NPR just ran a piece on the importance of unstructured play for children. The concept is often discussed in attachment parenting circles and certainly by the proponents of unschooling, but it was nice to hear it covered by mainstream media. The idea is given lip service relatively often in the mainstream populace – ‘children learn through playing’ – and yet it seems to rarely be utilized. It is one thing to say that children learn through play and another to actual let them do it.
People may say they believe that children should play, but many are then stunned that our 3, 5 and 7 year olds don’t spend hours each day doing workbooks, covering lessons or being actively taught. People also seem to think that play is important for preschoolers, which any more is frequently defined as 2 to 3 year olds; but, many still believe they should be learning the alphabet, to count and to hold a pencil. It it’s even more difficult to find people who still believe in the developmental importance of play for children, especially older children.
While we don’t eschew all toys, we try to keep a large selection of open-ended toys around, toys that don’t have predefined roles. We have blocks, puzzles, art supplies, and balls. We have toys that are more defined but still require creativity to play with: kitchen, legos, cars, dolls, wooden castle/pirate ship/barn/doll house. We also have a Leap Frogs and a handful of other very specific no-creativity-required toys. The children are free to wind their way in and out of playing outdoors, building with legos and acting out the accompanying scenarios, watching a little TV, singing a song, making a huge meal in their kitchen (usually involving a wide variety of foods and numerous courses), to actually helping us in the real kitchen. With the freedom to decide for themselves, they usually chose more creative pursuits; but, no matter what it is they play, they do certainly play. And it is almost possible to watch them grow and learn.
