Context
I think few people would argue about the importance of play for children. However, I am increasingly aware that the space and time for children to play is being severely squeezed.
In the early years, children are often involved in various adult-led activities, leaving less time for adults to facilitate play and less space for children to play with each other. We notice similar patterns with older children, who often struggle to play cooperatively with peers in the time they do have available. Often, when I ask children about what they like to do or play, their answers are about online games or activities.
With children spending more time on screens or adult-directed activities and less in face-to-face play with peers, we need to think carefully about how we protect this fundamental element of child development, not just for the youngest children, but for all.
Why is play important?
We know from a raft of empirical evidence that play is an essential part of children’s learning, development, and well-being. Play has many different faces. It can look different for children from different cultures or for neurodivergent children,[1] and it changes as children grow.
Play supports physical, social, and cognitive development. It provides opportunities for children to explore and experiment, to be creative and imaginative, to learn about the world around them, and to practise problem-solving and critical thinking skills. The evidence for the broad impact of play is also robust.
For example, one study found playful approaches to writing with 5-10-year-olds showed improvement in their self-regulatory behaviour and positive achievements in their writing.[2]
Other research found that for 6-7-year-olds, the amount of ‘free play’ time in their lives predicted higher scores on measures of self-regulation,[3] as did attending preschool settings that prioritised play-based learning.
Play and language
Play and language development are interlinked. In language, we represent the objects, actions, and ideas around us with words, basically using symbols we have created to enable communication. In play, children learn how to represent things in a similar way – they pretend a banana is a phone or a cardboard box becomes a rocket. They learn how one thing represents another, just as in language.
In early Exploratory play, children learn what objects are for, what they feel and look like, and how they are linked to other things. These foundations help with understanding and word learning. Imaginative play helps with connections between objects and their labels, and pretend play builds on these foundations, creating story sequences and supporting more sophisticated language development.
Interactions with adults through play provide rich opportunities that help children make sense of what they are learning and of their ideas, emotions, and experiences.
Play gives children a chance to practise and extend their language skills. Playing with others helps children express their ideas and understand those of others. They learn to explain their reasons and build their vocabulary, create their own stories, and share them.
Play and social-emotional development
At its foundation, children can build their relationships through play. They can practise collaborating and taking turns, negotiating and seeing others’ perspectives. It’s also fun, so it can create feelings of happiness and belonging, which are crucial for children’s well-being.
In play, children get to practice regulating their own emotions. They have to learn to adjust or deal with challenges when things don’t go to plan.
Adults have an important role in supporting children to develop these skills through play. They facilitate problem-solving and help children recognise how they or others are feeling. They can also provide language for strong or difficult emotions that helps children with self-regulation.
Sharing space, negotiating, and resolving conflicts are all embedded in play with others. Research has shown that where children feel safe and are given opportunities to talk about their thought processes, there is a positive impact on their development of self-regulation.[4] So it is that children learn about other people and develop compassion for others through play.
Play is fun and we know that when children are in charge of their play, they can learn and consolidate knowledge in a way that is useful and unique to each of them.
So, let's flex our play muscles and look for those opportunities to find space and time for this incredibly powerful thing that supports language, learning and social emotional development.
If you needed any more convincing, here are our Top 10 reasons to prioritise play:
It supports language development, from the most basic word learning through to prediction, inference, storytelling, and reasoning skills.
Children learn through play.
It helps with socialisation.
It supports self-regulation.
The language of emotion can come through play.
Outdoor play helps with an understanding and love of nature.
Imaginative play supports creativity and creative thinking.
Collaborative play helps with problem-solving and higher order thinking.
It helps with physical development.
It’s fun!
We’d love to hear how you manage to prioritise play and what you notice about the play of the children you work with.
[1] https://www.pedalhub.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/PEDAL-Submission-to-the-Play-Commission-1.pdf
[2] Play beyond the Foundation Stage: play, self-regulation and narrative skills in The Excellence Of Play (Whitebread et al., 2015)
[3] Less-structured time in children’s daily lives predicts self-directed executive functioning (Barker et al., 2014)
[4] Developing young children as self-regulated learners in Beginning Teaching, Beginning Learning: In Early Years and Primary Education (Whitebread & Coltman, 2017)