Can you imagine what the average kid's day to day schedule is ? Kids wake up early in the morning; they go to school for 7 hours a day, and then they go to an after school program, and then their mom or dad picks them up, and it's time to go home, dinner, bath, and then bed, repeat. Another child may wake up, eat breakfast, go to school, come home and do homework and watch TV or play video games, eat dinner, take a bath, and go to bed, repeat. Another child may wake up, eat breakfast, go to school, and then after school they have tutoring twice a week, and then soccer practice twice a week, and then swim lessons once a week, and then they come home, have dinner, bath, and then sleep, repeat. On weekends children may go shopping with parents, go out with their family, go visit relatives, might be involved in organized sports, may have lessons or extra structured activities, or they may spend hours inside playing video games, watching TV, or playing on electronics. Do you notice a pattern here ? Kids lives today have become more over scheduled and PLAYLESS than ever before, and these scenarios are reality. When do kids just play anymore ? It's either kids are over scheduled and overbooked, or parents aren't getting their kids outside. When do kids have the time to just be kids and play outside without adults directing them as to what to play ?
Current research tells us that over the past 2 decades in the US, children have lost nine to twelve hours of free play per week. There once was a time in our country where kids spent hours and hours a week playing outside. Now kids barely even have any time to play freely outside. Current research in the field of child development is showing that children having a lack of free play is doing damage, and it's something that needs to be saved !
Current research tells us that over the past 2 decades in the US, children have lost nine to twelve hours of free play per week. There once was a time in our country where kids spent hours and hours a week playing outside. Now kids barely even have any time to play freely outside. Current research in the field of child development is showing that children having a lack of free play is doing damage, and it's something that needs to be saved !
The way that children spend their free time today has been changing, and over the past 25 years, kids have been spending less and less time outside playing. When they are playing, it usually involves an organized sports activity. Experts have often said the only time you see kids playing is when they are in colored uniforms and being coached by an adult. Other activities that are taking over children's lives are indoor lessons, including music, art, dance, and martial arts. There's also tutoring and academic enrichment clubs. Another thing taking over our kids' lives is electronic entertainment, which takes up to 7.5 hours a day of children's time according to a Kaiser Family Foundation study. It is definitely certain that over scheduling children prevents them and deprives children from free play, which is something that is necessary for children to develop. Structured activities are great, but kids have to have ample amounts of playtime in their lives.
So what exactly is free play you might ask ? Isn't playing sports considered play ? According to psychologist Peter Gray and any other child development specialist, absolutely not. Play is something that children engage in that is structured and driven by them; it's child centered. When children play organized sports, or when they play a game where adults are explaining how to play and what the rules are, and pretty much directing the children, this isn't play. This is structured activity, and some might call it structured play, but it truly isn't the type of play that I'm here to share with you about today.
Do you remember the good ole saying "go out and play" ? This was an example of the play that a majority of children used to experience every day. Free play is all unstructured by the adults, but it's structured by children. It's when children come up with a game or activity to do; they create the rules; they create how to play; they plan every aspect of the game and activity. The children think for themselves without an adult intervening or directing them.
If a group of children got together in a field with a playground ball, and all of a sudden they started playing soccer with it, this would be considered free play as long as no adult is directing them. They may use sticks they find on the ground to build goals, or they may use trees as goals.
The thing is, free play generally has more benefits for kids because the kids have to come up with their own fun; the children take charge in their activity; they create their games; they pick who will play, where they will play, what they will use, what the rules are, and if conflicts come up, the kids have to resolve them on their own. This is how children develop. When adults stand back and allow children to take charge in their play, the children are going to gain so much more out of the situation, as opposed to if an adult organized activity was taking place. Play allows children to grow and excel in their creativity, their imagination, and in their physical, cognitive, and emotional strength. Play has a wide range of benefits that truly show why the play life of our children should be saved !
