The importance of play in children's lives

I feel enormously lucky to have a large office window that looks out on the children's playground at the lab school. I spend my days watching the children play outside my window as I work.

I wish more adults would take time to just watch children play. Unfortunately the word play has the connotation of something that is easy and pleasurable and is rarely seen as what it really is in the lives of children: for the young child, play provides the key to learning.

As the baby human grows to be an adult, three areas of development occur. The child's physical, cognitive and social/emotional domains work together to make a well-rounded adult human. If any of these domains is neglected, the human can struggle in later life.

All of these areas are practiced during play. Just watch young animals both in the wild and domestic and you can plainly see that their play is practice for their adult life. Kittens bat at anything we hold above them; puppies practice “tug of war” with a sock. In the young child, we see play as a time to practice skills.

Physically the baby human takes about one whole year to stand on two feet and take steps. During the year, babies try things over and over until they reach the next milestone. All of this is done in a playful manner. Babies react to our pleasure as we watch them grasp a toy, roll over, sit up, crawl and finally taking those first steps. As humans, they do this from an inner motivation but they try harder because of the obvious delight of those around them!

Young children try things over and over in order to get them right. This is their play. I watch 2-year-olds propelling a “sit on toy” with their feet and gradually being able to peddle. The children go round and round a bike path with so much pleasure and joy. They do give up eventually but their tenacity for any task is amazing. These endeavors prepare them for facing adult skills and having “staying power” is an important piece of learning.

Another area I can watch from my window is the sandbox. I do not know a child who does not like to play with sand and water. Again this area is a huge asset for building cognitive (thinking) skills. The sandbox provides understanding of changes in elements as we combine them. They learn by themselves through manipulation that dry sand has very different properties than wet sand. Measuring with cups and buckets they have the early rudiments of quantity.

Finally, through my window I watch pretend play. Things like, “You be the mom and you be the cat” occur as I watch a little group go by. Children's imagination is also adding to their longer-term brain power. Imagination games as old as time can provide opportunities to try out the adult world for size. The addition of a few hats can stimulate even more. This weekend, I had a group of boys playing on our grounds while the adults watched football. They found a Marine cap and a hard hat amongst stuff in our cupboards, a mop handle and an old shirt made a flag. I am not sure what the game was but the creosote bushes made good cover! These boys ranged in age from 7 through 15 and there was not an electronic device to be seen but energy and ideas provided a good deal of fun for a few hours!

Play adds to the enhancement of social skills. The 4- to 5-year-olds at our school move in and out of friendships as well as genders on a daily basis. Their conversations lead to “give and take” as well as negotiation. I see leaders being born and rehearsed and we never know if the president of the USA circa 2050 is in our midst! Perhaps if you take time to watch the young children around you, you too, will appreciate the enormous value of giving our children time to play.

As an oldie, I revel in watching this joyful free piece of childhood. Unfortunately, I also see our children's childhoods disappearing too quickly and without the joy of just playing. Just playing is our children's best learning tool and I, for one, hope it never goes away!

Judith Watkinson is the professor of early childhood education at Arizona Western College. She can be reached at Judy.Watkinson@azwestern.edu.