2008 by ihe Board of Trusiees of ihe Universiiy of Illinois

The Power of Play

Learning WhaL Comes NaLurally

Dnviu Eixiu
Alihough under aiiack from some goal-orienied poliiicians and parenis and ofen
considered superfuous by school adminisiraiors and ieachers, free play remains
viial io human healih and creaiiviiy. Conirary io ihe noiion ihai play should serve
uiiliiarian ends or consisi primarily of organized sporis, ihe auihor makes a case
for self-iniiiaied physical play free of educaiional ioys, compuier games, and iele-
vision, especially early in childhood bui also ihroughoui young life. Combining
ideas from Sigmund Freud and Jean Piagei, ihe auihor views play as one of ihree
necessary elemenis of a full life, ihe oihers being work and love.
Mos1 oi Us ionoiu in ihe siudy of play consider ii a form of exercise for
creaiive disposiiionsfor imaginaiion, for curiosiiy, for faniasy. We believe
ii has a viial role in human developmeni. Trough play, children creaie new
learning experiences, and ihese self-creaied experiences enable ihem io acquire
social, emoiional, and inielleciual skills ihey could noi acquire in any oiher
way. Yei play has currenily fallen inio some disrepuie. School adminisiraiors
and ieachersfrequenily backed by goal-orienied poliiicians and parenis
broadcasi ihe noi-so-subile message ihai ihese days play seems superfuous,
ihai ai boiiom play is for slackers, ihai if kids musi play, ihey should ai leasi
learn someihing while ihey are doing ii.
Since people nowadays iend io overlook ihe viial role of leisurely play in
healihy developmeni, ii is in danger of becoming an unanordable luxury. Par-
enis fll kids iime wiih afer-school iuioring and organized sporis ihai cui inio
self-iniiiaied play iime. Teachers give kindergarien children iesis and assign
ihem homework. Ponderous educaiional ioys abound for ihe ioddler, and even
infancy no longer has much iime for free play. A research siudy published in
ihe May 2007 Pediatrics found ihai ihree-monih-old infanis are now waiching
some iwo hours of ielevision per day. Liiile wonder ihey grow inio boys and
girls who ride iheir bikes less ofen bui waich ielevision and play compuier
games more frequenily.
2 A ME R I C A N J O U R N A L O F P L AY S
Many consider Sigmund Freud a pioneer in undersianding ihe imporiance
of play for healihy developmeni during ihe early years of life. And, indeed, he
argued in A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis ihai play was iherapeuiic
and enabled children io deal wiih iheir negaiive feelings in a way ihai did noi
alienaie ihem from adulis. Buiperhaps because he saw ii as remedialFreud
did noi regard play as critical io healihy growih and developmeni. When asked
whai he ihoughi was necessary for a full and produciive life, he supposedly
replied, Lieben und Arbeiten, loving and working. In conirasi, alihough no
oneso far as we knowever asked famed Swiss psychologisi Jean Piagei ihe
same quesiion, based on his Te Psychology of Intelligence Im sure he would
have replied insiead, assimilation et accommodation, which mighi be iranslaied
as playing and working. Unlike Freud, Piagei was unconcerned wiih ihe af-
feciive side of life, wiih love. Raiher, he primarily focused on ihe developmeni
of inielligence, on adapiive ihoughi and aciion. Bui if we pui ihe formulas of
ihese iwo gianis of psychology iogeiher, we have ihe irilogy of play, love, and
workihree basic drives ihai power human ihoughi and aciion, ihree drives
esseniial io a full, happy, and produciive life. And while play, love, and work
may consiiiuie separaie and disiinci disposiiions, ihey funciion mosi eneciively
when ihey operaie iogeiher.
Ceriainly we do noi wani io exclude one leg of ihe iriadplayas superfu-
ous. Surely we need io provide children wiih ihe balance of ihese ihree or risk
unwanied consequences if we fail io do so. For self-iniiiaied play nourishes ihe
childs curiosiiy, imaginaiion, and creaiiviiy, and ihese abiliiies are like muscles
if you doni use ihem, you lose ihem. And since ihese skills develop wiih age, iis
imporiani io encourage ihem wiih age-appropriaie challenges.
The Development of Play, Love, and Work
Play
Te play drive frsi appears as infanis iry io adapi ihe physical world io iheir needs.
Ai a few monihs, a baby iransforms every objeci ihai can be grasped inio one ihai
can be sucked. By ihe iime children become preschoolers, ihey begin io creaie
playful associaiions beiween objeciswhich is whai a four-year-old does, say,
when holding up a poiaio chip and exclaiming, Look Mummy, a buiierfy! For
school-age children, play soon becomes more aboui making and breaking rules
in a game of hide-and-seek, ihe lead child decides on ihe physical limiis and iime
frame of ihe game, ihen all ihe oiher players aiiempi io ouiwii ihe leader.
The Power of Pl ay 3
Love
Love is our need io express our desires, feelings, and emoiions, and ii iakes
iime io sori ii oui. A baby cries io express everyihing from joy io unhappiness.
