another. “Find a hobby that isn’t writing,” one speaker said. “Take walks. Do yoga. Don’t be literary. Be a human being.” Another went further. “It doesn’t take that much time to get writing done,” she said, and a gasp rippled through the audience. Here were writers who took their art seriously, but not themselves—at least, not all the time.

I was charmed to find the little trinket on my seat. What was it for? While the auditorium began to fill, people traded them, pocketed them, bounced them from hand to hand.

One of the workshop leaders took the microphone. He asked us to take our bells, hold them as tightly as we could, and give them a shake. Nothing happened, although several faces turned red with exertion.

“Now take your bell,” he said, “hold it loosely in your hand, and shake it.”

Lovely tinkling music filled the giant room up to its vaulted ceiling.

“That’s how you need to approach writing,” he told us—not with clenched fists, but with open hands.

Relaxed. Playful. Open to possibility.

I returned home from the weekend, set the bell on my desk, and told myself the next hour or two was just for fun. Then I started to write—with results that surprised me. I began to wonder if other writers knew something I didn’t. Could writing be as enjoyable at the outset as at the conclusion? Could it be—dare I say it?—something close to play?

I interviewed four of my favorite writers to find out, and, although they didn’t all use (or even like) the word play , some clear themes began to emerge. Themes like surprise, laughter, and a willingness to let go of self-consciousness and convention. These writers have discovered ways to bring joy into their work, so perhaps it’s no surprise that their writing is a delight to read.

Brenda Miller

One of the workshop leaders at the retreat was Brenda Miller. As she walked us through the steps of writing short, powerful pieces, like her much-anthologized apologia “Swerve” and the sensory-rich “What I Could Eat,” she couldn’t stop smiling. On the last day of the conference, I asked her about her generative writing group, which meets every week to do a series of unusual exercises: first, five minutes of subject-verb-object sentences; then, ten minutes of linking sentences; and finally, one long, continuous run-on sentence for twenty minutes. I was puzzled by so much prescription.

“It’s an interesting paradox,” she said.

Sometimes, the more constraints we give ourselves, the more fun we can have. Think about the rules of a sport or a game: while a free-for-all may sound like fun, we often prefer to have rules and guidelines, and to see how much creativity and mastery we can accomplish within those guidelines. For these particular exercises (which were taught to me by the artist and writer Nancy Canyon), the rules give your intellectual mind something to concentrate on, and then your subconscious mind can come out to play. The time limit quiets the inner censor and forces you to keep writing whatever comes out.

Miller said she also plays in her writing practice by trying pieces as “hermit crab” essays:

In a hermit crab piece, you are adopting already existing forms to tell your story, such as a recipe, a how-to article, etc. I’ve written pieces in the forms of rejection notes, field guides, a table of figures, and how-to pieces. I end up having so much fun developing and playing with the voices of these forms that the writing barely seems like work. In the rejection note piece, titled, “We Regret to Inform You,” I begin by cataloging all the rejections one receives from grade school on, so it starts on a lighthearted note and gets progressively more serious as the chronology goes along, including my experiences with two miscarriages in my early twenties.

Miller has talked about seasons in her writing life—writing in solitude, writing in community, and, most recently, writing in collaboration:

I’ve been doing two different collaborations over the last year: one with my colleague and friend Lee Gulyas and one with my friend Julie Marie Wade. With Lee, we’ve been trading photographs and writing to the images, sometimes together and sometimes individually. You never know what the image will trigger, how our two perspectives will either mesh or diverge.

With Julie, we’ve written many different kinds of essays, usually with one of us starting on a specific topic and lobbing the essay back to the other. In this way, the essay builds bit by bit, shifting directions, always surprising us. Sometimes, it feels like a conversation with each section referring directly to something that came before (such as the essay “Toys” in CNF #60); sometimes, it feels more like parallel play.

I asked if she had always approached writing with this attitude of play.

I can say that after writing for more than thirty years, and teaching for almost twenty, I had to find some new ways to approach the writing process, or I would have stopped writing altogether. As a creative nonfiction writer, it can be easy to feel like you’ve used up your material, so the emphasis becomes finding new perspectives and forms. And yes, this approach makes me very happy to write. I get that thrill of writing something new and unexpected almost every time I come out to play.

Brian Doyle

I first met Brian Doyle at a writers’ workshop fifteen years ago and have been a fan ever since. He had a handout that suggested writers think sideways: What does grass mean? How does winter smell? In “Playfulnessness: A Note,” Doyle argues that the essay is “the most playful of forms, liable to hilarity and free association and startlement.” I recently asked him if he thinks he brings those qualities to his own writing.

Hmm—I do think it’s true, and immediately think of my sister saying I am congenitally wonder-addled because I got spectacles at age seven and have never recovered from that wash of wonder. I suppose I am also sort of addicted to the salt and swing and song of the American language, which is a bruised dusty lewd brave vibrant language, and trammeling it carefully seems disrespectful to me, as long as I am clear. I set out with an idea and try to hammer sentences that have loose ends; does that make sense? I never know where a story or an essay or a proem is going to end up, or even go, quite. . . . I just start, and I have in mind that I want to write like people talk and think, in loose-limbed, free, piercing, entertaining ways, and things go from there—sometimes utterly to the dogs.

I had to ask: what does it mean to hammer sentences that have loose ends?

I am trying to stay open to surprise, to spin, to swerve, to deepen—I want to start and then see what happens. I suspect that if you know exactly what you want to say, or exactly how a piece should end, then you have put yourself in a polite jail cell. I have the utmost respect for op-eds and editorials and reports and journalism, but I also love and am much more deeply moved by pieces that are open to surprise. An example for me is a long essay called “The Meteorites,” which started out simply as a list of all the weird summer jobs I’d had, and morphed into a piece about being a counselor at a summer day camp, and finally into a piece very much about the spangle and spatter of light and love.

Language isn’t the only thing Doyle doesn’t “trammel carefully.” He also plays with form, and I asked him about his proems —the word he uses to describe his box-shaped pieces that are part poem, part prose, part prayer.

With the proems, I want to get to some place between prose and poems, because while poems at their best are the form closest to music and swing and rhythm and cadence, at their worst, they are artsy-fartsy selfish elusive self-absorbed muddles; can you make a thing that’s alert to music but also clear as a bell, in unadorned conversational lines? And as regarding forms, there are so many: the story that’s all one voice; a paragraph in which two stories are being told alternately, as happens in my novel Mink River; the essay that is clearly wildly hyperbolic but also totally true because you waved the hyperbole flag, somehow. . .

Doyle has advised new writers to “type fast and tell a story with your fingers.”

Newer writers very often sit down with expectations and plans and programs and outlines and assumptions as to form, and I think all those things are little jail cells. You shut off so much possible when you insist on what must be. And so much poor writing is just news and memory and explanation and persuasion and report and data and airy opinion; whereas stories are bigger deeper wilder unforgettabler. For me, I think it was years as a journalist on magazines and papers in Boston and Chicago that made me yearn for what was under mere reporting and accounting. Could I catch and share moments, images, the deeper story? Could you use one tiny story to carry a thousand bigger stories on its shoulders?