Emotional Benefits: enjoyment, fun, love of life, relaxation, release of energy, tension reduction, self expression
Cognitive Development: creativity, abstract thinking, imagination, problem solving
Affective Development: self confidence, self esteem, anxiety reduction
Social Development: cooperation, sharing, turn taking, conflict resolution, leadership skills
Physical Development: gross motor skills, fine motor skills, physical challenges
Language Development: communication skills
Do you remember the good ole saying "go out and play" ? This was an example of the play that a majority of children used to experience every day. Free play is all unstructured by the adults, but it's structured by children. It's when children come up with a game or activity to do; they create the rules; they create how to play; they plan every aspect of the game and activity. The children think for themselves without an adult intervening or directing them.
If a group of children got together in a field with a playground ball, and all of a sudden they started playing soccer with it, this would be considered free play as long as no adult is directing them. They may use sticks they find on the ground to build goals, or they may use trees as goals.
The thing is, free play generally has more benefits for kids because the kids have to come up with their own fun; the children take charge in their activity; they create their games; they pick who will play, where they will play, what they will use, what the rules are, and if conflicts come up, the kids have to resolve them on their own. This is how children develop. When adults stand back and allow children to take charge in their play, the children are going to gain so much more out of the situation, as opposed to if an adult organized activity was taking place. Play allows children to grow and excel in their creativity, their imagination, and in their physical, cognitive, and emotional strength. Play has a wide range of benefits that truly show why the play life of our children should be saved !
Emotional Benefits: enjoyment, fun, love of life, relaxation, release of energy, tension reduction, self expression
Cognitive Development: creativity, abstract thinking, imagination, problem solving
Affective Development: self confidence, self esteem, anxiety reduction
Social Development: cooperation, sharing, turn taking, conflict resolution, leadership skills
Physical Development: gross motor skills, fine motor skills, physical challenges
Language Development: communication skills
Very little of these skills I would argue can be obtained through structured play. If a game is run and directed by an adult, children have no say in the game. Not every child's interest is taken into account; children don't become creative; children cannot always build their self esteem or leadership skills, or they may not have the opportunity to problem solve, or to be able to use their imagination. From my own personal experiences working with children, I have learned over the last few years that the best thing you can do for kids is to offer them free play opportunities, and lots of them.
I began working as an after school and summer camp counselor a couple of years ago, and I have seen so many happy faces and excited children, when I tell them they get free play time. As a counselor at an after school and summer camp program I have learned so many things about children and play.
1. Kids don't always like structured games.
2. Kids prefer free play, and they love it.
3. One game fits all kind of mentality doesn't work as well as free play.
4. Kids have more fun engaging in free play. I see kids smiling and laughing more.
5. Kids grow in more skills during free play than in structured play.
6. Children will get hurt no matter what you do, whether it is structured or not, so this should never stop adults from letting kids have free play.
7. If you teach children values and morals and character development, bad behavior can be prevented, so there is no reason to worry about this by doing free play.
8. If you teach children boundaries and conflict resolution for safe play, you won't have many problems, and the problems that do arise will help children grow. Any child who grows up without problems hasn't had a childhood, and as we all know, as adults, problems arise on day to day basis. It's a part of life.
9. Free play is amazing; children will come up with all types of things; they are some of the smartest people I have ever met, and their imaginations are out of this world. Children's games are sometimes better than anything I would have ever thought of on my own.
10. Children are not miniature adults. Their way of doing things is different from our own. Their frivolous play may look weird and a waste of time to us, but it is their way of life, and it's through their frivolous play that helps children develop and grow.
I began working as an after school and summer camp counselor a couple of years ago, and I have seen so many happy faces and excited children, when I tell them they get free play time. As a counselor at an after school and summer camp program I have learned so many things about children and play.
