I’m cleaning up the dishes when suddenly there’s a growl at my feet. When I look down, there’s a cheetah — in the form of a four-year old girl. Yesterday she was a kitty, and a dragon the day before that. Cushions have been piled on the couch to make a castle, and a blanket draped over chairs makes a fort. The laundry room floor is water, and somewhere in the hallway dangerous quicksand must be avoided. Oh, and I mustn’t forget the dark forest in the living room that we trek through at night. My daughter is full of play.
A play-based childhood is ideal from birth through the kindergarten years. In this scenario, formal academics begin in first grade.
In these early years, children learn through self-directed play, where they choose what, when, where, and how to play. Of course parents set boundaries around some of this, such as time of day for free play and what rooms of the house this can happen in. But children direct much of their play, and the way they choose to play with an object might be different from the object’s original purpose. Cushions become towers. A length of yarn transforms into a snake. You may not have a clue why the new pack of pipe cleaners has been scattered around the house, but your child knows why.
Free play, when possible, should make up the majority of a child’s day when he or she is not eating or sleeping. This doesn’t mean you can’t read books together or go to the grocery store, but it does mean to be intentional about including time for free play in your days.
You don’t have to stay at home for free play, either. You can spend time in nature, enjoy the sandbox, go to a playground, or visit a children’s museum. The libraries near me have children’s areas with toys, and the local art and history museum has a sensory room with toys and puzzles.
In self-directed free play, a child learns to use his or her will. The will needs to develop so a child can learn to make choices and follow through on their decisions.
There are many other benefits of play. Children grow in their imaginations. They learn how to entertain themselves. When they encounter something frustrating, they can choose to walk away or push through the frustration. In their physical development, they learned how to grasp a toy and crawl and walk without being taught. In a similar way, they will build skills as they play without being told what they should do next.
Over the years, academics have been pushed lower and lower in the grades to the point where preschoolers are doing activities that aren’t developmentally appropriate, such as sitting to do worksheets. There is no need to push academic skills when there is so much benefit from time spent in play. A child gets only one childhood, so let the children play.
Free Resource: Making Time for Play
In the Library, there’s a free resource you can use to take a look at your week and see if your child has enough time for self-directed free play. Enter your password to access the Library, and then look for “Making Time for Play.”
If you don’t have a password yet, you can get one by subscribing to Homeschool Rest and Restore by filling out the form below. I’ll also let you know about other free resources and new curriculum.