David Quammen

I met David Quammen a year ago when I interviewed him about his book Ebola in the wake of the 2014 outbreak. A literary journalist who specializes in ecology and evolutionary biology, Quammen told me, then, that his purposes “are divided about halfway between education and vaudeville” as he tries to make science writing accessible to a broad audience. When I recently asked him about approaching writing with an attitude of playfulness, he made it clear he didn’t like that word:

First thing I want to say is that I distrust programmatic approaches to writing. It can’t be taught. A person is funny or playful if he or she has that capacity. Or not. It’s not a recipe. I love humor. I love surprise. I tend to be a smart aleck. “Playfulness”? Meh.

I pressed him. While playfulness may not be the right word in every case, how writers escape “programmatic” approaches to writing to keep returning and delighting in their work was exactly what I was interested in. How, for instance, does he find moments of relief while writing about infectious disease? He acknowledged the challenge:

The world right now is grim. Problems are dire. It’s rotten, catastrophic. But also filled with wonders, joys, amazing places and things, heroic behaviors. Pratfalls and ridiculosity. It’s always important to be able to laugh in the face of gloom, and in the face of time. I’ve learned that from some of the masters—Samuel Beckett; Faulkner; Ed Abbey; Dorothy Parker; my Irish mother, Mary Egan Quammen.

Quammen noted his humor can be dry and oblique. In Spillover , about the growing incidence of zoonotic diseases (infections that spread from animals to humans), he recounts an instance in which a Texas lab euthanized forty-nine monkeys as a precaution because they shared the same room as one that died and tested positive for Reston virus. Most of the monkeys, later screened posthumously for the virus, tested negative. Without missing a beat, Quammen writes, “Ten employees who had helped unload and handle the monkeys were also screened for infection, and they also tested negative, but none of them were euthanized.”

Gallows humor is helpful, too, if you’re writing about something like Ebola or HIV or herpes B. There’s always room, if it’s done with irony about the brutality of life and with sympathy for the victims’ side. Why not laugh darkly? We need laughter as much as we need pharmaceuticals.

Surprise is something Quammen said he relishes in his work. For him, it comes not from plumbing the depths of memory, but from the people he interviews.

I get interested, immediately, in their whole lives, their whole stories. I wait and hope for them to surprise me. I never ever ever say to a source, “Give me a quote on yadda yadda.” I ask genuine questions. I wait and hope for them to tell me a story because they suddenly feel they can trust me with something they have never told any other person—or, at least, any other writer. Jack Horner did that with me, 35 years ago: dyslexia led him to dinosaur bones. Kelly Warfield did it more recently: working in a 7-Eleven at Fort Detrick led her to Ebola research.

Abigail Thomas

At the writing retreat, Brenda Miller introduced me to Thomas’s first memoir, Safekeeping . She presented it as an example of memoir that—with its tiny micro-chapters, third-person accounts, and soliloquies from Thomas’s sister who comes in now and again to explain the action (a move Miller likened to a Greek chorus)—doesn’t follow convention. It’s a memoir about loss, and yet there are moments when it’s impossible not to laugh. I asked Thomas about the book’s playful tone.

Well, lots of my memories were hilarious, as were the conversations with my sister. Life is full of loss but also a lot of laughs, thank god. And yeah, probably because I had no set plan, no outline, no nothing, anything and everything came marching in. Or slithering. Life is so very funny, right in the middle of everything awful. That’s how we survive, I think.

The way I wrote Safekeeping was determined by the way my memory works (or doesn’t). My memory is terrible, but what I do remember, I remember well. There usually isn’t any interstitial material. After [my second husband] Quin died, these hundreds of little pieces came more or less flying out of me. It wasn’t a plan. I really didn’t know why I was doing what I was doing, didn’t for a long time think it would be a book. I was writing down moments, mostly—moments and feelings I remembered well.

I do think that if you have a memory, and you get it right, you leave it alone. You don’t need to put in the weather report or whatever else is lying around on the grass. Hit it, hit it as best as you can, and move on. And I couldn’t have done it without my sister. Wonderful, the Greek chorus description. Perfect.

Thomas is known for assigning her students “two pages” exercises as a way into a story “they may be staring too directly in the face,” she writes in her book Thinking about Memoir . She recalled a workshop in which she asked students to write two pages about a time they were dressed inappropriately for the occasion:

One woman described what had happened to her first husband. He had been helping load a truck for a neighbor, someone he barely knew, but that was the kind of generous man he was. The truck moved unexpectedly, and her husband was thrown to the ground. By the time they got him to the hospital, he was declared brain-dead. She remembered walking back and forth on the roof of the hospital with her husband’s brother, trying to decide whether or not to take him off life support, and thinking she was wearing the wrong clothes to be making such a decision: cutoffs, a T-shirt, sandals. It was the first time she’d ever written about this, and it was the assignment that gave her a side door. Extremely moving.

Two pages makes it less intimidating. If it goes longer, fine. But it doesn’t have to. We’re not on guard.

There’s a line in Thinking about Memoir that reminds me of the object lesson at the writers’ retreat with the bell: “We do better when we’re not trying too hard,” Thomas writes. “There is nothing more deadening to creativity than the grim determination to write.” How does she avoid the writerly tendency toward grim determination?

Doing absolutely nothing helps. Keep quiet. Take note of what you notice. See what happens. Get out of the way. Stop thinking. Wait for the unlikely pair to couple. Take naps. Especially take naps. If something strikes you while you’re beginning to drift off (and it will), get up immediately and write it down. For me, painting is a wonderful way of using a different part of what’s left of my brain. I just wait for the accident, wait for the thing to reveal itself to me. I’m NOT in charge.

What’s the most fun you’ve ever had writing?

Brenda Miller:

The most fun I’ve ever had writing was when I wrote my first hermit crab piece, “How to Meditate.” I loved poking fun at both myself and the earnestness of the meditation community while still getting at the heart of some essential experiences. It was the first time I felt so immersed in a voice not my own, and I wrote the entire piece in one twelve-hour writing day on retreat at the Ucross Foundation in Wyoming.

Brian Doyle:

Oh man, a nonfiction book about a year in a vineyard: The Grail . That was fun for all sorts of reasons, not just the wine. To write loose and free about a real place and people and science, to write a fun book about wine in a world filled with so many somber, lugubrious books about wine. . . .

David Quammen:

In Spillover, I used the techniques of fiction (which I had once used in writing novels) to give the reader an imagined (truth in advertising) version of how the fateful passage of HIV from a forest-dwelling chimpanzee to the big cities of Central Africa may have happened. It was risky, this movement in a nonfiction book from carefully reported scientific fact into a mythic mode—and it was liberating, and maybe a bit provocative. I can still remember the thrill as my hypothetical story of that event, featuring a character I called the Voyager, unfolded for me each day on the page. It was great fun, in roughly the same way that running a Class V stretch of whitewater in a kayak is fun—dangerous, exhilarating, worth-the-risk fun.

Abigail Thomas:

Well, I had a lot of fun with “Sixteen Again,” the account of a date where I feel madly in love with the guy who did not return the compliment, and got over it very quickly. The essay changed in the course of the writing from a lament to a sort of triumph, and I wound up laughing.

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Importance of Play in a Child’s Social Development Towards Adulthood Expository Essay

• To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
• As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
• As a template for you assignment

Introduction

Social development, stages of social development, role of play in a child’s social development, importance of play, types of play, attachment between childhood and adulthood.

United Nations High Commission for Human Rights says that “playing is an important part of a child that should be recognized as a right of every child” (1989, np ). This right is however contested by the issues of child labor and mistreatment practices. Not all children are privileged to the right of play and some of these children are not enjoying the full benefits of this right to the maximum.

