Play histories are fascinating. We all have them. The fact that they are playful does not diminish their importance. Through play in childhood, we have learnt how to respond to the world, the environment, and others; we have unknowingly prepared ourselves for our futures. For example, through imaginative play (acting out a particular work role) or learning some useful motor skills through practice with real or pretend objects, we establish foundations which may even influence our future career choices. So, it turns out that much depends on the experiences which were on offer in early childhood and how we reacted to them.
Play must not be underestimated for its contribution towards multiple areas of brain growth.
Spontaneously chosen play in childhood appears to help develop the prefrontal cortex, which is the brain's executive control hub. This part of the brain is essential for regulating emotions, planning ahead, problem solving, and a host of other more formal operations, all essential not only for academic life but also for navigating our way more easily through life's later challenges.
EMOTION AND MEMORY
‘Early regulation is also about responding to the baby's feelings in a non-verbal way’ (Gerhardt, 2015). Emotion and memories go hand in hand and as such are key to understanding the importance of play and child development. Obviously, we all want children in our care to grow up with memories that are emotionally helpful.
ON THE DOWNSIDE
Some researchers are concerned about what they see as the brain's rather puzzling propensity to latch on to or recall negative experiences. In fact, neuropsychologist Dr. Rick Hanson proposes that negative experiences are so powerful that they seem to ‘shout’ louder than positive ones. He discusses what is known as the ‘negativity bias’. Hanson rather brilliantly describes this process in the brain as: ‘Velcro for the bad and Teflon for the good.’
Although not all researchers come to the same conclusions, this view of the brain's potential towards negativity raises important questions about how students, practitioners and parents might ensure that children in the earliest years receive an adequate supply of positive playful experiences to override any possible negative bias of the brain. So, whether or not Hanson is correct, it seems that adults can do no harm in providing an abundance of memorable positive and life-affirming play activities.
Researchers believe there is one area of the brain particularly active in this conundrum, which, as Hanson points out, fast becomes sensitised to negative experiences. It is called the amygdala.
The amygdala
The brain possesses multiple neural systems which are on the lookout for core human needs: safety and connection. The system constantly questions itself: are these needs being met?
This part of the brain is vital when a threat is sensed. Although it is only about the size of an almond, it performs a significant role in processing emotions at speed. It acts as an alarm call, urgently sending out stress hormones which cause the adrenals to release cortisol. This is a strong signal for the need to flee, fight, or even freeze. This is, of course, an unhelpful state for a child to experience on a regular basis. Importantly, if a history of trauma has been experienced then, simply put, the amygdala can trigger an extreme reaction.
CORROSIVE CORTISOL AND THE IMMUNE SYSTEM
Toxic flooding of stress hormones (cortisol), particularly in babies, has been a cause for concern for some years now (Gerhardt, 2015; Hosking and Walsh, 2005). Thankfully, sensitive human interaction offers a buffer against consistently stressful experiences and assists in the construction of a robust immune system and essential healthy development (Miller, Chen and Parker, 2011). This ‘buffer’ is a bit like wearing trainers to do exercise instead of suffering the impact and stress of wearing ordinary shoes.
Psychoneuro-immunology (McEwen and Lasley, 2005) has revolutionised our understanding of play; just ‘having fun’ has a remarkable capacity to enhance health and wellbeing, tackling unwanted inflammation in the nervous system. Buffering a child against this potentially harmful state is paramount.
THE GOOD NEWS ABOUT PLAY, HEALTH AND WELLBEING
The immune system has a memory. This discovery by researchers such as Goleman (1998) came to be known as the ‘body's brain’ and was fundamental to an even deeper understanding of the relationship between early experiences and health and wellbeing. Loving touch releases the important hormone oxytocin, which enhances health (Miller, Chen and Parker, 2011). The link between co-regulation and self-regulation is now well established (Shanker, Hopkins and Davidson, 2015). In simple terms, co-regulation means the way in which the baby is guided by a caring and supportive adult in the earliest stages, so they have a working model to draw upon for self-regulation.
Creative play does its most brilliant and significant work at a molecular level. At a time when human brains are particularly ‘open’ to new experiences, it could be said that play can do its best work. Play is an important antidote to stress as it increases levels of endorphins – the feel-good hormones known for improving a sense of wellbeing (Harding and Chaudhuri, 2008).
THE BRAIN LOVES TO PLAY CREATIVELY
The brain relishes the opportunity to be creative. Creativity can be thought of as restoring balance in the human system. Creative play acts as a soothing action for the nervous system and seems to enable the brain to restore and rebalance itself – combating stress and anxiety.
The sympathetic system is generally acknowledged for its part in the ‘fight or fiight’ response. The system can get out of balance and needs to be coaxed back out of the sympathetic nervous system and back towards the safer and calmer parasympathetic nervous system (Harding and Chaudhuri, 2008).
CASE STUDY: holes in our play history?
It is well established now that with sensitive intervention, any deficits can be turned around. I recall a five-year-old child in my school who showed little interest in any of the activities in the classroom and yet seemed unusually alert to the needs of others around her.
I was puzzled until I discovered that she had been a young carer for the last year for a very unwell mother and her younger siblings. She had certainly experienced no spare time to play. Immediately, I provided her with as much time as she liked to play in the classroom. Driven by her own interests, which in her case was role play, she was able to work out some of the confusing issues around caring for her mum and siblings. From then on, her interest in playing with her peers blossomed. Later on, the more formal environment of the curriculum, such as learning phonics, began to be of greater interest to her.
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