Preschoolers cenier iheir love largely on ihemselves. Ask ihem whai ihey pray
for, for example, and young children will iell you ioys or candy. Ai ihis age, ihey
doni like io share, noi because ihey are selfsh in ihe way adulis undersiand
ihe word bui because ihey feel ihe ioy is siill a pari of ihem. Once ihey reach
school age, children usually grow more social in iheir expressions of love and
caring. If you ask ihem ai ihai poini whai ihey pray for, ihey ofen come up
wiih someihing like, say, ihe well-being of iheir family.
Work
In work we adapi our own behavior io ihe demands of our physical and social
environmeni. Toddlers learning io eai wiih a spoon raiher ihan wiih iheir
fngers are learning ihe skill of fiiing in wiih iheir environmeni, boih physi-
cally and socially. Tey are learning io adapi. Tey are learning io work. A
preschoolers rapid acquisiiion of language consiiiuies ihe mosi impressive
marker of ihis social adapiaiion. Ai primary school, as children iake iurns and
accepi non-parenial auihoriiy while ihey develop moior skills wiih such iools
as painibrushes, balls, and books, work assumes ihe form of learning social
rules. To ihe casual observer, ii may be dimculi io disiinguish here beiween
work and play because ihe real dinerence lies more wiih ihe inieni ihan ihe
aci: When we work, we adapi ourselves io our environmeni; when we play, we
adapi our world io fi our imaginaiion.
Play, Love, and Work in Action
Adulis respond so negaiively io play because ihey defne ii as simply having
fun and, iherefore, as a wasie of iime. Bui ihough play can be fun, as one of
ihe ihree esseniial driveslove, play, workii coniribuies io ihe besi kind
of learning. Play operaies as more ihan a creaiive urge; ii also funciions as a
fundamenial mode of learning.
Te ieacher of a group of four-year-olds ai ihe Childrens School ai Tufs
Universiiy near Bosion oners simple, siraighiforward iesiimony of how ihese
drives can work iogeiher io creaie a posiiive learning experience. Te kids, afer
ihe usual bombardmeni of romaniicized images of ihe heari ihai iypically ac-
companies Valeniines Day, became fascinaied by ihe operaiions of ihis basic
4 A ME R I C A N J O U R N A L O F P L AY S
human organ. Keying on iheir curiosiiy, ihe ieacher had ihe children iake her
pulse and showed ihem piciures of a real heari. She even broughi in a cows heari
for ihem io examine. Because ihey were ihe ones inieresied in ihe iopic in ihe
frsi place, ihe kids considered ihemselves io be playing wiih hearis. Bui such
play lef ihem open io working on iheir skills of measuremeni, vocabulary,
and anaiomy.
Many of us can easily observe ihe benefis of iniegraiing play, love, and
work ai home. During ihe frsi few years of iheir lives, young children arein a
quiie liieral sensevisiiing a foreign couniry for ihe frsi iime. Because kids do
noi ihink in aduli concepis and caiegories, ihey ofen approach ihis new land
from many dinereni perspeciives simulianeously. Meiaphorically speaking,
ihey observe waier and sand, irees and woods, planis and animals, ihe moon,
ihe sun, ihe siars, all of ii, as if ihrough ihe eyes of an ariisi, or a naiuralisi, or
a wriier, or a scieniisi. When we oner our children opporiuniiies io explore
ihis new and exciiing world in iheir own iime and ai iheir own pace, we open
ihem up io powerful learning experiences ihey could noi encounier in any oiher
way. Why inirude on a iime when children are insiinciively learning wiih such
joy and enihusiasm: Why rush babies and preschoolers and school kids inio
aduli-led learning experiences:
Facilitating the Growth of Play, Love, and Work
Children learn ihrough play, bui iheir capaciiy for learning is limiied by iheir
social siiuaiion, iheir emoiional condiiion, and iheir physical and inielleciual
developmeni. Yei we besi ensure a childs healihy growih, whaiever ihese con-
diiions, by supporiing and encouraging ihe childs own self-iniiiaied learning
aciiviiies.
No one ieaches a baby io babble, for insiance. Infanis naiurally make a wide
varieiy of vowel and consonani sounds. By babbling, ihe infani creaies all ihe
sounds he or she will need io use a language. Wiihoui ihese self-creaied sounds,
ihe child would never learn io speak, or would do so wiih greai dimculiy. So
when ihe child begins io make recognizable soundsand only afer ihe child
has iniiiaied ihese sounds on his or her ownwe can suppori and encourage
ihe childs linguisiic skills and help io hone ihe use of language ihai will shape
ihe resi of ihe childs life.
We can similarly faciliiaie childrens social developmeni by eniering inio
iheir self-iniiiaied social inieraciions. Ai four or fve monihs, ihe infani, say,
The Power of Pl ay 5
drops a raiile on ihe foor, and we respond by reirieving ii. Te baby repeais
ihe process and we now have a game in which each player knows his or her
role. Tis is a simple, very familiar example of how play, love, and work can
operaie iogeiher io fosier developmeni. Te infani engages in play when he or
she drops ihe raiile. Te pareni lovingly reirieves ii, which encourages anec-
iion in reiurn from ihe child. Te child has learned how io work in engaging a
caregiver in social inieraciion; ihe caregiver, in iurn, ieaches ihe child how io
play by encouraging curiosiiy and exploraiion.