This is forcing the children grow up too quickly missing out on the benefits that playing has to offer and limiting their ability of developing their own personal unique potential UNCHR (1989) notes “playing develops the cognitive, social and emotional well being of the child and the parents as well.” In some cases, play in a child’s life may not be preparing them for their future social life; it may be the way by which a child actively takes part in social life and negotiating relationships (Strandell 2000, 155).

Social development is an important aspect of a child’s healthful progress in life. Child development on the other hand describes the biological and psychological changes that take place in an individual between birth and the end of adolescence. The foundation of a child’s social development determines whether the child will be able to form nourishing relationships and assimilate into social situations with ease when they are adults.

A child begins to develop socially when it first and foremost interacts with its parents. The parents are supposed to give and show their child love and paying attention to their needs as these are the building blocks in social development that will help the child grow into a content, self-assured and socially healthy person (Dwase, 2008)

Social development of children does not happen overnight, there are different stages that the child goes through so as to develop socially among peers and other people around them. These stages are the building blocks of how one will interact with other people socially as an adult. Parents and care givers therefore are to pay close attention to how their children are developing socially as this will determine how the child will interact socially as an adult.

The stages of child development are; trust vs. mistrust, autonomy vs. shame, initiative vs. guilt, industry vs. inferiority, identity vs. role confusion. During these stages the person develops differently learning how to fit in with different people and how to interact with these different people.

This paper will focus on how playing affects the child social development as a child and as an adult. Childhood friends give children more than just a playmate, learning to make friends and maintaining them are crucial aspects of a child’s development skills that help them not only in their personal lives but also in their professional lives in the future (kid’s development 2005)

Child development is influenced by many things that the child comes in contact with as they grow up, playing is part and parcel of the social development of the child and it is quite important. Playing among children is chosen due to free will, naturally inspired and directed from a personal view.

According to a report by American Academy of Pediatrics (2007) limitless and free play is necessary for assisting children reach significant social, emotional and mind developmental high points making the children be better mangers of stress and become flexible. This shows that playing shapes how the child will view circumstances in the future and how the child will relate to other people. Playing with other involves patience, tolerance, understanding and most of all sharing; this will help the child carry these aspects to the future.

Play in children has other responsibilities apart from helping the child develop socially. “These responsibilities include but are not limited to; getting rid of surplus energy, understanding the social world, help children develop cognitively, helps children develop communication skills, assists children cope with their feelings and fears and to manage their emotional states, develop positive dispositions towards challenge, change and self-initiated learning” (Hyder 2005, 20).

Playing gets rid of the excess energy children have as they do not work and this energy needs to go somewhere thus this energy is used up during play. Playing plays a function when it comes to understanding the world. Play helps the child understand the role of adults in the world, this is seen when the girls tend to play with dolls imitating their mothers and boys tend to play with action figures imitating their fathers.

This role play helps the children understand the world of adults as they try to fit in. Piaget developed the notion that play is part of in the child’s cognitive development. The child needs to explore and experiment for themselves so as to fully understand and develop cognitively in the abstract view of aspects. During play a child is able to think in more intricate ways than their everyday life their imagination is used in play.

Play supports a child in developing communication skills through the use of language. In most games, the participants are required to talk so as pass on or receive a message, through the use of language the child learns how to communicate with their peers during play time. Language is used in classifying and organizing their games, imaginary playing, emphasizing social chain of command in the play ground. Through use of language, shy children can learn how to interact with others gaining and building their self confidence (Hyder 21).

Play has several important aspects in a child’s life. Through playing, a child develops and learns new things that may be of help to them in the future. Through play a child studies the skills that are essential to efficiently take part in tier world in regards to play. Playing gives children a natural platform where they can actively take part in different activities that improve physical, language, social and cognitive growth.

By taking part in games, children are able to expand their knowledge and understanding of themselves, others, and the physical world that surrounds them. Through understanding themselves first and others children are able to form a strong base for their future relationships that are more often than not likely to be healthy. (McFadden, 2010)

Another importance of play is developing the child’s motor development. This is through the physical activities that play offers the child becomes fit at no extra cost and the playing keeps them fit. Physically fit children are healthy and health is one of the recommendations of healthy child development.

By management of playing materials, the child develops small valuable skills for instance motor skills. Large motor skills alternatively are acquired as a child gets involved in vigorous physical activities while playing for instance in a game of soccer. These motor skills will assist the child as the child advances in school (McFadden, 2010).

Play is important in developing language skills in children whereby when they engage in recreation activities, they try out different words so as to convey their feelings and convey information to others and so on. As children become more experienced in their play skills, their language development becomes more and more mature.

Language in play is used to solve problems come up with new games and communicate ones wishes. Language skills are used in paying through playing name games, singing songs and reciting jump rope rhymes just to mention but a few (Illinois State Board of Education, 2010).

Playing provides a forum whereby children can socially interrelate with their peers. These relations can be through how the children team up to play certain games, discussing rules for a card game, deciding who will play which role in a game. Through these relations children learn the significance of societal norms and how to live with other children.

In the course of the social interaction children realize how to state and manage their emotions and to solve misunderstandings with others. Social interrelation during play helps the child develop a sense of value and ethics that is useful in the future of the child’s life. Playing provides opportunities whereby children promote cooperation amongst themselves. Through playing, children discover the advantages of working together in a team and sharing their toys with others (Tombs, 2006).

Playing is important as it enhances a child’s creativity and imagination. The children make up stories during play time, put on a puppet show for their friends play dress up improving their creativity and imagination through exploiting this aspect of play, the child may become a successful play writer or movie maker in the future (Illinois State Board of Education, 2010).

Through playing children are pushed to look at and control objects and materials in their environment and this improves their cognitive skills. McFadden (2010) notes “children gain more confidence in themselves as they play through encountering fun and success in their games.

The enhanced confidence motivates children to further explore their world and find more challenging activities to carry out.” Thoughts and views spoken by children during play increase and turn out to be more complicated as their play skills become more and more enhanced (Encyclopedia of social elements, 2010).

Play allows the young child to be in charge of their actions and this in turn develops their self esteem. children will also leave beyond their actual ages when it comes to play, they may pretend to be an astronaut, a lawyer, an engineer all in the name of play. When these activities are encouraged by care givers the children believe tend to believe in themselves making them prosper in their everyday lives and in all that they do in the present and in the future (Dixon, 2008, 63).

Klugman and Fasoli (1995, 45) states “there are different types of play that develop a child socially. These types of play are functional play, constructive play, pretend play and games with rules play.”

The first type, functional, deals with a situation where a child deals with the same type of play playing materials thereby gaining motor and applicable handiness. This type playing involves a wide range of activities hence not limited to the traditional types of playing activities for instance outdoor games hence, functional play occupies more than 51% of a child’s recreational activities when they are less than 3 years old. This type of play reduces as a child gets older but it remains important in addition, a child can engage in functional play by themselves or with other children.

Constructive play involves the child making something and coming up with solutions to problems these can occur when they are playing with building blocks, dolls and so. Children between the age of four and six engage in this type of play almost 50% of their play time. Constructive play enhances judgment and interpretation skills, problem solving skills and originality.

