The Right and Power of Play. Part 1.

What will you read about in this article?

1. Introduction

2. Historical and Legal Context of Play

3. Play in the Early Years (and Play and Child’s Development)

4. Types of Play

5. Adult Involvement in Play

6. Characteristics of Quality Play

7. Conclusion

8. Literature

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I recently heard from one educator that where she is from children mostly engage in a directed play to make sure the curriculum is covered. There is rarely time for unstructured play in the childcare centre. Immediately I thought: “How can this even be?”

The significance of play in children's daily lives and healthy development has been increasingly acknowledged in recent years. There has been much discussion about the exact role of play in children's development. It has often been proposed that play allows children to practise skills necessary for adult life. An expanding body of evidence supports the idea that play is not only a natural behaviour throughout childhood but also enhances children's quality of life, well-being, and their physical, social, emotional, and cognitive growth. From early brain development and bonding with parents to the independence of teenage years, play plays a vital role. As children grow, play provides opportunities to develop and refine various physical, emotional, and social skills, helping them understand and interact with an increasingly complex world (Play Scotland, 2024). That is, if the children have the opportunity to lead the play. Of course, directed play will have some good outcomes, too, but not as many as a child-led or guided play. 

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And here we are, already stepping into different categories of play, but let’s dive into the historical and legal context firstand get back to this later. 

The right to play is guaranteed by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) (1989), emphasising the importance of providing children with opportunities and spaces to play freely, where they feel safe, they can rest and can enjoy themselves without adult interference (UNCRC, 1989, Play Scotland, 2024).

Important facts here: “UNICEF estimates that 160 million children around the world are working instead of playing or learning. Yet, even in their darkest moments, children can find their way back to hope, health and happiness through play. Because play is never just play. Play is powerful. The power of play unlocks potential, instils confidence, saves lives, heals, and creates a world of possibilities.” (Learning through Play, 2024, UNICEF 2021). It is why recognizing the importance of play and promoting it is of such great importance. Not only all educators, but all adults should be feeling responsible to give children various and varied opportunities to play.

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Play in the Early Years

I already mentioned the multiple benefits in overall, holistic development of children. Especially in the early years, play is highly significant as it influences brain development. The neural and chemical reactions triggered by play support the development of coordinated physical and mental abilities. Play helps build strong bones, muscle strength, and lung capacity. Through play, children spontaneously use their physical skills, which helps them develop advanced physical abilities and coordinated movements. To top it up, some research shows that active children are more likely to develop healthy lifestyles  (Play Scotland, 2024).

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Play and Cognitive Development

Play aids in children's cognitive development, including the enhancement of language skills, problem-solving abilities, mathematical skills, perspective-taking, representational skills, memory, and creativity. While to many adults, children's play activities may seem insignificant, they are crucial for the child, fostering the development of concentration and attention,providing for the deeper learning experience (Play Scotland, 2024, Zosh, Hopkins, Jensen, Liu, Neale, Hirsh-Pasek, Solis and Whitebread, 2017).

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Play and Emotional Development

Playing children are emotionally engaged in their activities, often expressing and processing the emotional aspects of their lived experiences. This helps them understand their own feelings and those of others. Play helps children build resilience. The satisfaction children experience while playing encourages them to expand their interests and creativity. The excitement and anxiety associated with trying new things help children learn how to respond to other unfamiliar situations. That also means play supports children’s mental health. 

While playing children can express their feelings in a safe environment, even when those feelings are confusing or painful. Through play, children develop a sense of self, which can influence their ability to manage stress. On top of that, research suggests that spending time in natural environments can help children regularly exposed to stress to become less anxious and develop a stronger sense of self-worth (Play Scotland, 2024).

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Play and Social Development

Play, especially for older children, is often a social experience shared with others. Through play, they form and strengthen friendships. Their sense of belonging to a group is closely tied to their opportunities to play with peers. Engaging in unstructured play with others helps children learn to see things from different perspectives. Children apply and learn important skills, such as cooperation, sharing, helping, and problem-solving. The social skills acquired through play can be as crucial as those learned in school, a fact often overlooked in formal education and educational institutions. Friendships, both at school and outside, are important for protection and companionship, providing children with some independence from family life (Play Scotland, 2024).

