For all the study given to the subject of why children play, we still don’t know all the reasons or motivations, but we do know play is important to the development of healthy children and strong parent-child bonds.
The need to play may not be an autonomic response like breathing or blinking, but play does seem to serve a set of needs. Children seek playtime as naturally as they seek food or attention. Even animals of many kinds choose to run around, wrestle and play as a form of learning their roles and how to survive in their natural environment.
It may be difficult to know all the reasons why play is so important to people and animals, but it is. The issue is determining how much time children should have to play, especially in context with other learning opportunities like school, where in some cases playtime has been replaced by more disciplined activities such as additional study time or classes.
The notion that more discipline is always better for the child may be tempting to cling to among those chartered to wring better academic results out of children. The trouble is, pushing kids ever harder in the classroom may not be what they need to perform better in school.
What they may need is free playtime. That’s right: a solid dose of recess every day may lead to better grades.
Giving kids time to engage in freeform conversation and invent games with each other may be more vital to their overall health and academic performance than another hour at the scholastic grindstone.
Setting kids free to use their imaginations provides needed relief from the stresses of structured learning. Children who are allowed to engage in freeform play are actually better able to focus on required tasks and cognitive learning.
We see examples of dynamic play at work for adults as well. Leading companies such as Google actually encourage their employees to take a “playful” approach to work. A March 2013 article in the New York Times describes how Google lets its employees engage in a form of workplace “free play.”
“Google lets many of its hundreds of software engineers, the core of its intellectual capital, design their own desks or work stations out of what resemble oversize Tinker Toys. Some have standing desks, a few even have attached treadmills so they can walk while working. Employees express themselves by scribbling on walls. The result looks a little chaotic, like some kind of high-tech refugee camp, but Google says that’s how the engineers like it.”
That’s how the engineers like it. They incorporate play in their day and their workspaces because true creativity, better cognitive function and enhanced productivity all stem from a feeling that you are at once free to engage and disengage as needed. It’s hard to argue that the approach is not effective. Google is one of the world’s most innovative and best-branded companies. In fact its complex algorithms drive our daily lives in ways that most of us would prefer not to imagine.
Yet at its heart, Google prides itself on being a playful company. The frequent interactive “doodles” on its main page invite people to set aside what they’re doing for a moment and engage in some imaginative fun.
We are here to answer the question “What is free play and why is it important?” So we’ve addressed the question somewhat in reverse. If adults crave play and make it work for themselves even in a structured environment, how much more important must it be for children to engage in free playtime within their worlds?
The answer is definitive and real. Kids need free playtime because that is who they are. They are playful beings aching for the opportunities to both be themselves and learn who they want to be. They can’t do this wrapped up in constant schoolwork or even funneled through the structured games and requirements of physical education class. Children need free playtime to make themselves whole. It is why they play, and why we adults should not only let them play, but set them free to encourage their joy, and explore their imaginations.
About the author:
David Reeves is Marketing Manager of Playland Inc. (http://www.playland-inc.com/) in Carrollton, GA. Playland Inc., is a total solutions manufacturer and supplier to many industries, with its roots deep in the park and playground markets including churches, schools, and day care centers. It has developed into the only company in its field to offer direct to all of its customers, the ability to purchase outdoor playgrounds, shelters, shade, indoor playgrounds, water slides and site amenities. Connect with SRP on LinkedIn or Facebook.