Pretend play involves children changing themselves, other people and objects from reality to make belief. This can be a one child activity or a group activity. Children in Pre School and kindergarten use this type of play most and forget it as they get older. Weiss (1993, 108) says, “Pretend play assists children in processing their emotions, events they have gone through as well as put their social skills into practice, learn values, develop language skills and generate a rich imagination.”

Games with rules involve pre set rules that have to be followed for the game to be successful they include soccer, board games, and so. This type of play provides children with an opportunity to gain knowledge of and observe cooperation, reciprocal understanding and reasonable thinking.

Play begins when children are first born and is continues until one reaches the end of adolescence the onset of adulthood. Play as we have seen previously is quite important in the lives of the children as it helps them into the future generation. This is simply to say one can pick out adults who were allowed to exercise their rights to play and those who were not.

Adults who exercised their right to play tend to be easier to communicate to as they developed people skills at an early age. On the other hand adults who did not exercise their right to play tend to be difficult to communicate to, they may turn out to be people who commit violent crime due to their antisocial nature from the time they were children (Weiss 1993, 45).

An adult, who was encouraged to play as a child, will have high self esteem and be confident with carrying out things he needs to do contrary to an adult who was punished for playing. Playing gives one the building blocks of life that are essential in making the future life more pleasant to enjoy as many of the skills they have obtained were encouraged and developed through playing as a child.

Playing teaches children the importance of sharing and how to express themselves as well as how to solve problems this reflects in their adult lives as they understand the different situations and people around them. Playing makes one open to different situations and possibilities that the world offers in addition to this a child learns how to be resilient to problems as an adult. (American Academy of Pediatrics 2006, 182)

When it comes to leisure as an adult, one tends to link the play time he experienced as a child to the leisure he is experiencing as an adult. This simply means that leisure in adult hood depends on the leisure one had as a child. Both the leisure activities are linked as one may be looking for the joy they felt as a child. This means that if a person was allowed to exercise the right of play when they were children they will most likely venture into leisure activities as adults so as to allow themselves to relax and enjoy their lives.

Leisure to adults is equivalent to playing children and both these two aspects are related. In order to enjoy leisure as an adult, one must have enjoyed playing as a child; it is evident that leisure is as a result of play in ones early years. Leisure is a form of play that has evolved over the years as one grows up. Leisure activities and play may be similar but leisure is a bit more complex as the individual has matured.

Examples of leisure activities for adults include scrabble a board game where one needs to have a good command of language, filling complex cross word puzzles just to mention but a few. Some leisure activities that include sports may be one and the same for adults and children but the intensity varies (Bull et al 2002, 39).

In conclusion, play is a very important aspect of not only a child’s life but an individual’s life. Play helps a child develop alone and get guidance from its care givers so as to keep improving in different aspects of life. Play has several roles and importances in a person’s life, this is not to say that play is the only thing that plays a part in developing a child socially but it plays a huge role when it comes to a child’s social development.

Children develop socially at different ages and through different situations, these situations include observing and participating in play. Children are supposed to be encouraged to play as it is through playing that they will develop their own individual personalities and learn how to cope with the different personalities around them and in the world.

Play opens up the mind of the child to many different situations and possibilities. Children learn who to play with and who not to play with; they choose their friends based on how they get along when it comes to playing.

The interaction that children have as they playing determines the kind of people they will turn out to be in future. Some children also use playing as an arena to air out their feelings and their ideas and this helps them learn how to adapt to different situations and circumstances and how to deal wit issues that affect them directly and indirectly.

Play also help the children keep fit and develop their motor as well as their cognitive skills and language skills. The physical activities that involve running about, jumping keep the child fit and healthy. The controlling of their toys helps children move about their hands and feet such that they are not sitting in one position the whole day. Planning about their games, thinking of new ways to play help the children develop innovative brains and encourage them to be more creative in their day to day lives which is big help for their future lives.

Language skills are a result of reciting rhymes, singing songs and passing on messages that help the children become more articulate and eloquent in their speech and their communication skills. Language is a big part of human life and if one does not learn how to communicate correctly as a child it may become a huge problem when they grow older and they have to pass on information yet they cannot seem they correct way to pass the intended message.

Play promotes a child’s self esteem such that the child is not afraid of voicing their concerns or to ask questions. Self esteem and self confidence are big parts of an adult life, they enable one to communicate with other people correctly and this self esteem is build and reinforced when one is a child.

Self esteem first shows when the child is playing by themselves or with other children, it is up to the parents and care givers to reinforce the self esteem and self confidence of their children through playing so as they can turn out to be responsible and successful people in the society.

American Academy of Pediatrics. (2006). The importance of Play in promoting healthy child development and maintaining strong parent-child bonds . American Academy of Pediatrics . Web.

Bull, C., Hoose, J. & Weed, M., (2002) Introduction to leisure studies . London: Longman.

Dixon E., (2008). Importance of play in child development . New Jersey, NY : Cengage.

Dwase, D. D., (2008). Child social development. Ezine articles. Web.

Encyclopedia of social elements (2010). The importance of play . Web.

Hyder, T., (2005). War, Conflict and Play. London: Routledge.

Illinois State Board of Education. (2010). Illinois Early Learning Project: Young Children Need to play. Illinois State Board of Education . Web.

Kid’s development. (2005). Stages of children’s social development . Kid’s development . Web.

Klugman, E., & Fasoli, L., (1995). Taking the High Road Toward a Definition of Play, Play, Policy and Practice. St. Paul, Minnesota: Red Leaf Press.

McFadden L., (2010). The Importance of play in Early Childhood Development. Web.

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. (1989). Convention on the Rights of the Child. General Assembly Resolution 44/25 of 20 November 1989 . Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Web.

Strandell, H., (2000). ‘What is the use of children’s play: preparation or social participation?’ in Penn, H. (ed.). Early Childhood Services: Theory, Policy and Pactice pp. 147-157. Buckingham: Open University Press.

Tombs M., (2006). The Importance of play in a child’s development. Web.

Weiss. R., (1993). The attachment bond in childhood and adulthood in Attachment across the life cycle . Routledge, London.

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The value of play in education.

• Einar Sundsdal Einar Sundsdal Norwegian University of Science and Technology
•  and  Maria Øksnes Maria Øksnes Norwegian University of Science and Technology
• https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264093.013.1431
• Published online: 23 February 2021

Play has been an interest of philosophers and educationalists since the first academies and a field of scholarly interest for over a hundred years. There is no memorandum of understanding on what is common to all forms of play, neither in a philosophical nor an educational context. Despite this lack of a common understanding of play, philosophers of education have had high expectations for play’s contributions to human life. In troubling times, when philosophers and educationalists assume that freedom is compromised, the future is uncertain and bleak, and there is not much hope for freedom and progress, play is often considered a valuable problem-solving apparatus. Bold claims are made on behalf of play—that it is “the absolute primary category of life,” “the purest, most spiritual activity of man,” and not least that man is “only fully a human being when he plays.”

It is a common assumption that children’s play is a future-oriented practice central to all development and learning in childhood. Play has been valued for its role in the education and upbringing of children based on the belief that through play the child moves forward. This assumption raises important questions about both play and educational practice. When formal schooling is a central part of children’s lives, educationalists ask how play can contribute to the best academic education. Thus, a central question has been to figure out how play can be put to use as a means for reaching certain educational goals, and how play can be organized to best prepare children for further education and development. Most researchers do not deny that play may contribute to a child’s development, but some argue that we have gone too far in assuming the contributions play makes to development and learning. They question whether it is possible to make play work for academic education and suggest that we risk replacing the spontaneous experience of play with a more instrumental version of play where it becomes a skill or literacy. This questioning points to the discussion of when something is play and when it is not play but something else. In addition, the claim that play can contribute to a range of developmental and learning outcomes seems to hinder research premised on the intrinsic value of play.

