Almost, But Not Quite "Taking Play Seriously"

Almost, But Not Quite "Taking Play Seriously"

I was delighted to see, a few Sundays ago, that the New York Times Sunday Magazine listed an article about play in its table of contents. It had a great title and distinguished author too: “Taking Play Seriously” by Robin Marantz Henig.

Putting aside the news columns and editorials that typically capture my attention in this exciting election year, I settled in to enjoy a long overdue heyday for play . . . but I was soon disappointed, largely by the tone of Ms. Marantz Henig’s piece. Above all, it conveyed her ambivalence about the actual merits of dramatic play in early childhood. And I had expected an unqualified endorsement from this highly regarded science writer.

Many of us with ties to early childhood development have been up against a thickening brick wall no matter how worthy the evidence that make-believe, fantasy play, complex pretending is a precious activity helping to prepare kids for life and academic learning. Drills and memorization in preschool and kindergarten at the expense of free play don’t bring kids closer to our goals for them, including social/emotional growth, abstract thinking, and literacy. It has been clearly demonstrated that young children’s imaginative play is a bedrock of their later learning and creative thinking.

My disappointment with the Times piece increased as I read on and encountered the author’s sometimes subtle skepticism. As even she points out, a growing body of literature convincingly argues that play contributes to brain development; but then she seems to debunk that same idea. How important can play be, she asks, if under duress, it is abandoned by children? (It has been observed that traumatized kids, including many children of alcoholics, loose the capacity for imaginative play.) Ms. Marantz Henig seems to favor the view of doubters who say play is not the only route to intellectual development; kids can live without it, implying too that there has been an over-idealization of play.

“Not everything about childhood play is sweetness and light, no matter how much we romanticize it,” she argues, adding that it can be “destabilizing” and “scary”. And then she allows a window into some possible origins of her ambivalence.

“I well remember the darker side of play from my own girlhood. Like many other klutzy kids, I hated recess, since it stripped me of the classroom competence that was such good cover for my shyness. Out in the schoolyard, there was no raising your hand with the right answer. I had to wait to be asked to play jump-rope and had to face embarrassment if I missed a skip or — worse, much worse — if nobody ended up asking me.”

It is instinctive to avoid situations that are threatening even for a girl who enjoyed so many intellectual gifts; but had she been able to play out her fears, perhaps she might have overcome some aspects of the shyness and self-doubt that apparently can still dampen her spirits. Watch the way she goes back and forth about the merits of play:

“It’s a pretty idea, the notion that play gives you hope for a better tomorrow, but science demands something a little less squishy. Science demands that if there are important long-term benefits to play, they must be demonstrated. That is why studies of play-deprived rats are so fascinating: they offer objective evidence that in at least some animals, insufficient play can have serious consequences.”

It is difficult to escape a mountain of evidence of the value of play; but it still doesn’t sit well with the author, and I worry that her doubts, expressed however subtly in this piece, might have set us back in our effort to demonstrate the undeniable importance of play for children’s healthy intellectual and social/emotional development. The lost opportunity is unfortunate.

March 4, 2008

Comments

[Els Kushner]

NPR also had a piece recently about the importance of imaginative play in children's development, especially the development of what the piece called "self-regulation"--apparently, pretend play helps kids learn how to control their behavior in all kinds of situations; lots of kids aren't getting enough of it, and the results are becoming clear. From the research cited in the NPR piece, the value of play doesn't seem "squishy" in the least!

Here's a link to the piece:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=19212514

[Adele Brodkin]

Thanks so much, Els. This is a wonderful reference, and as always, I value your comments and support.

I recommend that anyone interested in play and its importance open Els' generously offered link above.

[BabyShrink]

Thank you for rallying to the defense of play. I too worry that the pendulum has gone too far to the "academics" side, leaving play in the dust. There is so much worry among parents about academic achievement at an early, developmentally inappropriate time. I thought the Times article was interesting in that it was fairly comprehensive, but it did sit funny with me, and I wasn't sure why until I read your post about it.

How can we bring the pendulum back in regards to play and school?

(and thank you so much for linking to BabyShrink. i will link back to you in my 'professionals' section! i would love to get a conversation started there about this.)

[Adele Brodkin]

Heather,
I appreciate your comment and your support. It is amazing that no matter how much data we present to the world defining the benefits of play, imaginative, creative play, interactive play, solo play, group play, self expression through play, the opening of new cognitive worlds through free play, the world beyond our profession seems to remain doubtful. Could it be that anything which is so much fun can't be good for us or our kids? A little misplacement of the American Puritan ethic? But the facts are clear that social and emotional development supported through the freedom to play in early childhood, bodes very well for kids. Cooperative/creative play even insulates kids against the likelihood of school failure and dropping out years later. I would certainly welcome your thoughts and references about this vital issue. Those of us who "know" the urgency of healthy development through play need at least mutual support. Our message is just too important for us to give in to mechanistic approaches to engaging young children's desire to learn and get along. "Play on!"

[adele brodkin]

Post Script: I just came across an interesting report about a paper presented at a recent meeting of the Western Psychological Association. It's not the first paper about animal play, but it pursues the players further than many others have. Psychologist, Gordon Burghardt gave the Distinguished Scientist Lecture, "The Challenge of Animal Play". His research and others' reveals that play is not limited to the young among animals. Perhaps more surprising, it's not just primates or only mammals who play. Play was observed among some amphibians, reptiles,insects, and fish. There is mock fighting among wasps, for example, mutual teasing by fish; and some frogs, freshwater stingrays, and even Octopus playmates. Burghardt claims that behavioral play among animals has evolved into mental play in human beings--evoking creativity and imagination.

Let's hear it one more time! Hurray for play! It matters!!!! Don't stifle it, celebrate it!!!