The Importance of Play 1

The Importance of Play

The Importance of Play in Early Childhood Development

Olivia C. Williams
Glen Allen High School

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Introduction
Visit any playground around the world and one will see a universal truth; children of all
ages engaged in play. From an infant holding a rattle, to a four year old playing dress-up, to a
seven year old playing tag, children enjoy engaging in self-motivated and unstructured play
without adult interference. Play is a spontaneous, voluntary, pleasurable and flexible activity that
is a childs natural and instinctive way of learning valuable lessons about the world around them.
It only follows to assume there is something very important about play in the lives of young kids.
Play is essential for healthy cognitive, social, and emotional development in early childhood and
should therefore be an integral part of all young childrens lives. However, with increasing
emphasis in our culture on developing academic skills in children at younger and younger ages,
and the ever growing influence of technology, children are spending less and less time
discovering and enjoying the benefits of free play.
Play & Cognitive Development
Play during early childhood provides the fundamental foundation for healthy cognitive
development. Senior Early Childhood Specialist, Shannon Lockhart, suggests that working
memory, self-regulation, language, and the ability to organize, focus, plan, strategize, prioritize,
and initiate are all key cognitive functions developed through the assistance of play (Lockhart,
2011). Many experts agree that play provides the foundation for learning skills that can
determine later academic success. In addition, once children reach the age in which they are in
an academic environment, play can help children adjust to the school setting, and therefore foster
school engagement and enhance childrens learning readiness, learning behaviors, and problemsolving skills. Play and recess during the school day can even increase childrens capacity to

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learn new information (Ginsburg, 2007). This hypothesis was supported by a study conducted by
Han, Moore, Vukelich and Buell, in which they examined the effects of play on how effectively
preschoolers learn. The study divided up a group of 118 low-performing students into two
groups. One group received Explicit Instructional Vocabulary Protocol (EVIP), and the other
received a shortened EVIP plus a play session (EVIP + Play). Study results showed that the
children who received EVIP + Play exhibited more growth on receptive and expressive
vocabulary tests than those who received EVIP alone. The EVIP + Play group also met the
benchmark on receptive vocabulary as measured by the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (Han,
Moore, Vukelich, & Buell, 2010).
Physically active play also contributes to the development of executive cognitive
functions in early childhood. When children engage in physically strenuous play it stimulates the
growth of new neurons in the hippocampus, the brain region primarily involved in learning and
memory (Sattelmair & Ratey, 2009). Physically taxing play combines the neural benefits of both
exercise and play by providing physical, social, and intellectual stimulation. This simultaneous
stimulation causes the young brain to adapt to new dynamics which results in healthy cognitive
development (Sattelmair & Ratey, 2009). Many studies support the positive relationship
physical play and cognitive ability. A meta-analysis conducted by Fedewa and Ahn showed that
physically strenuous play had a significantly positive impact on childrens cognitive outcomes
such as perceptual skills, intelligence quotient, and academic achievement (Fedewa & Ahn,
2011). Similar to exercise, physically exhausting play contributes to healthy brain functioning of
young children. This is why it is crucial that schools and child care facilities continue to provide
time for children to engage in this active form of play.

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Further research examines the relationship between play and cognitive development with
regards to child-initiated play. When children determine the direction and content of their own
play, they have many opportunities to develop language and literacy skills. In instances where
children are allowed to initiate play, they are able to express their choices in words and interact
and speak freely with other children and adults (Bodrova & Leong, 2007). A cross-national
longitudinal study conducted by The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational
Achievement (IEA) Preprimary Project found that childrens language performance at age seven
was significantly higher when teachers had allowed children to choose their own activities with
regards to play at the age of four (Montie, Xiang, & Schweinhart, 2006).
The benefits of play extend to enhancement of childrens language development due to
the fact that play incorporates many of the socially interactive and cognitive elements known to
enhance language skills. Many forms of play often require symbolic thinking; when children use
props to serve as symbols for real objects. The relationship between a prop and an object it
represents is very similar to the relationship of a word and what it is referring to. For example, a
child may pretend sticks are a bow and arrow, or that water and grass are soup. Since both play
and linguistics share a representational character, creating object-symbol relationships during
play prepares children to understand words as symbols which makes it easier for young children
to understand when learning languages (Weisberg, Zosh, Hirsh-Pasek, & Golinkoff).
Play & Social Development
Play promotes positive social development during early childhood. Like any developing
skill, learning social skills requires practice and repetition. Desired social behaviors are taught
through a variety of experiences starting in early childhood. According to David Elkind, one of

