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Children's Play is not a straightforward and simple topic. As I explained in detail in my previous article, play is not only tremendously important to children's development, but also highly beneficial. It allows children to develop and master many life skills (Ho, Yu, Brown, 2024). And how do children see play? What is their perspective? Glenn, Knight, Holt, Spence (2013) write that almost anything that is fun is seen by children as play. It has been found that children play because of the sense of freedom they are experiencing and because of the ability to socialise and make new friends (Ho, Yu, Brown, 2024). Play is however not without facing challenges in the modern world.

Barriers to Play

I believe all parents and educators would agree on one thing. No matter where in the world you are, play is not how it was a decade or two ago. As always it is challenged by work, as many children in the global south and north are involved and expected to help care for the family. And by work I do not necessarily mean only the classic type of employment, but also looking after the household, animals, family business/ means of producing money. But there are other factors influencing the (quality) of play.

**Media**

Children, just like adults, are a part of the virtual/digital reality, becoming of more importance with every day. They see us adults using media every day and in many contexts (work and well, play). And of course they 1) model this behaviour, 2) are really drawn to it due to the dopamine shot it delivers, 3) are naturally curious about media. The more time spent in front of the screen limits the other types of play (Ho, Yu, Brown, 2024). Haidt (2024) calls digital media “experience blockers”. I personally believe it cannot be said that the media are good or bad. The world is changing, because of it children have the right to this part of the reality, only if for the reason of being up to date with tools for their future employment possibilities. However, media and especially digital devices are changing the ways children spend their free time. And when they do play with digital devices, their social interactions with others tend to lessen (Ho, Yu, Brown, 2024). There are other concerns and a lot of research about this quite fascinating phenomenon of growing up with digital media. I will focus on this topic in more detail in some other article.
Photo by Amina Filkins

**Busy Schedules**

Children seem to have little time these days. Some stay in school till late afternoon, they have many extra activities they attend: from sport to additional language or science classes. Not to mention homework that surely needs to be prepared in the afternoons or on the weekends. Children are under pressure to do well academically, that in turn means less time to play.
Photo by olia danilevich

**Urbanisation**

Our world's population keeps on increasing. There is a tendency of people moving to the cities rather than moving out of them. Living in a big city means less opportunities for outdoor, nature play. Children cannot freely go out and play without having an adult accompany them. Not all cities are designed adequately to address the needs of children, having too little playgrounds and children-friendly spaces.
Photo by Allan Mas

**Inequalities**

Huge cities could also mean that the distribution of children-friendly spaces is not equal for all areas and all children. Poorer districts might struggle with enough good quality spaces for children and youth. For children and their families it could mean a longer commute time to reach good quality play spaces. Some of them, such as zoos and special parks might also be unaffordable for many families.
Photo by Rica Naypa

Challenges to incorporate play in schools

Play, it seems, has always been a hot topic in the context of formal education. Kuschner (2012) writes that in the context of the USA the debate about incorporating play into the school environment was already present in the beginning of the twentieth century. Some educators back then spoke for structured and directed play possibilities, some advocated for free and child-led play.

Macpherson Parrot and Cohen (2020) point out that many skills that children need to learn to be successful adults, are not gained in the classroom, but by engaging in the unstructured play. Their research study demonstrated that children who engage in such a type of play in the school environment can focus better, develop co-operative skills, as well as friendships and are better at problem-solving. If play is so beneficial in the school setting, then why is it still so rarely taken seriously and incorporated in everyday school routine? Parker, Thomsen and Berry (2022) argue that there are quite a few challenges which make influence the lack of unstructured play in schools:

**The “seriousness” of play**

First off, play is difficult to define, which seems to be problematic in the structured universe of formal education. Play is understood as a form of leisure, an activity that brings joy, which in turn means it is not serious. Therefore, play is something that children do when taking breaks from learning, rather than being a part of it. Where in fact it is often not recognised, that children learn through play ( Parker, Thomsen and Berry, 2022).
Photo by Julie Kozlova

**Play just in early childhood?**

The second major obstacle to implementing learning through play is the perception that this method is suitable only for early childhood education settings and not compatible with school. To tackle this, some researchers have used terms like "active learning" to gain acceptance in schools (Martlew, Stephen, Ellis, 2011, Smith, 2015). Learning through play is linked to high-quality early childhood education practices and research (Wall, Litjens, Taguman, 2015, Nilsson, Ferholt, Lecusay, 2018). International policy standards consider early childhood to be from birth to age eight (Irwin, Siddiqi, Hertzman, 2007). However, there is limited research on the application of learning through play for children older than five (Howard, 2010, Jay and Knaus, 2018). Good idea for a Master/PhD Thesis!
Photo by Ivan Samkov

