I had a sorting game post planned for today, but I came across this article in the New York Times about children and play. It’s about 11 pages long, and a lot of it is related to studies in animals and lab rats, but the gist of the article was the relevance of play in a child’s life in today’s world.
There’s no denying that our kids spend less time playing (I am not talking Nintendo or PS here, but “regular” play with dolls, and trucks and tree climbing – in short ,the kind of playing we used to do in our own childhoods). Today, with 200 million television channels, video games and the chance to ”interact” with friends online, kids spend lesser time in that joyful abandon that we remember. Plus, kids are under a lot more pressure these days than we were to excel in whatever they do. Piano lessons, ballet classes, private tuition – there are huge, and sometimes unreasonable demands made on their time, so they can turn out to be highly productive members of society.
Anyway, the article is about studies being conducted by the National Institute of Play (yes, there apparently is such a thing) into the relevance of play in humans, and whether it is really as important as we like to believe it is. Some experts are of the opinion that play in all its forms – whether dramatic role play, through imaginary friends, model making, skipping etc. – don’t really teach a child anything that he couldn’t otherwise pick up in a class room setting.
I so beg to differ.
Trust a bunch of scientists to take something as basic as play, and turn it into a lab rat experiment-worth activity. Play might not be the only way to teach a child something, but the fact of the matter is that it is the only way all kids will find learning fun.
Playtime is intrinsic to a child’s development. If you were struggling to teach your child the alphabet, or numbers, or colors, which would he find a more enjoyable activity? Using a passing game to learn numbers, discovering secondary colors through painting, or being made to sit in front of a large chart with numbers, or alphabets or whatever on it, and taught what they stand for?
Kids these days don’t play as much they should, and that’s a fact. They have too may other things competing for their attention. And for some expert to proclaim that we shouldn’t attach overdue importance to it, is just plain irresponsible.
In all fairness, the NY Times article concludes that play is as important to a child’s neurological development as lessons, although analysts, it says, are of the opinion that we shouldn’t overestimate the importance of play or place it on a pedestal. I don’t think we should place it on a pedestal either, but to say very cavalierly, that it doesn’t teach anything that kids wouldn’t learn otherwise in a classroom setting, is to have a very narrow minded understanding of what “teaching” a child really involves.
What about self esteem and confidence?
What about social interaction?
What about learning to thrust and parry with your fellow playmates, physically and mentally?
And also, what about life lessons? The playground can sometimes seem like a cruel place where only the most popular kids get first shot at the swing set. Being left out of play time, losing at a game – these are all part of the childhood experience. How does a child learn how to deal with adult situations that may involve conflict or disagreement, if he has only learned to wage imaginary wars on his PS, or chatted with nameless or faceless strangers on the Net?
Kids thrive on play. Period.
Gross motor skills development, building friendships, socializing, learning new things about objects and people in their surroundings as they play….the benefits of play are endless.
Experts might think that we give play a halo that it doesn’t deserve, but with all due respect, these experts are not raising my child.
