Why do we need Free Play, specifically?
Today’s children have so many opportunities available to them, especially in larger cities. In my East Vancouver neighbourhood alone, they can enroll in after-school activities like parkour, soccer, rock climbing, ballet, piano, and pottery, among dozens of other options. However, there is one commonality between these activities - they are adult led. Adult led means that someone, typically older, is telling them what to do at each step of the way. This learning strategy is definitely an important one, and should be used often… but not exclusively, as it seems to be these days. As Haidt points out in his book, The Anxious Generation, “... adult-led lessons may provide useful information, but information does do much to shape a developing brain. Play does. This relates to a key CBT insight: Experience, not information, is the key to emotional development. It is in unsupervised, child-led play where children best learn to tolerate bruises, handle their emotions, read other children’s emotions, take turns, resolve conflicts, and play fair. Children are intrinsically motivated to acquire these skills because they want to be included in the playgroup and keep the fun going.” (pg. 53)
Schools around the world are experimenting with different approaches to play, with everything from cutting recess breaks shorter and controlling play options outside to starting play clubs and ‘junk playgrounds.’ In The Anxious Generation, Haidt quotes an American teacher named Kevin Stinehart, whose school tried the strategy of increasing play opportunities, and this is what he says:
“Unstructured free play addresses - head-on - making friends, learning empathy, learning emotional regulation, learning interpersonal skills, and greatly empowers students by helping them find a healthy place in their school community - all while teaching them life’s most important skills like creativity, innovation, critical thinking, collaboration, communication, self-direction, perseverance, and social skills.” (pg. 252)
Sometimes, as a teacher and childcare provider in Vancouver (I’ve spent decades nannying, babysitting, and providing respite care), I feel guilty when I am not encouraging the children to do something specific, or when I am not directly engaged with them. It has been difficult for me to step back and remind myself, time and time again, that play IS learning, and helping them learn is my job - so I need to take a step back and let learning happen. I know that “[f]ree play is as essential for developing social skills, like conflict resolution, as it is for developing physical skills.” (pg. 65). However, I’ve been in a leadership role for so long, I still find it difficult to allow the children to lead the play. I am actively trying though!
Peter Gray, a prominent play researcher in Boston, …. “defines ‘free play’ as ‘activity that is freshly chosen and directed by the participants and undertaken for its own sake, not consciously pursued to achieve ends that are distinct from the activity itself.’ Physical play, outdoors and with other children of mixed ages, is the healthiest, most natural, most beneficial sort of play. Play with some degree of physical risk is essential because it teaches children how to not get hurt in situations where it is possible to get hurt, such as wrestling with a friend, having a pretend sword fight, or negotiating with another child to enjoy a seesaw when a failed negotiation can lead to pain in one’s posterior, as well as embarrassment. When parents, teachers, and coaches get involved, it becomes less free, less playful, and less beneficial. Adults usually can’t stop themselves from directing and protecting.” (pg. 52/53)
At Playsticity, our staff are there to supervise and support, but not interfere. They will ensure that truly harmful activities will be avoided, mistakes will be gently reviewed, open-ended answers will be provided, and thoughtful questions will be asked. As Haidt says, “[a] key feature of free play is that mistakes are generally not very costly.” (pg. 53) They might hurt someone’s feelings, knock down a creation, or have their own fall apart. The children in our care will have the opportunity to make mistakes time and time again, but will understand that mistakes are essential learning opportunities, and they are safe to make them here.
