The importance of play in a growing child

According to a 2011 article in the American Journal of Play, children’s free, unscheduled playtime had been declining steadily over the past half-century, replaced by a heightened focus on structured activities such as play dates and academic enrichment classes.The decline in free play is partly a result of adults having placed more control over children’s activities during free time to help them keep up with an academically competitive environment, according to Dr Peter Gray, the author of the article and a psychology professor emeritus at Boston College.

Dr Gray and other experts have learned that free play, such as role-playing, imaginative and outdoor play, or unplanned play dates are actually a necessity and serve an important function in a child’s development. This is because play keeps kids physically active, which tackles child obesity, while it also exercises their minds, creativity and social skills. Dr Gray notes that, over the same period, while recess sessions and playtime have declined, there has been an accompanying rise in major depression, anxiety and suicide rates among children.

“Children who don’t have sufficient free and unstructured playtime, both indoor and outdoor, are more likely to be socially isolated or detached. Lack of outdoor play also reduces the physical activity a child needs,” explained Ms Pamela See, Educational and Developmental Psychologist at Think Psychological Services, Singapore, who was not part of the study, to Global Health and Travel (GHT). “These factors could lead children to be more stressed in the academic-driven environment, causing increase in mental health challenges such as depression and anxiety.”

She cautions that playing with technology should not be considered a form of free play. This is because when children focus their attention on a screen they do not get the opportunity to explore their surroundings and use their imagination to learn engaging in a passive form of learning. “Although it’s a form of play, it doesn’t satisfy other areas that are also important for a child’s development,” she said. “Playtime teaches children how to interact with their peers, read social cues, and learn how to negotiate and also compromise, among other social skills.”

A number of animal experiments demonstrate the importance of play to brain development. According to a study led by neuroscientist Dr Jaak Panksepp of Washington State University, of the 1,200 neocortical genes in a juvenile rat, about one third showed that play actually changed the brain to make it more prosocial after just a half-hour of play.

Another rat experiment, led by Dr Sergio Pellis, a neuroscientist at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, found that rats raised in an environment without play showed a more immature pattern of neurons in the centre of the brain compared to rats that had been allowed to play. According to Dr Pellis, the human brain rewires itself under the positive stress of play, enabling children to figure out how to navigate the world and each other while aiding in the process of maturation.

“If we love our children and want them to thrive, we must allow them more time and opportunity to play, not less,” wrote Dr Gray, who is not alone in voicing these concerns. 

According to Ms See, play has taken a back seat in academic-driven environments all around the world. “A happy child with a happy mind would be able to learn more effectively and is more likely to keep up with competitive lifestyles,” she told GHT. “Play has an important function in a child’s development that should not be forgotten. Parents, teachers, principals and policy makers will need to be educated on its importance and, with time, include it in the education curriculum.”

Experts now recommend incorporating free play into school curriculums given evidence that shows mental breaks help children recalibrate and increase attention levels when performing academic tasks. They also stress the importance of parents allowing more unstructured playtime instead of placing children in more academic activities after school. While still an uphill battle, there are glimmers of hope that attitudes may be changing.

In 2013, the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Council on School Health released a statement declaring that, “safe and well-supervised recess offers cognitive, social, emotional, and physical benefits that may not be fully appreciated when a decision is made to diminish it.” Whether such declarations result in concrete action remains to be seen, but an innovate programme in Texas shows what is possible. The Texas Christian University has introduced “LiiNK,” or “Let’s inspire innovation ’n kids,” where children in kindergarten and first grade, who are enrolled in schools with the programme, are sent out to recess as often as four times a day, in short bursts that collectively add up to an hour. The idea is to ensure that the youngest children get more than enough free playtime while encouraging them to be attentive in the classroom, with the knowledge that a ‘break’ is coming soon.



This story was originally published in the Global Health and Travel issue of January 2018