Summer Vacation is Time for Free Play
Children Need Unstructured Activities to Grow Strong
May 15, 2009
Modern American children lead very structured lives. In today's schools, almost every spare moment is devoted to preparation for government mandated tests. After school comes homework, sports leagues, music lessons, and many other adult directed "enrichment activities." Whatever free time remains often is spent watching television or playing video games.
All that structure, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, might impede a child's development. Children need opportunities to make decisions, try on different roles, interact with each other without adult interference, and work through problems on their own. Unstructured, imaginative play provides opportunities to do all of those things, and more.
The Benefits of Free Play
Children who engage in plenty of unstructured, imaginative play deal with stress better, and develop better self control. They are better at identifying their likes and dislikes, acting independently, and making decisions than are children whose lives are rigidly structured. These benefits help them do better in school.
Child Initiated Play
The kind of play children need most is the kind they dream up for themselves, drawing on their imaginations. Sometimes they will play this way alone, and sometimes in groups. Adults can participate, but must resist the impulse to direct the activities. Let the child take the lead.
The adult's job is to facilitate imaginative play by creating an environment where it just automatically happens. In the summer, when there is more free time and more good weather, that's not hard to do. Here are a few simple rules for encouraging imaginative play:
Schedule fewer activities. The less time you spend driving them around, the more time all of you have to play.
Restrict "screen" time. Put television and computer games off limits for as long as the sun shines. Get your kids outdoors. Take them to the park, the woods, or the beach, away from electronic temptations. Let them get dirty. Children, and their clothing, are easily cleaned.
Keep the toys very basic. Was there ever a better toy than that extra big cardboard box? Add some crayons or water soluble markers, and you have a house, a car, a cave, or a puppet stage. Speaking of puppets, they're great for role playing games, and easy to make from paper bags or old socks. Any adult with a saw, sandpaper, and some scrap lumber can create a great set of wooden blocks, and the cardboard tubes from paper towels have scores of imaginative uses.
Stop Worrying! Children like to climb, jump, balance on top of things, and try other activities likely to lead to a lot of scraped knees and the rare broken bone. Boys seem to be especially fond of play wrestling. Bite your lip, and don't stop them. Injuries are no more likely during free play than during adult supervised league sports.
Get together with like-minded parents. While the parents drink coffee and converse, the kids will find ways to entertain themselves. Don't be afraid to mix grade levels. Just because schools enforce rigid age segregation doesn't mean that you must. Younger children help older ones to relax and stop trying to be so "mature" all the time, making for better play. Older children model behaviors that younger ones are anxious to learn.
So, make this a special summer, with lots of freedom and lots of imagination. Then, when "back to school" time comes, remember that all the fun had an important purpose -- and make sure there still is plenty of time for free play in your child's busy schedule.