• play theory
• development
• guided play

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Importance of Play in Early Childhood

Explore the different definitions of play and why it is so important in this News You Can Use. This is useful information for home visitors, program staff, caregivers, and others serving infants and toddlers through Early Head Start and Migrant and Seasonal Head Start. Play benefits every aspect of child development as infants and toddlers explore their world and their bodies, while also learning about and mastering relationships and social skills.

Introduction

Did you know that in every culture, all over the world, children play? The United Nations even considers play to be the right of every child. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) published a report about how important play is and lists some of the benefits of play: 

• Play supports healthy brain development
• Play is one way infants and toddlers engage in and interact with their environment
• Play allows children to safely explore their fears and practice adult roles
• Play is a way that children build relationships with their peers and caregivers

Play is a pretty important part of life. We have a biological drive to play, very much like our biological need to sleep. Satisfying the need to play can be very fulfilling. Play can bring deep joy for both children and adults.

What is Play?

When you think of play, what comes to mind? For adults, it might be organized sports or a hobby. For older children, it can be a world of make believe. For toddlers and infants, it can be delighted rolling back and forth on the floor, banging objects together, pouring water, or just running around in circles.

Play is different for everyone. For example, to some, a room full of infants and toddlers is a really playful place, whereas for others, it can be pretty scary!

Play, put very simply, is an activity that is fun and engaging for the player. Play is freely chosen by the player, although play opportunities may be provided by others.

Play and Exploration

Exploration is where play begins. When infants and toddlers explore new objects they will often try to discover what each object is and what it does.  For example, young infants might explore a rattle by mouthing, shaking, banging, pulling, and throwing it. Toddlers have more experience with exploring new objects. Toddlers, given an empty but closed container, might try to open, shake, turn over, look at the object, or even ask a caregiver for help.

Generally, exploration happens before play. Exploration is how we come to know an object. Once we have some understanding, then we can play with the object. Once the infant understands that shaking the rattle makes a noise, he can shake for the pure delight of shaking! The toddler who has discovered how to open and close the container can move on to playing with it by putting smaller toys inside the container and closing it up.

Often while children play, they discover something new about the object they are playing with. Maybe while shaking the rattle, the baby accidentally hits a mobile hanging over her head. Perhaps the toddler just discovered that while some toys fit into the container there are many that do not. When toddlers play, it brings them to a deeper understanding of the objects and to a place where there is more to learn.

Theories About Learning Through Play

Another very important aspect of play, especially for infants and toddlers, is that play is a way they learn about and make sense of their world. Through play children can:

• Manipulate and understand the physical properties of objects
• Use and hear new language
• Build their relationships with caregivers and peers
• Use their bodies in new ways

The idea of learning through play can make more sense by understanding some of the theories about how people learn. Theories are ideas about how things work, and there are many theories about learning. The following are theories put forth by two famous people in the world of child development. In fact, you’ve probably heard of them before. Don’t forget your own expertise, ideas, and experience. You probably have some of your own ideas about learning through play from spending time with infants and toddlers.

• Jean Piaget (1896–1980) studied how people learn. He was very interested in how children use play to learn about their world. Piaget believed that children learn through actively engaging in their environment. He believed that through play, children are practicing new skills and ideas until they really understand them, or as he put it, “constructing knowledge.”  Piaget believed that play is the most important way children learn.
• Lev Vygotsky (1896–1934) also believed that children learn through play. While Piaget focused mainly on how children manipulate objects, Vygotsky felt that the adults who supported play were just as important. Vygotsky thought that while young children could learn some things by themselves, they would learn much more if helped by an adult. The difference between what a child can do alone and what a child can do with help is called the “zone of proximal development.” When adults help children through this zone of what they can almost do, but not quite, it is called “scaffolding.” For example, think of a baby who can almost roll over, but gets stuck because his arm is in the way. An adult can scaffold, or help with their rolling over, by tucking in his arm.

Your Own Cultural Lens for Looking at Play

Play is a part of every young child’s life. How we play is different depending on our home life and culture.  Some cultures provide lots of free time for play; whereas in other cultures, children spend less time playing. In some cultures, children’s play is more cooperative; in others it is more competitive. Some families believe that play objects should be educational or store bought; other families might prefer or only be able to afford homemade toys. Just as children learn to speak the language they hear around them, the people and objects in their lives will provide structure for their play. Play is one way children learn and practice the values that are important to their families, how to interact with one another, and how to use the objects and language of their communities.

Take a moment to think about some of the messages you heard about play from your family growing up. How was play valued in your family? Did your parents, grandparents, siblings, or other family members spend time playing with you? Did you have lots of “educational” toys or store-bought items? Did you have many hours of unsupervised play or were you mostly involved in activities?

Why is Play so Important?

Play benefits every aspect of child development. The act of play comes so naturally it seems to be little more than a simple, joyful experience. Many child development experts believe that play is how infants and toddlers learn about their world. Play provides children with opportunities to learn about and master relationships, language, math, science, problem solving, and their bodies. Let’s look more deeply at all the ways play contributes to development.

Building Relationships Through Play

One of the most important things that young children learn through play is how to form and maintain relationships with others.

Play Builds Caregiver Relationships

Three-month-old Cayden lies in the lap of his in-home family caregiver, Julisa. Cayden stares at her and then coos. Julisa watches Cayden and repeats the sound he makes. Cayden smiles and wiggles as Julisa smiles back. Both Cayden and Julisa clearly enjoy their play together.

Even very young babies enjoy play. They make eye contact and sounds to their parents and caregivers. When the adult responds back to them, they might wiggle or coo. These back and forth interactions are the first steps toward forming a relationship, and are the “play” of very young infants.

Play is an important part of the relationship between babies and caregivers. Babies who have nurturing relationships in their lives have better play skills. These close relationships support infant’s and toddler’s play.

Play Builds Peer Relationships

Twelve-month-old Isaiah is standing at the door clapping his hands. He shouts “Hi” down the hallway. His caregiver, Elisa, comes to see who he is talking to. She realizes that 15-month-old Heidi is arriving with her mom. While Elisa greets them both, Heidi and Isaiah smile at each other and say, “Hi.” Isaiah toddles off to get a ball and turns to see if Heidi is following him. She is! He gets the ball and says to her, “Ball,” and hands it to her. Heidi takes the ball, and they begin to play by passing it back and forth.

Isaiah and Heidi might seem pretty young to be playing together. When babies have many opportunities to play together they begin to form early friendships. Have you ever noticed how even very young infants are interested in other babies? Maybe you’ve seen babies roll toward each other until they are close enough to touch. You may have noticed that some babies even seem to form friendships with each other. They might seek each other out every day, or you might notice they are pleased to spend time together. Each play episode adds a little bit more to the friendship, building up over time until children play easily together.

Play Builds Social Skills

Thirteen-month-old Alliah takes her baby doll and brings it over to the chair where she and her friends eat. Alliah puts the baby in the chair and asks her caregiver for a spoon and bowl by pointing to the objects she wants. Alliah takes the spoon and scoops into the bowl and pretends to feed her baby. As she brings the spoon to the doll’s mouth she says, “Mmmm.”

