The Importance of Play
Play has been called the “language of children” and “children’s work.” But why is it so important and what is it exactly?
What do you remember most about your play experiences as a child? What nourished your spirit? Was it playing outside until the streetlights came on, or spending endless hours in the forest making up games with friends, maybe it was playing a game of pick-up baseball with neighborhood kids? Part of what makes play magical is the free-expression of self, the ability to lose sense of time and enter into the ‘flow’ state. Children enter into play freely and leave play freely. Play is self-directed and self-chosen. Play is evolving, dynamic, creative, and just plain fun!
I am a play advocate. Again, and again research continues to show us how important creative free play is to the developing child. In our modern world, so focused on academics, children rarely have time for this nourishing experience. And yet play is a valuable tool to the young child’s developing self.
It is through the magic of creative play that the executive functioning part of the brain grows to take on the leadership role it is designed for. (Executive functioning helps us plan, focus, transition, regulate, and much more!) In play children learn to self-regulate, nurture, negotiate, solve problems, be inclusive, use language to express emotions, and experience creativity. All lessons learned in joy and relationship. What a classroom!
There are 12 types of play:
1. Large-motor play: think running, climbing, jumping, swinging, and sliding.
2. Small-motor play: playing with small toys or activities like beading, puzzles, or sorting.
3. Mastery play: this is where children persevere until the master a skill like pounding dozens of nails into a stump until they get it ‘just right.’
4. Rules-based play: most grade-school children enjoy making up their own rules and the negotiation involved in changing the rules for each situation.
5. Construction play: building houses, forts, ships.
6. Make-believe play: typically beginning with ‘let’s pretend’ goes into anything children can imagine. This involves problem-solving and loads of imagination.
7. Symbolic play: using one’s imagination to take an object and convert it into anything they could need or imagine.
8. Language play: developing language mastery by playing with words, rhymes, verses, or songs. Telling stories or acting them out.
9. Playing with art: drawing, modeling, creating music, puppet shows, etc.
10. Sensory play: playing with dirt, sand, mud, water, clay or other sensory textures.
11. Rough-and-tumble play: this is a fundamental form of play and one I often see being removed from children’s play schemas. This type of play helps children develop self-control, limit setting, and negotiating boundaries.
12. Risk-taking play: risky play helps children extend their abilities and master their environment. It is through this type of play that children are able to learn their limits. Most children know how far they can go before hurting themselves.
What can we as parents do to foster this important aspect of childhood?
· Make sure your child has plenty of time to be bored and experience free play.
· Let your child lead. Take a step back and see what they create. When you do, you will be treated to a delightful window into your child’s mind.
· Reduce toys. This one is always a bit counter-intuitive. But think of it this way: when your kitchen counter is covered in dishes/food/homework can you think clearly or easily make dinner? The same goes for children’s rooms. The more toys and the messier the room the less likely a child will be able to engage in meaningful play.
· Play with them! Model rough-and-tumble play making sure to discuss consent and boundaries before and during the play. Model pretend-play and negotiating rules.
· Incorporate play into your life. Pick up a hobby, kick a ball, go running, paint a picture. Whatever play is to you make sure you engage in it on a regular basis. If you child sees you enjoying an activity for the sake of it you are giving them the gift of a life lived with joy.
· This one is worth repeating: give your child lots and lots of unstructured, child-directed time.
References
“With Stars in Their Eyes: Brain Science and Your Child’s Journey toward the Self” by Sharifa Oppenheimer