1. Kids don't always like structured games.
2. Kids prefer free play, and they love it.
3. One game fits all kind of mentality doesn't work as well as free play.
4. Kids have more fun engaging in free play. I see kids smiling and laughing more.
5. Kids grow in more skills during free play than in structured play.
6. Children will get hurt no matter what you do, whether it is structured or not, so this should never stop adults from letting kids have free play.
7. If you teach children values and morals and character development, bad behavior can be prevented, so there is no reason to worry about this by doing free play.
8. If you teach children boundaries and conflict resolution for safe play, you won't have many problems, and the problems that do arise will help children grow. Any child who grows up without problems hasn't had a childhood, and as we all know, as adults, problems arise on day to day basis. It's a part of life.
9. Free play is amazing; children will come up with all types of things; they are some of the smartest people I have ever met, and their imaginations are out of this world. Children's games are sometimes better than anything I would have ever thought of on my own.
10. Children are not miniature adults. Their way of doing things is different from our own. Their frivolous play may look weird and a waste of time to us, but it is their way of life, and it's through their frivolous play that helps children develop and grow.
Most after school programs today are structured with homework time, academic enrichment, and structured physical activity or playtime. Very few offer large amounts of free play time for children. More and more after school programs are becoming more and more academic, which isn't so great for giving our kids back play. Our kids are spending so many hours in school today enough as it is, and adding more enrichment into their afternoons isn't worth the price of children's play time.
Kids at after school programs may arrive by 3; they eat snack, do homework, and by the time you do all that, you may only have an hour until kids get picked up to go home, so the question is, what should children be doing with one hour of free time ? They should be playing, just playing. Trying to squeeze in extra literacy or math, or science isn't going to make a life change in kids' lives. Kids need their playtime to be brought back to them. They have very little as it is at school and at home. By the time that our kids go home; they eat dinner, take a bath, watch TV, and go to bed more than likely. They don't have playtime when they get home most of the time. I have had a few kids in my after school program tell me that their parents don't even let them play outside at home.
My main point here today is whether children are at home after school, or they go to an after school program, children need to have some time in their day to just have some free unstructured play time. After school hours provide time for children to do this. Weekends offer plenty of time for kids to do this, and summers and school days off provide ample time for kids to have free play. However, like I mentioned before, children are not getting to have much of this play time. No matter what age a child is, whether they're 10,7,3,5,6,8,or 13, all children need free play time. Kids of today have been way over scheduled between sports, lessons, tutoring, after school programs (that don't offer ample play opportunities), and running errands with mom or dad. Even during the summer months, free play is still being grabbed out of the hands of children.
I recently read an inspiring article by the American Camp Association, that serves as an organization for summer camps to look to for direction. The article I read was entitled " The Impact of the Loss of Free, Undirected Play in Childhood (And What Camps Can Do About It)". Just like many of the things I have mentioned, the article went on to say how children have lost so much free time in their lives as it is, but even during the summertime, children are losing free play again and again. One quote from the article really hit me hard, " The loss of time for free, undirected play in everyday life is one of the saddest facts of modern childhood".
The article goes on to say how children's lives are so micromanaged that kids really don't have the enjoyment of free play. The article mentioned how kids don't have very much of a work /play balance in their lives. One of the catchiest things the article said was how structured activities are good for kids, but we as adults aren't leaving kids alone enough, as in not bothering them. Dr. Thompson, the man who wrote the article said he polled an audience of 100 parents, and asked how many of them remembered their parents sending them outside to play as children and told them to stay outside until dinner of until the street lights come on. 85 percent of parents raised their hands to respond that they played outside for 2 to 5 hours at a stretch. When asked if they now allow their own children to do the same thing, only 4 or 5 people raised their hands. The article went further on to say that lots of camps don't offer ample amounts of free time for our children even during the summer, and this is becoming a problem all across the country in many camps, as well as in everyday life for kids. It listed 6 costs that we will pay because of a loss of free play.