Tasia and Jo Jo are 2-year-olds who love the toy vacuum cleaner in their child care provider’s home. If one of them has it, the other wants it. Jo Jo found it first today, and Tasia came over and tried to grab it from him. Their caregiver walked over to the struggling toddlers and said, “Tasia you really want the vacuum cleaner, but Jo Jo is playing with it right now. Can you ask him if you can have a turn when he is done?” Tasia and Jo Jo have been through this before. Tasia turns to Jo Jo and says, “Turn?” Jo Jo nods yes and continues to play for a moment, then brings the vacuum over to Tasia with a grin and says, “Here you go!”

Think about something you are really good at. Maybe it’s changing a diaper on a wiggling baby. This is a skill that probably took some practice before you were such an expert. Play is a way children “practice” doing what they see the adults around them do. Older toddlers are likely to be found in the dramatic play area imitating the roles and routines they see around them every day.

It is not unusual to see a child feeding a baby doll and practicing other types of caregiving. Even younger babies might be seen chatting on a toy phone or gently holding a doll. Caregivers and parents can support this sort of play by providing props like dolls, dishes, and phones.

While it is always preferable to have multiples of a popular toy, sometimes it doesn’t work out. Sometimes a toy that sat on the shelf for months without being noticed is suddenly a hot item! When two children both want the same toy, consider it one of the many opportunities presented through play for learning new social skills such as waiting and being patient. It is not developmentally appropriate to expect infants and toddlers to share a single toy. However, as they get older, they can understand the concept of taking turns. When toddlers are taking turns it can help for an adult to point out how patient they are while they wait for their toy. In the mean time, adults might offer the toddlers another play opportunity while waiting for their turn.

A sensitive adult can help children play successfully with each other. A child who has a difficult time playing with peers might play better with a little bit of help. The adult can also help toddlers’ continue to play together. Much like the Tasia and Jo Jo’s story earlier, it is not unusual for infants or toddlers to want a toy someone already has. When someone else is playing with a toy, it’s like a commercial that just makes that toy look like so much fun!

Sometimes kids can work these differences out without help. It can be very interesting to watch the negotiation! However, if it looks like children might start hurting each other, then an adult will need to step in and encourage children to find ways to solve the conflict. Very young children may need suggestions from an adult to come up with possible solutions to work out their negotiations. A caregiver may suggest children can trade toys, do something else until their friend is done with the toy, or ask the child for the toy when she is done.

Learning About the World Through Play

Play is an important way that infants and toddlers interact with the people and objects around them. Through these interactions they learn about their world.

Understanding Concepts Through Mastery Play

At drop-off, 9-month-old Hannah cries as her mother hands her over to her caregiver, Jenna. Hannah has spent the past six months with Jenna and knows her well. Jenna explains to Hannah’s mother that at nine months, Hannah is just starting to understand that her mother is still “out there somewhere,” even when she cannot see her. This makes Hannah sad that she can’t be with her mother all of the time. After Hannah is calm, Jenna plays peek-a-boo with her. Jenna chooses this game because it helps Hannah begin to understand that while a person may “disappear,” he or she will come back. Hannah delights in the disappearance and reappearance of her beloved teacher.

Mastery play is when play is used to practice (or master) skills and ideas.  An example of that is in the previous vignette. At about 8 to 10 months, babies may begin to show signs of separation anxiety. A baby who may have been very happy going to child care might suddenly have a hard time saying good-bye to her family. This is because the baby has begun to master the concept of object permanence—a person or object continues to exist even when it can no longer be seen. Not surprisingly, babies at this age seem to enjoy the game of peek- a-boo, which gives them a chance to practice and test out this new idea. Playing also gives children a sense of control, which can be comforting. In the previous vignette, Hannah cannot stop her mother from leaving, but she can hide herself under a blanket and reappear whenever she likes.

Another important concept babies develop through play is cause and effect, or learning that an action can cause something to happen. Some of the first cause-and-effect experiences are when babies cry and someone comes to comfort them. Babies are learning that crying brings adults to care for their needs. Another way babies learn about cause and effect is by playing with objects; for example, if you push a ball it will roll away from you. If you shake a maraca, it makes a sound. Play is a way that infants and toddlers learn about complicated ideas through simple and repeated experiences.

Play and Problem Solving

Three-month-old Diego lies on his back and mouths a rattle. He loses his grip on the rattle and it falls on his chest. Now he must find the rattle in order to keep playing with it.

Thirteen-month-old Samora understands a lot about blocks. She’s spent a great deal of time knocking down towers built by her mom and home visitor, but now she is trying to build one of her own. She has two stacked and is placing a third block on the pile. Before she even lets the block go, the tower falls down!

Two-year-old Micah is running outside with his friends to play. Both he and Jayla run to the same bike. The two each try to climb onto the bike at the same time.

These children are all at the threshold of learning. What an exciting place for them to be! Will Diego find his rattle? Will Samora build her block tower? Who will get the bike, Jayla or Micah? These exciting episodes of discovery are happening every day in your group and during socializations. Children are using the skills they have in play, and their curiosity and interest push them to a point where they are going to have to learn something new in order to continue their play.

It might seem very difficult to watch Diego struggle with his rattle. He might seem frustrated and confused about what to do next. Observe him for a moment; let the frustration lead him toward a solution. The moment where his hand brushes the rattle on his chest is a thrilling moment of discovery for him! Of course, if a baby gets stuck or might get hurt, an adult should keep them safe. When you give babies a chance to solve the problems they create through play, it helps them learn new skills.

Play and Language

During a home visit 3-month-old Dejah is making gurgles and coos to her mother. Her mother, Donna, waits for a quiet moment and then copies the sounds Dejah makes. The two have a playful conversation back and forth while their home visitor smiles nearby.

Mayanna sits on the floor with the babies. Ten-month-old Nita crawls into her lap. Nita grabs Mayanna’s hands and begins to clap them. Mayanna says, “You want to play patty cake!” as they clap and sing together. Mayanna ends the chant with the phrase,“Put it in the oven for Nita and me!”

Twenty-eight-month-old Christian’s favorite part of coming to socializations is the dramatic play area. He goes over and puts on his favorite hat and grabs a briefcase. He walks back over to his mom and says, “I go.” His mother, Christina, says, “You are going somewhere. Where are you going?” Christian says, “Work.” Christina responds, “You are going to work. What will you do there?” Their conversation continues with Christian giving small answers to her questions and his mother listening and responding to him.

As children grow and learn, their ability to understand and use language in play is growing as well. Even at the earliest stages of language development babies enjoy playing with sounds and hearing others make playful sounds too. Infants and toddlers love to hear songs especially when their names are used.

Play activities that involve adults are opportunities to use language with infants and toddlers. When playing with young babies, try repeating the sounds they are making. Babies can then make a sound with their voice and hear the same sound in your voice. They are likely to enjoy this game for many turns, and why not? This is an early form of conversation.

When infants’ and toddlers’ lives are full of songs and playful language they are likely to learn more words and have a better understanding of how to use them. It is important that adults who join in pretend play with children ask meaningful questions the child can answer in lots of different ways. Notice how Christian’s mother turned his one-word answers into sentences and then asked him where he was going. She was asking open-ended questions. Open-ended questions don’t have a specific answer and the child can say whatever she likes and be “right.” Some examples of open-ended questions are as follows: “Where is your car going?” or “What do you think happens next?” Open-ended questions encourage children to think and give them the opportunity to express their own ideas. 