Disabled children attending special needs schools, who have local opportunities to make friends through play, can especially benefit from such. The relationships children develop through play are influenced by the type of environment and the social backgrounds of the children involved (Play Scotland, 2024).

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“Children are born to learn through play” (Zosh et al, 2017, 12). Even infants, just a few hours old, are thought to be naturally curious and attracted to human voices, especially their mothers (Zosh, et al, 2017). Children’s play develops through stages becoming more sophisticated, just as children grow. The stages of play development are: Unoccupied Play, Solitary Play, Onlooker Play, Parallel Play, Associative Play and Cooperative Play (Gowrie, 2024). Here you can read more about this.

There is also a variety of types of play that children engage in:

Competitive Play (board and sports games), Physical Play (based on movement), Exploration Play (discovering materials by using all senses), Sensory Play (exploring texture, colour and shape: senses exploration), Practice Play (learning how things work by repeating same action in play), Mastery Play (practising a new skill), Dramatic Play (fantasy or pretend play using imagination), Symbolic Play (using objects to represent another, often within dramatic play), Role Play (similar to dramatic play, linked to reacting everyday chores), Language Play (very young children experimenting with sounds), Expressive Play (using creativity: music, art,etc.), Recapitulative Play (exploring traditional stories and rituals), Constructive Play (building and assembling) and Digital Play (technology play) (Gowrie, 2024).

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Play can also be categorised based on the level of involvement that adults have in it. In Free Play, also called child-led play, children play without the guidance or even presence of adults. In Guided Play children receive the support of an adult in a scaffold/ Vygotski style. This means the adult only guides children when it is absolutely needed or gives children the impulses to develop the play and the learning, to bring it to a higher level. Then there are Games, with set rules and constraints, also often guided by an adult. And lastly the Directed Play, in which the adults design and control the activity (Zosh et al, 2017). According to Zosh et al (2017) the first three types of play fall under the Playful Learning Category and have in fact the most positive influence and outcomes when it comes to children’s learning. When looking at it with a children’s rights lens, the three types of play allow for participation: giving children the opportunity to decide what and how they play, which means their voices are respected and taken seriously. Participation is one of the most important children’s right and should always be taken into account when offering any type of activities to children of any age.

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Side Note: This would mean, by the way, that the Playful Learning theory should support the debate on revolutionising the educational systems around the globe, making school not only more child-led, but also way more inclusive. The future of such education is seeing children as an individual that develops at one’s own pace, rather than categorising children as good, medium or bad pupils and just chasing after ticking all the boxes in the curriculum. Going further, the curriculum needs to be adapted and be more flexible for the educator to bend it to the educational needs of children and not the other way around.

Writing about types of play reminds me of a childcare centre where I once worked. Children had their entire day structured, there was always an adult present and they could barely play alone and as according to their own rules and creativity. It is truly concerning to think, there are so many childcare centres that operate this way and they believe to provide high quality early care and education! I have identified the best and children’s rights oriented type of play already, but are there other traits that demonstrate the high quality of play?

Characteristics of Quality Play

Zosh et al (2017) identify certain and very helpful characteristics that shall ensure play becomes a valuable and learning experience., based on recent research. They argue that it is not essential that all of those occur at the same time, however they must be present throughout the play.

Those characteristics are: socially interactive, joyful, iterative, actively engaging and meaningful. Let me elaborate further on those:

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Joyful

Joy here means broadly experiencing pleasure, enjoyment, motivation, thrill, and positive emotions—in a moment or throughout an entire play time. A lot of research from multiple disciplines demonstrates the power of joy in play and learning. Positive experiences tend to enhance our brains’ learning abilities and are more likely to be remembered (Zosh et al, 2017, p.19).