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the easiest ways parents can help their children develop socially is by playing with them. Joining
in play builds relationships in a climate of fun and puts parents in the perfect position to teach
skills for sharing and cooperation and introduce concepts such as winning or losing. In addition,
play gives children a chance to learn about more subtle social cues like body language and vocal
intonations (Elkind, 2008). Children can take on different roles through play, for example they
can play a leader or subordinate, or a parent or child. Through play children also strengthen their
ability to interact with their peers by practicing social skills that include sharing, taking turns,
conversing, and being able to stay with a specific play theme (Sohn, 2014). These play scenarios
can mimic situations that play out in real life; how to behave as a pupil at school, how to act as
patient at the doctors office, or, more simply, how to interact with family members.
In order to fully understand how play positively influences healthy social development it
is important to acknowledge Mildred Partens Stages of Play (1932), which is considered by
experts as one of the best descriptions of how socialization develops in early childhood through
play. In her studies of young children, Parten observed that social play increases with age. She
described development of social play into six categories: unoccupied behavior, onlooker
behavior, solitary play, parallel play, associative play, and cooperative play (Tomlin, 2008).
Partens first stage, Unoccupied behavior, refers to when a child is not playing but
occupies themself with watching anything that happens to catch his or her interest. Onlooker
behavior is described as when a child spends most of his or her time watching other children
play. At this stage a child will begin to talk to the children in which they are observing, but will
not full enter into the play. A child watching other children play hop-scotch at the park is
Unoccupied behavior. Solitary play refers to when a child plays independently with toys that are

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different from those used by other children. During this type of play, a child will pursue his or
her own activity without reference to what others are doing. The Parallel play is the stage in
which children play beside one another rather than with each other. While a child continues to
play independently, the activity chosen naturally begins to bring him or her closer to others, such
as two three year olds playing in the same sandbox, but with different toys. During Associative
play children are beginning to engage in close personal contact and play with one another,
however, they still consider their own viewpoint as most important. While children are sharing
and borrowing toys from one another, they are not ready to participate in group work. Partens
final stage of play, Cooperative play, refers to when children play in a group that is organized for
the purpose of striving to attain goal. Children share, take turns, and allow some others to serve
as leaders for the group (Frost, Worthing, & Reifel, 2010). Children playing an organized game
of tag where turns are taken being it would be considered Cooperative play. Partens categories
of the developmental levels of social play are significant because they lay out the guidelines
necessary for understanding how young children progress from playing by themselves to
becoming social players. These stages support the theory that play has an essential role in
contributing to the positive social development of young children, as those who learn to
effectively work with and communicate with others will be more successful later in life (Tomlin,
2008).
Time spent playing and its relationship with social development has been directly linked
to school success. Elkind supports this theory stating, All of this game playing and social
learning makes it easier for children to learn in a school setting where they are interacting with
adults and have the basic social skills that are the basis for formal learning (Elkind, 2008).
Longitudinal studies suggest that academic achievement in the first few years of schooling

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appears to be built on a foundation of childrens social skills. For instance, The University of
North Carolinas Abecedarian Early Child Intervention program found that children who
received enriched, play-oriented parenting, and early childhood programs had significantly
higher IQs at age five than did a comparable group of children who did not (Elkind, 2008).
Early childhood education professionals and parents need to continue to integrate play into
childrens everyday lives in order to assist with the development of necessary social skills that
will be vital for positive outcomes in a childs future academic career such as listening
cooperatively, following directions, getting along with others, persisting with tasks, and problem
solving (Raver, 2002). Additionally, the benefits of exercise play seem to enhance childrens
ability to learn. Young children who have had the chance to run and play at recess are more able
to retain focus and retain information in the classroom, thus amplifying academic performance.
Play & Emotional Development
Many researchers consider play as an important part of healthy emotional development.
Unstructured play develops self-determination, self-esteem, and the ability to self-regulate all
vital elements of emotional development. Through play, children can release emotions, work
through feelings, and understand their world better by play-acting in situations they can control.
The give and-take patterns of play allow children rich opportunities to practice the skills
necessary to establish a healthy emotional development. In his article The Importance of Play in
Promoting Healthy Child Development and Maintaining Strong Parent-Child Bonds, Ginsburg
details how play helps to build and strengthen emotional bonds within the family. Childrens
healthy emotional development is mediated by nurturing relationships with consistent caregivers.
Ginsburg relates how play allows parents to view the world through their childs eyes and,