Learning About Our Bodies Through Play

As babies grow toddlers they are gaining so many skills that help them move their bodies around. Play is a fun way to learn about what your body can do and to be motivated to try new things.

Play and Movement

During one of their first few home visits Kayla talks to her home visitor, Diane, about her 8-month-old son Nate. She is concerned because Nate does not sit up well or crawl at all. Diane has noticed this as well and has been hoping for an opportunity to talk to Kayla about it. Diane notices that Kayla keeps Nate in his carseat for socializations. When Diane has gone on home visits Nate is often in a swing or an exersaucer. Diane begins gently by suggesting to Kayla that she give Nate more play time on the floor, at least half an hour a day to start. She shares that he might need more practice with using the muscles he will need in order to sit up or crawl.

In the first three years of life, infants and toddlers go from having little control over their bodies to becoming running, jumping, climbing, pushing, pulling, digging, active little people. That is a huge accomplishment! Babies are very motivated to learn how to use their bodies, and do so through active, physical play.

The National Association for Sports and Physical Education (NASPE)  recommends that infants and toddlers have at least 30 minutes a day of physically active play. NASPE points out that although infants and toddlers are ready to be active, they need the support of the adults in their lives. That means limiting the amount of time babies spend contained in carseats, swings, or bouncy chairs. Make sure that even very young infants have supervised tummy time and opportunities for free movement. Tummy time can be more appealing if it is playful and there is an adult on the floor nearby.

Rough and Tumble Play

Hattie’s dad José is the star of the socialization! He began by picking up Hattie and lifting her into the air saying, “You’re flying!” Soon other children were begging for a turn to “fly” too. Jose turned some of the older children upside down much to their giggling delight. Many of the children at the socialization really enjoyed and even seemed to crave this sort of exciting play.

Toddlers Kenny and Molly are outside playing a game of chase that ends in catch and wrestle. Their squeals of laughter can be heard throughout the playground! Their caregiver Lisa is keeping a close eye on what they are doing, but she is not stopping their play.

The type of play called rough and tumble play involves giggling, chasing, wrestling, running, and flying. Teachers or home visitors might have different reactions to this sort of play. Caregivers might wonder if they can keep all of the children safe when there is such active play or wrestling going on. Rough and tumble play does need to be supervised to make sure children are enjoying it. As long as everyone is still smiling and having fun, there is little need for an adult to step in.

Another benefit of rough and tumble play is that it can appeal to children who aren’t as good at joining groups in play. Energetic play can be easier to join than a group already involved in the dramatic play area or building in the block area. Adults can help children keep this play in safe areas such as on a mat or outside, and make sure that everyone who is playing is having fun.

Now that you know more about play, it is time to use what you have learned! As you observe infants and toddlers at play, think what they are learning about the people in their lives and the world around them. How might you build on and expand their learning and exploration? You can share with parents and colleagues all that you have learned about how play supports the healthy development of infants and toddlers. Most important, find some time to play yourself. Playing helps all of us feel better, learn new things, and stay curious about the world around us.

Words You Can Use  

Cause and effect:  Understanding an action can cause something to happen. When a baby pushes a ball and it rolls away, he is learning that his action caused the ball to roll.

Mastery play:  Play that is an opportunity to practice skills and ideas. When toddlers pour water into containers they are practicing, or learning to master, their pouring skills.

Object permanence:  Knowing that an object, or a person, exists even when he or she is out of sight. Understanding object permanence begins around 8–10 months and may be accompanied by separation anxiety.

Open-ended materials:  Toys that can be used in many different ways, toys that encourage imagination such as blocks, pieces of fabric, water, and sand.

Rough and tumble play:  Play that involves contact between children sometimes in the form of chasing and wrestling.

Scaffolding:  When adults support a child in learning a new skill. When a baby is learning to walk, adults often help them (scaffolding) by holding her hand before she is able to walk by herself.

Separation anxiety:  When a baby has a difficult time leaving, or separating from, his family or caregiver. These fears can begin around 8 months and intensify between 10 and 18 months.

Symbol:  A symbol is a word or an object that stands for something that is real such as when a toddler uses a block as a phone.

Zone of proximal development:  The difference between what a child can do alone and what a child can do with adult help. For example, a child who cannot walk yet will first be able to walk with the help of an adult.

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National Centers: Early Childhood Development, Teaching and Learning

Age Group: Infants and Toddlers

Series: News You Can Use

Last Updated: April 1, 2024

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Play is an important part of children's learning and development. Find articles on how to intentionally connect play and learning, ideas to share with families, and the latest research about learning and play.

How Play Connects to Learning

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5 Important Takeaways From The 2024–2025 U.S. News And World Report Best Global University Rankings

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This morning, U.S. News and World Report released their much-anticipated 2024-2025 Best Global University Rankings. These annual rankings are a cornerstone in the field, influencing decisions that range from student applications to institutional funding and providing a glimpse into the current state of affairs in the world of higher education. This list can provide helpful insights into the relative merits of the schools students may be considering adding to their college lists. In order to use this list effectively, however, it is important to understand the nuances of the ranking system and the factors considered therein.

Here is a breakdown of the rankings’ methodology, as well as key takeaways from this year’s list:

Methodology

The U.S. News and World Report Best Global University Rankings are based on a comprehensive methodology that evaluates colleges and universities across thirteen key metrics. These include:

• Global research reputation (12.5%)
• Regional research reputation (12.5%)
• Publications (10%)
• Books (2.5%)
• Conferences (2.5%)
• Normalized citation impact (10%)
• Total citations (7.5%)
• Number of publications that are among the 10% most cited (12.5%)
• Percentage of total publications that are among the 10% most cited (10%)
• International collaboration – relative to country (5%)
• International collaboration (5%)
• Number of highly cited papers that are among the top 1% most cited in their respective field 5%
• Percentage of total publications that are among the top 1% most highly cited papers 5%

In addition to the overall global rankings and country-specific rankings, U.S. News and World Report published a subject-specific ranking list , evaluating schools’ global positions in over 50 individual disciplines.

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These rankings offer quantitative data students can consider when building their college lists, providing a fairly comprehensive picture of universities’ academic prowess and institutional reach. That being said, students using the rankings to build their college lists should note that many of these factors do not capture the qualitative aspects of students’ experiences.

Key Takeaways from the 2024–25 Rankings

1. The number of universities considered rose by more than 10%.

This year, 2,250 universities across over 100 countries were considered—up more than ten percent from the 2,000 schools considered in the previous ranking.

2. Harvard University lands on top.

As in the last cycle, Harvard University claimed the #1 spot in the global rankings list. This prestigious accolade reflects Harvard's unparalleled academic excellence, groundbreaking research, and global influence. Known for its distinguished faculty, cutting-edge facilities, and a tradition of innovation, Harvard continues to set the standard in higher education, making it the leading choice for students and scholars worldwide.

3. The U.S. dominates the rankings for another year.

Nearly half of the top 50 schools in the ranking are located in the U.S., totaling 24 of the top 50 on the rankings list. Additionally, four out of the top five are U.S. schools: Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, and University of California, Berkeley. This remarkable achievement underscores the global prestige of U.S. universities, known for their world-class research, innovative academic programs, and extensive resources.

