The Vital Role of Play in Children’s Development

Children’s play faces growing competition from screens, busy schedules, and ever-present distractions. It’s worth asking: have we forgotten the foundational role of play in shaping children’s social, emotional, and cognitive development? Research consistently shows that play, whether child- or adult-led, creates essential neural connections and builds skills like empathy and resilience. This is especially critical in the early years when children are discovering the world around them.

Defining Play: A Spectrum of Possibilities

Play can range from unstructured and free-flowing to more active, engaging forms. Whether passive or hands-on, it’s through play that children explore, experiment, and learn. Influential theorists like Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky have different takes on this process. Piaget saw play as a self-directed means for children to reinforce knowledge through exploration, while Vygotsky viewed it as socially guided, a way to practice cultural norms and build self-regulation. Both perspectives underscore play’s formative power.

In imaginative play, there’s no predefined goal, children lead the experience, creating joy and fulfilment. This lack of structure is perhaps why brands that foster imaginative play resonate so deeply with children and adults alike. Some experts even break down play into five types: physical, object play, symbolic play, pretend play, and games with rules. This progression starts with simple sensory-motor activities for infants and evolves as children grow, with rough-and-tumble play contributing to social skills and constructive play boosting problem-solving abilities.

Play in Different Cultures: Global Perspectives on Education

While countries like Denmark, Sweden, and Germany support ample opportunities for play, some recent shifts aim to begin formal schooling earlier, prompting debate. Other nations, including the UK, Italy, and France, have trended toward prioritising academic instruction over play, influenced by educational policies focused on early literacy and numeracy. Montessori’s words, “play is the work of the child,” remind us that play is a learning process in itself, one that we risk undervaluing. We need to remember that play is how children learn and is related to positive long-term academic, social and executive functioning outcomes. This may be especially relevant for neurodivergent or ADHD children.

The Evolution of Play in My Own Children

My oldest, now 6 years old has led his own journey in terms of play and learning. Although there have been challenges, I’ve watched his creativity flourish. His imagination is boundless, and I was his playmate during covid-19 lockdowns and onwards! However, introducing structure was difficult: sometimes he wanted to colour or draw, but not consistently. Now, he spends most of his time making things, cutting, gluing, and drawing. He used to resist practicing writing, getting distraught over mistakes and unwilling to try again, at least on the same day. But now, he writes whole pages. This progress has been completely organic, and although I’m impulsive by nature, I’ve made an effort to step back and enjoy watching the shift from unstructured to more structured play.

I embrace the differences between my children and love them for their unique personalities. My youngest walked at 10 months old, desperate to get to his older brother’s toys, and you can imagine the reaction he got! He has learnt partly by watching, copying, and modelling his brother, keen to join in the play. It’s hard to say how much of his development is organic and how much is influenced by his sibling and environment. He has always enjoyed drawing, observing, and identifying letters and numbers. Recently, he surprised me with a perfect little letter ‘M’, the first letter in his name. Ever since this he has been eager to learn and practice more, including on our walls! He’s patient (for a 3 year-old) and will cross out anything he doesn’t like, including my examples if I draw or write too much. Then, he tries again.

The Healing Power of Play

Play took a different and more essential role for my oldest when he was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at just 15 months old. From the unwelcome blood test when he was discharged from the hospital with an array of lights, sounds and other magical effects to distract him from what was happening to him. He was petrified of his regular cannula or sensor insertions; as a family those were moments of pure dread and play was how we communicated with him at such a young age. I hope that pretending to insert sensors on us and his toys helped him in some way to make sense of all the many things which were out of his control and so unfamiliar to a young child and everything in their life.

Breakthrough T1D

Creating spaces where children can experiment, learn and grow at their own pace is a powerful gift. Play is a vital component of development, enabling children to make sense of the world around them, step-by-step and in their own time.

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