**Lack of assessment**

Another challenge in including play in educational settings is the reduced ability to assess play, and a perceived lack of accountability. There is such a focus on evidence-based learning. And there are no methods to measure the achievements coming from play as argued by Parker, Thomsen and Berry (2022). Although I believe these methods could be found in early childhood education, if one was willing to look deeper into it: assessment and documentation methods based on holistic development of the child (for instance from Te Whariki, New Zealand).
Photo by Jessica Lewis

**Play deprivation in early childhood education**

Parker, Thomsen and Berry (2022) argue that also in some childcare settings unstructured play is being pushed aside to make space for more directed play, in which children formally learn and prepare for school. They argue that one can recognise a hierarchy, in which unstructured play stands lower than structured play, at least in the perspective of learning. This practice of reducing time of unstructured play for, as a matter of fact structured learning, deprives children of play and therefore the right to play. I think it is an interesting point of view, looking at play from a hierarchy perspective.
Photo by Yan Krukau

And yet, despite all the challenges, playful pedagogy and providing children with more unstructured play opportunities showed again multiple benefits (Parker, Thomsen and Berry, 2022). It truly makes me wonder, does it make sense to be looking into assessing play? Why would policy makers want to change and adapt play to school settings, rather than change the schools and way of teaching instead? There is a lot of research showing enough evidence that play is serious. Over 30 years of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) being ratified by almost all countries around the world that states play is children’s essential right. There are already many alternative, educational projects that demonstrate the effectiveness of child-led and playful learning. I am really baffled at why those practices do not inform the mainstream forms of education, to provide children from all socio-economic backgrounds with the best playful learning opportunities.

Recognition of play as children’s right

As mentioned, children’s right to play is recognised as an essential, fundamental right. Lott (2022) argues that children’s right to play is an economic, social and a cultural right, demonstrating its importance on many dimensions of every-day life and experiences. I will explain further:

Play is an economic right, because the act of play provides children with necessary multi-layered skills that will assist children in generating their future wealth. Play is a social right, as it gives children agency, autonomy and provides them with opportunities for social participation. And lastly, play is a cultural right, as it provides children with the ability to experience and internalise cultural norms in a given society, as well as getting the exposure to culture in terms of arts and crafts (Lott, 2022).

The Committee on the Rights of the Child defines play as follows:

“Children’s play is any behaviour, activity or process initiated, controlled and structured by children themselves; it takes place whenever and wherever opportunities arise. Caregivers may contribute to the creation of environments in which play takes place, but play itself is non-compulsory, driven by intrinsic motivation and undertaken for its own sake, rather than as a means to an end. Play involves the exercise of autonomy, physical, mental or emotional activity, and has the potential to take infinite forms, either in groups or alone. These forms will change and be adapted throughout the course of childhood. The key characteristics of play are fun, uncertainty, challenge, flexibility and non-productivity. Together, these factors contribute to the enjoyment it produces and the consequent incentive to continue to play. While play is often considered non-essential, the Committee reaffirms that it is a fundamental and vital dimension of the pleasure of childhood, as well as an essential component of physical, social, cognitive, emotional and spiritual development”

General Comment No. 17, para. 14(c).

I believe this explanation shows clearly how we should understand children’s play from the human rights perspective. And this definition is in fact a wonderful point and an argument to step away from the strict, directed play and turn towards playful pedagogy. Moreover, as Lott (2022) argues, “play is of significant value in assisting the realisation of children’s right to education”. All the more reason to advocate for it!