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therefore, help parents learn to communicate or offer guidance more effectively. In addition
Ginsburgs article explains how play can even help younger, less verbal children to be able to
express themselves, including their frustrations, therefore allowing their parents an opportunity
to better understand their childs emotional needs. Above all, the intensive engagement and
interactions that occur while playing tell children that their parents are fully paying attention to
them, thus establishing a stronger parent-child connection (Ginsburg, 2007).
Play further supports emotional development by providing children with a way to express
and cope with their feelings. Pretend play specifically helps children learn to express their
emotions. During pretend play children can simplify events by creating an imaginary character,
or setting to match their emotional state. Pretend play also allows children to compensate for
certain situations by adding forbidden acts to pretend play, meaning a child can do things
during play that they might not be allowed to do in real life, such as using pretend kitchen
utensils to prepare pretend food while playing house. In addition, play gives children the outlet
to control and learn to cope with their feelings by repeatedly reenacting events that elicit specific
emotions, such as surprise, anger, or sadness in a situation they can control (Isenburg & Jalongo,
2011). Children, for example, can often be heard during pretend play imitating a parent or
teacher while acting out a scenario. Preschool age children are not always able to verbalize how
they feel. But, because children feel safe in play, and because pretend play is a primary activity
in the preschool years, young children are able to exhibit the full range of their feelings in play
(Frost, Worthing, & Reifel, 2010). For this reason, doctors such as child psychologists use dolls
and toys to assist in assessing the needs of preschool age children in their offices.

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The Decline of Play

Without play children fail to acquire the cognitive social and emotional skills necessary
for healthy psychological development. Unfortunately, the amount of time that children spend in
unstructured free play today is in decline. Ginsberg reports that a variety of factors have reduced
play in our modern world including a hurried lifestyle, changes in family structure, and
increased attention to academics and enrichment activities (Ginsberg, 2008). Children now
spend more time in school than ever before. The length of the school year and school day have
increased while the age requirements for school have decreased, leading more young children to
attend academically oriented kindergartens and preschools. In addition, schools are cutting out
recess and physical educations periods in order to focus more time towards academics.
Furthermore, the continuous decline in childrens free play over the past six decades is
partly due to the fact that adults have exerted too much control over childrens activities. To
examine the decline of play over the years, Sociologists at the University of Michigan made
assessments of how children spent their time in 1981 and again in 1997. For both years, the
researchers asked a large, representative sample of parents in the United States to keep records of
their childrens activities on days chosen at random by the study. The results found that children
not only played a lot less in 1997 than they did in 1981 but also appeared to have less free time
for all self-chosen activities in 1997 than in 1981 (Gray, 2011). According to Peter Gray, the
increasing busy schedules and the decline of play has contributed to the rise in anxiety,
depression, suicide, feelings of helplessness, and narcissism of young people (Gray, 2011).
Restoring childrens free play is essential if we want the youth of our society to grow up
to be psychologically healthy and emotionally competent adults. But how can this be done? First

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of all, schools can increase the amount of time allotted for indoor and outdoor play periods, since
longer periods allow children to become involved in more complex, more productive play
activities (Gray, 2011). School administrators should pay close attention to the recent published
studies that support play as a means of enhancing academic performance. Parents, if made aware,
can stop falling prey to advertising that claims children need to get ahead by participating in
multiple enrichment activities, such as school tutoring and organized sports that cut into selfinitiated play time. For younger children, a set time for simple free play can be made part of a
daily routine, just as school time, mealtime and bedtime are natural parts of any childs day.
Conclusion
Play is as natural to children as learning to crawl, walk, or say their first words. A wealth
of research clearly shows that play can benefit early childhood development in numerous
valuable ways. Not only does play enhances cognitive understanding, but it fosters social
competence, respect for rules, self-discipline, aggression control, problem solving skills,
leadership development, and conflict resolution. Its Unfortunate that in our modern world play
is often being overlooked both at home and at school as we all trend towards pushing children in
more academic pursuits. Play is usually free, does not require structuring by parents and
caregivers, and makes children more able to successfully participate in their daily activities. The
presented studies show that play allows young children to act out roles they may be adapting to
in real life, thus making them better prepared for growing up in todays challenging world. Play
is essential for healthy cognitive, social, and emotional development in early childhood. It is
therefore important for parents and educators to make time for play, both at home and at school,
in the daily life of every child.

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Works Cited
Bodrova, E., & Leong, D. J. (2007). Tools of the Mind: The Vygotskian Approach to Early
Childhood Education. Pearson. Retrieved from http://isites.harvard.edu/fs/docs/icb.
topic850552.files/Bodrova_Leong_2007_pp1-91.pdf
Elkind, D. (2008). Can We Play? Greater Good Magazine. Retrieved from http://sharpbrains.
com/blog/2008/06/09/cognitive-and-emotional-development-through-play/
Elkind, D. (2008). The Power of Play: Learning What Comes Naturally. American Journal
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Fedewa, A. L., & Ahn, S. (2011). The Effects of Physical Activity and Physical Fitness on
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Frost, J.L., Wortham, S. C. & Reifel, S. (2010). Characteristics of Social Play. Play and Child
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Ginsburg, K. R. (2007). The Importance of Play in Promoting Healthy Child Development
and Maintaining Strong Parent-Child Bonds. Journal of American Academy of

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Pediatrics,119 (1), 183-185. Retrieved from http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/

content/pediatrics/119/1/182.full.pdf
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Han, M., Moore, N., Vukelich, C., & Buell, M. (2010). Does Play Make a Difference? How
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