Best reason to let children play

Published on Tuesday 28 April 2009 19:47

1. NEGOTIATION SKILLS: All young people need to experience a wide range of play opportunities to reach their potential. Through play, they learn to make friends, negotiate, share and resolve arguments – all essential life skills. However, in our hectic daily lives, it is all too easy to let other priorities take over. Whether we are a carer, teacher or parent, it is essential we give children the time and space to enable them to play freely.

2. MENTAL WELLBEING: The natural environment offers unrivalled opportunities for play. Whether it's sand on the beach, a fallen branch in the forest or stones in the playground, nature can be used as the tools of play to support development of a child's creative, social and motor skills. It also builds a sense of independence and can guard against obesity. By being too risk-averse, we have started to remove our children from their natural environments.

3. FREE PLAY: Imagination, as exercised in play, is a basic element in our cultural expressions. Children have the right to a sense of well-being brought about by their play, in their own way and for the sheer joy of it. Because children's motivations during play come from within, they learn the powerful lesson of pursuing their own ideas to a successful conclusion.

4. THE "WORK" OF CHILDREN: Play provides young people with an opportunity to practice for their "real lives". While they play, children are as intent and focused as adults are at work and it is therefore as essential young children can play at school as they do in the home, as it builds the co-ordination and control that allows children to concentrate and learn in a classroom setting as they grow.

5. AVOID JUNK PLAY: Over the past 20 years, the freedom to play outside many of us enjoyed has vanished, as society becomes ever more risk-averse. Parents cite the fear of abduction, busier traffic and a lack of green space as reasons for their children staying home. However, the media and marketers have helped to fuel parental fears. Today, children are kept "safely" indoors in front of computers or televisions that can stifle creativity.

&#149 The contributors attended last week's Alliance for Childhood's event at the Scottish Parliament – "How we risk giving our children everything except the freedom to play." www.allianceforchildhood.net