4. UT Austin and Brown University dropped in the rankings.

Both Brown University and The University of Texas at Austin surprisingly dropped in the rankings, falling out of the top 50. Given both schools’ excellence, this shift demonstrates the fierce competition for top spots in the rankings this year.

5. U.S. News and World Report adds new subjects to the rankings.

This year, four new disciplines were added to the subject-specific rankings, including: ecology; green and sustainable science and technology; environmental engineering; and marine and freshwater biology. These additions not only demonstrate the ranking system’s commitment to reflecting the most relevant information in higher education today, but also provide a glimpse into recent trends and changes in the disciplinary offerings at the most prestigious universities in the world.

The 2024–2025 U.S. News and World Report Rankings offer students valuable information regarding the trends in the global higher education landscape. While students should take their personal preferences and the intangible elements of a school’s culture that draw them to a specific school into account, these rankings can be a helpful first step for students as they set their collegiate goals and assemble their college lists.

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Law enforcement emphasizes importance of traffic safety after surge in hit-and-runs

With multiple hit-and-run accidents this week, local law enforcement traffic experts, emphasize how important it is for community members to obey traffic laws to ensure everyones safety.

Wednesday morning , IID confirmed at least 336 customers lost power after a vehicle crashed into power poles near Dillion Rd. and Hopper Rd. in an unincorporated area of Indio.

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AI fever drives Nvidia’s rise to world’s most valuable company

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Reporting by Lewis Krauskopf in New York Additional reporting by Saqib Iqbal Ahmed in New York and Noel Randewich in Oakland, California Editing by Ira Iosebashvili and Matthew Lewis

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The Importance of Children’s Play, Essay Example

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From a psychological perspective, play is important for children because it gives them the imaginative ability to be able to put different things together such as blocks and later different aspects of life. It is necessary for all children to play because playing teaches children about aspects about the real world, it is also crucial to their development because lack of play can leave a child without a sense of exploration about the world which is dangerous and can have detrimental consequences on them when they get older; it has been known that a child that does not play early will often end up depressed later on as they get older never mind constantly battling depression. It is indeed necessary for all children to play because it is something that helps develop their intelligence about the world around them, children who spend more time playing are better equipped to deal with deep seated emotional pain in the future, they deal with problems better as young adults and adults. According to Goldstein (2012), “every child needs to play because it strengthens their ability to comprehend and deal with the world around them” (Goldstein, 5, 2012). It can also be argued that a child’s play necessity is essential to other things as well such as physical fitness, without play, children are likely to live sedentary lifestyles which could be their downfall. Allowing children to play as well as helping them understand the value of playing ensures that they grow up productive as well as have a brain that thirsts for knowledge as well as strengthens their brain development which opens several doors for them, it even allows them to be able to make choices and connect the dots such as being able to distinguish between certain things. It is necessary that all children play because the skills they acquire will help them do great things as they grow.

Play-based learning fit into natural play in the same way that teaching a child right from wrong, the child learns what is real and what is not. When a child conducts natural play, they are exploring different elements of things that they are playing with as well as the elements of that toy or object. For example, when a child plays with blocks putting them into different shape holes, they are learning about what fit and what does not fit. This lesson will later teach them how to properly solve problems as well as complicated issues. It can be argued that a child does not gain anything from playing because it does not fit their natural evocation of learning, but play-based learning fits into natural play because children learn the importance of muscle development as well as mental growth development. According to Wardle (2008), “Play based learning is something the child needs to grow inside and out, they cannot go throw life or develop into productive adults without it (Wardle, 2008). Play-based learning is meant to fit into natural play because they both teach children different lessons that they need to live and survive, it can also be said that it also teaches children how to be able to distinguish between what is real and what is fake. A child who partakes in play-based learning has a better chance of developing a mindset that is conducive to learning as well as continues the desire to want to learn, play based learning fits into natural play in a way that it teaches children the social aspect of learning. It is a known fact that learning how to perfectly act in some social situations yield huge rewards, the child will also learn this lesson through play. Another example of this is when a child plays with word blocks, they learn how to comprehend simple words which eventually drives them to speak. Play-based learning helps the child develop skills that they need to live productive lives in society and in a bigger way, children who play are more productive and more focused than those who are not; natural growth is the goal here.

ECE or Early Childhood Education are known to teach children different things as well as be supportive in everything that teaches children how to properly grow and despite the ECE being supportive of children’s development, there are some ways that the ECE can support and continue to support children’s play to this very day. One of the ways that the ECE can support children’s play is by teaching and helping them learn that everything that they create is great as well as wonderful, a child learns that it is okay if something is not perfect; it is just learning how to be appreciative of things that they create with their own hands and mind. According to Samuelson & Pramling (2013), “ECE is all about letting children be who they are, it is not a matter of what they can’t accomplish, it is all about what they learn from everything around them” (Samuelson & Pramling, 2, 2013). Another way that the ECE can support the children’s play experience is by letting them be creative and supporting that creativity, it can be argued that the ECE limits the child’s ability to be able to comprehend creativity or challenge the child in any way. ECE can support that child’s creativity by challenging them to be more and do more, the ECE supporting this will ensure that the child can grasp complicated concepts. One of the most important ways that the ECE can support the child’s play experiences is by allowing them to free play, by supporting this they are allowing the child to positively express themselves creatively instead of being told how to. The idea of free play supports a child being a child and do what a child does which is exploring the world around them and making sense of it in their own little way, the ECE does not give children the idea that they cannot play or use play as a sense of developing concepts about the wider world instead they support a child’s desire to play because it is only through those experiences that they are able to do fully understand everything in the world.

Goldstein, J. (2012). Play in Children’s Development, Health and Well-Being.  1 (1), 2-2.

Samuelsson, I., & Praming, N. (2014). Play and Learning.  Encyclopedia on Early Child Development,   1 (1), 2-2.

Wardle, F. (2013, January 1). Play as Curriculum. Retrieved March 31, 2015, from http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com/earlychildhood/article_view.aspx?ArticleID=127

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Remembering Willie Mays as Both Untouchable and Human

Mays, who died on Tuesday at 93, had been perfect for so long that the shock of seeing baseball get the best of him was the shock of seeing a god become mortal.

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By Kurt Streeter

At the end, the Say Hey Kid looked nothing like the extraordinary force who had been at the center of the American imagination for much of the 20th century.

The Kid — Willie Mays — struggled at the plate and stumbled on the basepaths. A line drive arced his way, easily catchable for Mays during most of his career. But he fell. Another outfield mistake caused the game to be tied in the ninth inning.

He was a creaky-kneed 42 years old on that October afternoon, Game 2 of the 1973 World Series — Mays’s New York Mets in Oakland facing the A’s. On the grandest stage, the ravages of time had settled upon the game’s most gilded star.

That he would redeem himself at the plate three innings later is often forgotten. The unthinkable had happened. Mays had not only failed, he had appeared lost, clumsy and out of sorts.

The shock of seeing him that way would linger long past his playing days as a warning: Don’t be like Willie Mays, sticking around too long, stumbling in center field, a shadow of his former self. Such became the axiom, uttered in so many words by everyone from politicians to business leaders to commentators weighing in on great athletes who yearn to play into their twilight.

Quit before it is too late.

In retirement, Mays, who died on Tuesday at 93, did his best to ignore the game that would be his last. But there is another way to view its echoes.

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