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Meaningful

It is about making sense of experiences and connecting it to something that is already internalised, building on a schema. Through play, children explore familiar actions and observations to deepen their comprehension. For instance, a child may recite numbers but struggle to count objects, highlighting a gap between rote learning and real understanding. Effective learning requires connecting facts to real-life contexts. Studies by Fisher, Hirsh-Pasek, Newcombe & Golinkoff (2013) demonstrate that children who explore concepts meaningfully, such as discovering the properties of shapes, retain knowledge better. Dialogic reading, where adults encourage children to predict and relate story elements to their own lives, fosters greater vocabulary and understanding. This approach leverages brain functions related to analogy, memory, and motivation, facilitating deeper learning.(Zosh et al, 2017, p.21).

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Actively Engaging

Learning through play requires children to be mentally engaged and persistently focused on tasks. Studies indicate that active involvement in learning promotes better problem-solving abilities and understanding. Rather than passive instruction, children benefit most from actively exploring and solving problems. Adult influence can either limit or enhance children's curiosity; structured teaching can restrict exploration, while less structured environments encourage self-discovery and deeper comprehension. Active engagement in activities stimulates brain functions related to decision-making, memory, and executive control, facilitating both short-term and lifelong learning (Zosh et al, 2017, p.23).

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Iterative

Learning through play involves an iterative process, where children experiment, revise their ideas, and explore new questions. Play offers a safe space for children to take risks and try out different approaches. They use play to test hypotheses, explore uncertainties, and engage in imaginative thinking, which develops their critical thinking and scientific reasoning skills. Iterative play stimulates brain functions related to creativity, flexibility, perseverance, reward, and memory, supporting learning (Zosh et al, 2017, p.25).

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Socially Interactive

Social interaction is crucial for both play and learning, facilitating deeper understanding and stronger relationships. From infancy, interacting with others aids learning, with evidence suggesting that it is fundamental to the learning process. Vygotsky's theory underscores the significance of social interaction in learning. While some play may be solitary, most involves others and supports various learning skills. Research shows that positive caregiver-child interactions early in life lay the foundation for lifelong learning and development, promoting socio-emotional regulation and coping skills. Additionally, social interaction activates brain networks essential for understanding others' mental states, crucial for teaching and learning interactions (Zosh et al, 2017, p.27)

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In this comprehensive exploration of the role of the power of play in children’s lives, I've uncovered the multifaceted benefits that play offers across physical, cognitive, emotional, and social domains. From its impact on brain development to its crucial role in fostering social skills and relationships, play emerges as a powerful tool for holistic growth. By understanding the various types of play and their respective advantages, we can better appreciate the profound impact that play has on children's lives.

As I conclude this journey into the world of play, it's clear that play is not just a leisure activity; it's a fundamental aspect of childhood that shapes the trajectory of development and a children’s right. By embracing the importance of play and creating environments that prioritise its value, we can empower children to learn, grow, and thrive in every aspect of their lives. So let's champion play as not only a source of joy and fun but also as a cornerstone of learning and development for generations to come. Let us respect play as a fundamental children’s right.

Literature: 

Boston Children’s Museum (2024) The power of play. https://bostonchildrensmuseum.org/learn/the-power-of-play/

Fisher, K. R., Hirsh-Pasek, K., Newcombe, N., & Golinkoff, R. M. (2013). Taking shape: Supporting preschoolers’ acquisition of geometric knowledge through guided play. Child Development, 84, 1872- 1878. doi:10.1111/cdev.12091

Gowrie (2024) Types of Play for Early Childhood Development. https://www.gowriensw.com.au/thought-leadership/types-of-play-for-early-childhood-development 

Learning Through Play (2024) Celebrating UN adoption of an International Day of Play. https://learningthroughplay.com/how-we-play/celebrating-un-adoption-of-an-international-day-of-play

Play Scotland (2024) The Power of Play. https://www.playscotland.org/learn/what-is-play/the-power-of-play/

UNICEF (2021) Child labour rises to 160 million – first increase in two decades.https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/child-labour-rises-160-million-first-increase-two-decades/

Zosh, J.M., Hopkins, E.J., Jensen, H., Liu, C., Neale, D., Hirsh-Pasek, K., Solis, S. L.,  and Whitebread, D. (2017) Learning through play. A review of evidence. Lego Foundation: Billund. https://cms.learningthroughplay.com/media/wmtlmbe0/learning-through-play_web.pdf