1. Obesity
2. High levels of stress in children
3. Rapidly increasing diagnosis of ADHD, depression, emotional fragility
4. Social incompetence
5. Excessive dependence on adults
6. Loss of a relationship with nature
The article ended with a recommendation for summer camps across the country to build in some time during the day for children to have free play. Free play can be in groups or solitary; it should be voluntary, imaginative, and absorbing. It was also said that children should learn to play on their own without always relying on adults. This is how children develop.
"From a distance, watch and appreciate the characteristics of free play. When left alone, campers will do many things: create rules, debate rules, resolve conflicts, and exercise leadership. More importantly, they will feel a different energy inside themselves when they play their own games. There is nothing quite like it. Do you remember " ? Michael Thompson, Ph. D
In closing with my discussion of free play, I will say I truly, truly understand now the importance of free play for kids. I really believe all kids should have daily opportunities for ample free play. Kids should have a time of day where they can be kids, where they can play with other kids, where they can choose what to play, where they can use their imaginations, and where they can have some time outside to be left alone from structured activities. It is necessary for children to develop healthy. Kids should be free to play in the afternoons after school for as much as possible, during the day at school, on weekends for hours and hours of the day, and during the summertime for several hours each day. Free play needs to be brought back to modern childhood. The children of today and of tomorrow deserve to have their unstructured playtime returned to them.
I recently read an inspiring article by the American Camp Association, that serves as an organization for summer camps to look to for direction. The article I read was entitled " The Impact of the Loss of Free, Undirected Play in Childhood (And What Camps Can Do About It)". Just like many of the things I have mentioned, the article went on to say how children have lost so much free time in their lives as it is, but even during the summertime, children are losing free play again and again. One quote from the article really hit me hard, " The loss of time for free, undirected play in everyday life is one of the saddest facts of modern childhood".
The article goes on to say how children's lives are so micromanaged that kids really don't have the enjoyment of free play. The article mentioned how kids don't have very much of a work /play balance in their lives. One of the catchiest things the article said was how structured activities are good for kids, but we as adults aren't leaving kids alone enough, as in not bothering them. Dr. Thompson, the man who wrote the article said he polled an audience of 100 parents, and asked how many of them remembered their parents sending them outside to play as children and told them to stay outside until dinner of until the street lights come on. 85 percent of parents raised their hands to respond that they played outside for 2 to 5 hours at a stretch. When asked if they now allow their own children to do the same thing, only 4 or 5 people raised their hands. The article went further on to say that lots of camps don't offer ample amounts of free time for our children even during the summer, and this is becoming a problem all across the country in many camps, as well as in everyday life for kids. It listed 6 costs that we will pay because of a loss of free play.
1. Obesity
2. High levels of stress in children
3. Rapidly increasing diagnosis of ADHD, depression, emotional fragility
4. Social incompetence
5. Excessive dependence on adults
6. Loss of a relationship with nature
The article ended with a recommendation for summer camps across the country to build in some time during the day for children to have free play. Free play can be in groups or solitary; it should be voluntary, imaginative, and absorbing. It was also said that children should learn to play on their own without always relying on adults. This is how children develop.
"From a distance, watch and appreciate the characteristics of free play. When left alone, campers will do many things: create rules, debate rules, resolve conflicts, and exercise leadership. More importantly, they will feel a different energy inside themselves when they play their own games. There is nothing quite like it. Do you remember " ? Michael Thompson, Ph. D
In closing with my discussion of free play, I will say I truly, truly understand now the importance of free play for kids. I really believe all kids should have daily opportunities for ample free play. Kids should have a time of day where they can be kids, where they can play with other kids, where they can choose what to play, where they can use their imaginations, and where they can have some time outside to be left alone from structured activities. It is necessary for children to develop healthy. Kids should be free to play in the afternoons after school for as much as possible, during the day at school, on weekends for hours and hours of the day, and during the summertime for several hours each day. Free play needs to be brought back to modern childhood. The children of today and of tomorrow deserve to have their unstructured playtime returned to them.