PA Promise for Children Resource Emphasizes the Importance of Play

PA Promise for Children has put together resources on the importance of play for children’s well-being and brain development.

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In The Importance of Play, PA Promise for Children notes that play is as important to a child’s well-being as work is for an adult. Play is important for brain development by teaching children new skills and how to share with others. It helps them to make decisions and learn about the world as well as work through scary and confusing experiences.

But, PA Promise for Children writes, nearly 40 percent of elementary schools have eliminated recess or are considering it, and many kindergartners in full-day programs have no break for recess. 

Real Play

Play workers in the United Kingdom consider real play to be “socially interactive, first-hand, and loosely supervised.” The American Academy of Pediatrics argues that play should be child-driven - not adult-directed - and that it is important that children have independent time away from TV, tablets, and video games for the purpose of producing “healthy, fit young bodies.”

Encouraging play, PA Promise for Children notes, can help children who have time for free, open-ended play to score higher in reading and math tests. A lack of real play, on the other hand, can lead to childhood obesity, higher levels of frustration, stress, and aggression as well as a lack of creativity and imagination.

Some of the types of play encouraged are:

• Large and small-motor play

• Language play (telling stories, making up silly songs)

• Construction play (building things)

• Sensory play (playing in mud or water)

• Make-believe play

• Rough-and-tumble and risk-taking play

• Symbolic play (turning a stick into a magic wand, for example)

• Mastery play (learning how to do new things)

To learn more, read PA Promise for Children’s The Importance of Play.