New research is shedding light on the old practice of providing children with oodles of free play time. Boston College psychology professor and unschooling advocate, Peter Gray, has recently published two studies in the American Journal of Play, arguing that open-ended, unstructured, non-adult-driven play time for children has dramatically declined over the past several decades, and may be largely contributing to increasing rates of childhood depression, anxiety, and other mental health problems. (Click here to watch a recent interview with Dr. Gray about his new research.)
So how do we reclaim free play time for our children? How do we ensure that their precious play time doesn't become consumed by organized activities and adult-led endeavors?
For our family, homeschooling offers the gift of abundant hours of outside, unstructured play time to create, imagine, discover, and dream. Yet, it is easy to be tempted by the vast quantity of enrichment activities available to us in the city that could easily consume free play time. We try to stay connected to our daily and weekly rhythms to make certain that unstructured time trumps structured time and that much of our day is spent outside.
It seems odd, in a way, that we parents would need to be vigilant about protecting our children's play time; time that in generations past was naturally protected and assumed as part of a child's day. But as the pace of the modern world accelerates, as stresses mount, commitments climb, and demands rise, reclaiming and simplifying childhood play seem to be increasingly important pursuits in preserving our children's health and well-being.
I'm new to your blog. I enjoyed your post. I certainly worry about what these children, who spent so many hours either in structured activities or in front of screens--will be like as adults. It's a big change in how kids spend their time.
ReplyDeleteI can't claim to understand it, but in my observation it seems like much of the drive to keep kids busy, with adults and often indoors is fear-based, on the parents' part. Communicating that kind of trepidation about the world out there to kids has its own, separate set of negative consequences, I think.
Glad you found the blog and thanks for commenting! I think you're right that much of the decline of free play is fear-based. I love Lenore Skenazy's book, Free-Range Kids, which challenges current assumptions about children safety and encourages parents to provide their children with more freedom.
ReplyDeleteThanks again for visiting!
-Kerry
The other day one of my friends said that even though she wants to homeschool, she can't because her children "will just sit and vegetate all day." Isn't it sad that a mother would have such low expectations of her children? Free Play is the essence of our homeschooling lives together, and I certainly never have to coerce my children to be active!
ReplyDelete