Because ihese iniiial inieraciions are so basic and esseniial, choosing ihe
righi ioys becomes especially imporiani for ihis age group. Tree-dimensional
objecis oner more valuable learning experiences ihan one-dimensional objecis.
A sei of wooden blocks is a good invesimeni, for example, because children
play wiih ihem in a varieiy of waysbabies may use ihem io discover size dif-
ferences; iois io consiruci buildings. Puppeis, dolls, and maierials such as clay
and painis allow kids io express ihemselves in iheir own ways. Te same can-
noi quiie be said for baiiery or wind-up ioys. Tey may be aiiraciive iniiially,
bui children soon lose inieresi because such ioys do noi encourage inieraciion
and have liiile io oner once ihe noveliy wears on. Someihing similar happens
wiih mosi chip-embedded ioys and compuiers for ihis age group. And for ihai
reason, ihey have no real place in ioddler life.
Preschoolers enjoy dramaiic play, and we can encourage such play ai home
or ai school by providing children wiih discarded aduli cloihing and household
props io play house or adorn superheroes. By aiding iheir imaginaiive imiiaiions
of ihe aduli world, we also help ihem learn io adopi roles and assume duiies,
io engage in subile negoiiaiions, io manifesi iheir budding personaliiiesin
shori, io iry oui various roles and fnd ihose mosi suiied io iheir individual
iemperameni. And because children from ioddlerhood who doni know one
anoiher communicaie wiih ihose of ihe same age ihrough self-iniiiaied games,
we can iniroduce social learning and cooperaiion by iaking ihem io venues
play group or parkwhere ihey meei children in iheir age group. And iheres no
beiier way io encourage ihe inieraciion of play, love, and work ihan providing
children from infancy wiih books. Books suppori healihy language learning
and siimulaie a childs imaginaiion.
Once children reach school age, games wiih rules become a good opiion.
Tese oner unique social and developmenial experiences ihai ofen cannoi be
acquired in any oiher way. Children playing Monopoly learn io develop sirai-
egies and iake risks, while, in card games, ihey acquire ihe abiliiy io observe
oihers and evaluaie iheir inieni. Even wiih someihing so basic as hide-and-seek,
6 A ME R I C A N J O U R N A L O F P L AY S
children learn muiual respeci as ihey make and break iheir own rules. Again, ihis
kind of social learning cannoi be found much in ihe play of compuier games.
Ceriainly, wiih school-age children, we are able io become more aciive
in siimulaiing curiosiiy, faniasy, and imaginaiion. We can play word games
wiih ihem, pose riddles, and help ihem appreciaie ihe muliiple possibiliiies of
words in order io siimulaie creaiive ihinking. By waiching movies and ielevi-
sion programs wiih ihem, we can encourage ihem io ialk aboui ihe siory, ihe
characiers, ihe seiiinganyihing io combai ihe speciaior passiviiy. In ihe long
run, of course, we cani ban all ielevision and compuier gamesand boih me-
diums can be educaiionalbui we can limii ihe iime children waich ielevision
and spend on ihe compuier. And we can make sure ihey go ouiside io play.
Tese days ihe real risk is ihai children are lef wiih liiile iime io indulge
iheir naiural predisposiiion for faniasy, imaginaiion, and creaiiviiy. A childs
world needs io be kepi simple. Ii should provide a supporiive climaie in which
a kid feels free io ask quesiions and io express his or her inieresis. If lef io iheir
own devices, children spend a loi of iime exploring ihe naiural world. School-
age children are colleciors and classifers, and observaiion and classifcaiion are
ihe iniiial siage of any science. Providing ihem iime io explore ihe naiural world
ai iheir own pace oners ihe opporiuniiy for an invaluable, solid foundaiion for
learning of all kinds. Te richness, fullness, and mysieries of naiure pui many
ielevision and compuier programs io shame. Adulis who disdain play as a wasie
of iime should undersiand ihai by encouraging iheir youngsiers predisposiiions
for faniasy, imaginaiion, and creaiiviiy, ihey are indeed providing ihe menial
iools required in ihe long ierm for success in areas such as maih and science.
Jean Piagei once wroie, Play is ihe answer io ihe quesiion: how does any-
ihing new come aboui: When we provide opporiuniiies forand allow iime
forchildrens self-iniiiaied play, we are ensuring ihe full developmeni of iheir
curiosiiy, iheir imaginaiion, and iheir creaiiviiy. We are siriking ihe righi bal-
ance beiween love, work, and play.
Riiivicis
Freud, Sigmund. 1943. A general introduction to psychoanalysis.
Piagei, Jean. 1930. Te psychology of intelligence.
Vandewaier, Elizabeih A., Vicioria J. Rideoui, Ellen A. Wariella, Xuan Huang, June H.
Lee, and Mi-suk Shim. 2007. Digiial childhood: Elecironic media and iechnology
use among infanis, ioddlers, and preschoolers. Pediatrics 119: e100613.