Why Play Is Play Important

Why is Play so Important?

Play has a vital role in brain development. Play is so important that it has actually been recognized as a child’s born right. Play is essential because it plays a major role children’s cognitive, physical, social, and emotional well-being. It is through play that parents can learn to better understand and communicate with their children. Unfortunately children these days are being allowed less time for free, creative, child-driven play in order to spend more time focused on academics. It is starting to become a societal concern that children may be being negatively affected by the intense pressure for academic pressure, and lack of free play time. Not only is it a concern for contributing to the rise of mental health

Children need a healthy balance between play and academics. Social and emotional learning has proved to enhance academic learning, children need a healthy balance of these in school to promote optimal learning. It can be concerning if some of the activities that promote a child’s ability to learn are used more at the expense of others. Unfortunately, despite the benefits of play for both children and caregivers, reducing time for free play to make room for more academics has become a trend. This trend even affected grades as low as kindergarten. A survey taken in 1989 by the National Association of Elementary School Principals found that 96 percent of the surveyed schools had at least one recess period, a survey taken a decade later showed that only 70 percent of schools (even kindergarten) had at least one recess period. Before 2001 schools were not required to give assessments to students. Although many of them did, it was not a requirement until the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 was passed. It was the first federal law requiring schools to assess students and set standards for students to pass. The NCLB (No Child

Left Behind Act) focused on assessments, standards, and accountability of schools and

Many school districts responded to the NCLB by cutting time dedicated to recess, creative arts, and even physical education in order to focus more on reading and mathematics.

This change may have negative implications on children’s ability to store new information due to the fact that children’s cognitive capacity is expanded by a significant and clear-cut change in activity. A simple change of class topic or style of academic instruction does not provide the clear-cut change in activity, nor does is provide the physical release that children need. Another reason children are being given less time for free exploratory play is because they are being hurried to adapt to adult roles at younger ages. It is being very strategically marketed to parents that the best parents give their child “every opportunity” to excel by buying a plethora of enrichment tools, and enrolling them in a large variety of opportunities. The idea is that specialized toys, books, computer programs, and enrichment videos will ensure that children are adequately stimulated for excelled development. As a result, much of family time, and money is spent on these tools that have been marketed to be what is best for children. It is, indeed, true