Unstructured Play

In the United States along with other developed nations, children’s free play has declined

significantly while structured activities have been steadily increasing. This is a mistake. Free and

unstructured play is healthy and essential for children. It is cognitively stimulating and helps

children develop intrinsic interests, follow rules, learn to solve problems and make decisions,

exert self-control, learn to regulate their emotions and form friendships. There needs to be a

balance between free and structured play.

A common phrase said by many grandparents, and even some parents, is that children of

today no longer play the way children used to. Traditionally, during the course of an average

school day, an elementary school

There has been a decrease in free

unstructured play and an increase in organized sports participation. This shift is possibly due to

several different reasons. A few of these reasons can be increased population in neighborhoods,

loss of community feeling and/or a societal over emphasis on sports. All of these reasons

contribute towards a much larger over riding cause of the decline in free play. There is simply less playing for the sake of play. The scenario of neighborhood kids meeting in the park and

setting up a pickup game is rapidly becoming a thing of the past.

This increase in structured play at the expense of free play is a mistake. Free play offers

several unique benefits to child development. Free play is cognitively stimulating for children

and helps them develop intrinsic interests, follow rules, learn to solve problems and make

decisions, exert self-control, learn to regulate their emotions and form friendships.

Sometimes they will

have a second opportunity in the mid-afternoon following lunch. In these settings an adult is

typically present but in a supervisory capacity and not as an instructor. Meaning, they are there to

observe the play and make sure the kids are safe and abiding by the rules, not so much in the

sense of organizing and structuring activities. Unstructured free play can also be observed during

after school hours during the week and on the weekends. During these times, the child can play

at their house in their backyard with siblings or friends or at a common play area such as a

neighborhood park. Sometimes an adult or parent is presence during these times but in the

capacity of supervising and making sure the kids are safe and not so much in the capacity of

structuring the play. If they are, then it is no longer free play.

Structured play is defined as situations in which adults regulate the interaction between

the students. Like free play, structured play can occur inside school and outside on the playground. This type of play is most associated with organized games. The major