**Tips**

But let’s say you are a childcare practitioner in a setting, where children sit at prepared stations aimed at developing literacy and mathematical skills and have to finish their tasks to move on, whether they like it or not. And despite your genuine interest, you do not know how to proceed, how to change things around. Well, you do not have to revolutionise your setting over one night. My advice is to start small, step by step. To give everyone, including yourself, time to re-adjust. First, give children time in the day for unstructured play and observe intently. Record your observations about what children play, what are their current topics, what they like to play with. Display those observations, show them to children, talk about them. And next when you plan the time for children to stay and play at fixed places, prepare their play stations according to their interests. Prepare the whole space according to their interests!
Photo by Mikhail Nilov

Ask children to prepare and reflect together with you: to respect their agency, to empower them. Decide about your day, your activities, your outings, about your space together with children, rather than alone with other educators. Do you worry about ticking all the boxes in their developmental milestones? But they will! Trust the natural process, just like we trust newborns to know how to nurse. Observe and document to see which learning occurs naturally and support it in the natural play process by providing the space, materials or impulses as according to scaffolding theory.
Photo by Yan Krukau

If you work with Portfolios, here you can get free learning record templates for the topic of play and sign up to my newsletter.

And I urge you to always, always advocate for children’s play. A play in which they get to initiate, control, make decisions. A play that is joyful, meaningful, iterative, engaging and socially interactive. A play that is not rushed or not cut short often. Who else is going to step up and advocate for it, if not you, the early childhood educator? Protect the play. Protect the childhood <3

Literature:

Glenn, N. M., Knight, C. J., Holt, N. L., & Spence, J. C. (2013) Meanings of play among children. Childhood (Copenhagen, Denmark), 20(2), 185–199. https://doi.org/10.1177/0907568212454751

Haidt, J. (2024) The Anxious Generation. How the great rewiring of childhood is causing an epidemic of mental illness. Random House.

Ho, S. N. J., Yu, M. L., & Brown, T. (2024). The Relationship Between Children’s Screen Time and the Time They Spend Engaging in Play: An Exploratory Study. Journal of Occupational Therapy, Schools, & Early Intervention, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/19411243.2024.2333276

Howard, J. (2010) Early years practitioners’ perceptions of play: an exploration of theoretical understanding, planning and involvement, confidence and barriers to practice. Educ. Child Psychol. 27, 91–102.

Irwin, L. G., Siddiqi, A., and Hertzman, C. (2007) Early child development: A powerful equalizer: Final report. http://whqlibdoc.who.int/hq/2007/a91213.pdf?ua=1

Jay, J. A., and Knaus, M. (2018). Embedding play-based learning into junior primary (Year 1 and 2) curriculum in WA. Aust. J. Teach. Educ. 43, 112–126. doi: 10.14221/ajte.2018v43n1.7

Kuschner, D. (2012) Play is natural to childhood but school is not: The problem of integrating play into the curriculum, International Journal of Play, 1:3, 242-249, DOI: 10.1080/21594937.2012.735803

Lott, N. (2022) Establishing the Right to Play as an Economic, a Social and a Cultural Right. The International Journal of Children’s Rights. Vol. 30, 755-784. doi:10.1163/15718182-30030007

Martlew, J., Stephen, C., and Ellis, J. (2011) Play in the primary school classroom? The experience of teachers supporting children’s learning through a new pedagogy. Early Years 31, 71–83. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0222447

Nicholson, P., and Hendry, H. (2020) A pedagogical meeting place or a problem space? Extending play-based pedagogy in Year One. Education 50, 184–196. doi: 10.1080/03004279.2020.1840608

Nilsson, M., Ferholt, B., and Lecusay, R. (2018) “The Playing-Exploring Child”: reconceptualizing the Relationship between Play and Learning in Early Childhood Education. Contemp. Issues Early Child. 19, 231–245. doi: 10.1177/1463949117710800

Macpherson Parrot, H., Cohen, E., L. (2020) Advocating for Play: The Benefits of Unstructured Play in the Public Schools. School Community Journal, Vol. 30, No. 2, http://www.schoolcommunitynetwork.org/SCJ.aspx

Parker R., Thomsen B., S. and Berry A. (2022) Learning Through Play at School – A Framework for Policy and Practice. Frontiers in Education. 7:751801. doi:10.3389/feduc.2022.751801

Smith, S. (2015) Playing to engage: Fostering engagement for children and teachers in low socioeconomic regions through science and mathematics play-based learning. Ph.D. thesis. Fremantle: University of Notre Dame Australia.

UNCRC (2013) General Comment No. 17, https://www.refworld.org/legal/general/crc/2013/en/96090

Wall, S., Litjens, I., and Taguman, M. (2015) Pedagogy in early childhood education and care (ECEC): An international comparative study of approaches and policies: Research brief. London: Department for Education.

The Challenges and Right to Play. Part 2.

Children’s Rights in Healthcare

The Right to and Power of Play. Part 1.