Play gets a lot of lip-service in America. You’ll find most preschools and kindergartens say they are “play-based.” That’s because young children learn best through play. But I’m afraid they get it wrong.
One of the scourges of true play is what is known as “centers.” The Block Center. The Housekeeping Center (toy kitchen/ house). The Art Center. Etc. Typical “play time” means the kids rotate between these various centers and the teacher times them by blowing a whistle or sounding another alarm to tell each group to move on.
This interrupts play. Interrupts ideas. Interrupts social interactions. Interrupts learning.
One of the most fundamental rights in childhood is the Right to Uninterrupted Play during Playtime. This means kids have the right to explore their own ideas and given ample time to do it.
Centers fragment time – Kids need big blocks of time to play. When they are limited to less than 30 minutes, play becomes less complex and sophisticated. In fact, 45 minutes is the minimum amount of time most preschoolers need to develop deep play. And that’s just the beginning. Once play is developed, it needs to be sustained for some time. Researchers suggest blocks of 1-2 hours. Centers and constant alarm-clocks upset this. 15 minutes here. 15 minutes there. Shallow play.
Centers segregate props – Kids need props to play. Creative play usually entails dragging the blocks into the kitchen space to build a chimney or a spaceship. Yarn from the art table could be turned into a tiger trap in another area. Sure, at pick-up time, toys and materials can go back where they belong (where they can be found easily), but kids need to move objects from place to place. Books should be in the block area. Blocks should be wherever they are needed for the play idea.
Centers restrict interests – I’m sure the adult view is that kids “need to be exposed” to a variety of different activities. Adults assume it isn’t good for a child to spend all their time on one type of play. But young kids tend to seek out the type of play that is most meaningful to them at the time. Sometimes children need to explore an intense interest. That’s OK. If a 4-year-old wants to spend all morning at the water table, so be it. We need to trust a child’s choice of play during playtime.
“Play is the highest expression of human development in childhood, for it alone is the free expression of what is in a child’s soul.” – Friedrich Froebel, founder of Kindergarten
Child’s play, the true meaning of play, is spontaneous, child-initiated and child-directed. This doesn’t happen in centers. Children have the right to uninterrupted play — with ample time, no 10-minute alarms, and flexibility to develop creative ideas. Otherwise we are stunting children’s real learning.
Have you ever questioned centers? Seen them in action? How can we best support children’s true play?
Read more about Children’s Rights, true play and the Right to Uninterrupted Play in It’s OK Not to Share…And Other Renegade Rules, named one of the Best Parenting Books of 2012 by Parents magazine reviewer.
