The importance of play
Professor Cathy Nutbrown
Monday, October 20, 2014
I visited a nursery school and children's centre recently, and was once more inspired by the energy and creativity of the staff, and the children and the commitment and confidence of parents.
It was early in the morning and the children were just arriving. In the room for two-year-olds there was an area with sand scattered on the floor and dinosaurs, stones and cardboard tubing arranged invitingly. The practitioners had made an oasis for children to engage playfully and imaginatively in ways that they chose for themselves.
There continues to be discussion and disagreement about the usefulness of play, and argument about the value of play and its role in education will run and run. But really, there is only one answer to all this. Healthy, happy children can't not play! Play is like oxygen to young and developing bodies and minds. Play is a life force for us all. One of the things that unites many of the pioneers of early education (Rachel and Margaret McMillan, Maria Montessori, Fredrich Froebel, Susan Isaacs, Lillian De Lissa, to name a few) is an understanding of the centrality of play in children's well-being, development and learning. And it is equally important today that we keep play to forefront of early education and care.
It worries me that many initial training courses still do not have a key focus on play and how adults can best support children's uninterrupted play. When we watch children play we do not always understand what we see. Sometimes they are willing to explain what they are doing; on other occasions their play is private and persistent engagement in a personally set goal.
Adults need to become expert in knowing when to step in and join children as they play and when to step aside and allow children to follow their own pursuits unhindered.
My own university - the University of Sheffield - is currently running a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) called Exploring Play. Thousands of learners around the world are involved, showing that learning about play throughout the life course is of international interest and, importantly, that understanding play is still of interest.
As George Bernard Shaw said: 'We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.'
