ANN/THE STAR – Child psychologists have long recognised the pivotal role of play in fostering children’s cognitive development by enhancing their social, physical, and emotional skills. However, as the 21st Century dawned, experts repeatedly raised concerns that ‘play is under siege’ among children in the United States (US), with a decline in both the frequency and perceived quality of play.
In a recent survey involving 1,172 US parents, researchers aimed to assess the awareness of today’s parents regarding the significance of allowing their children to engage in play.
The findings indicated that contemporary parents do acknowledge the crucial role play plays in their children’s overall well-being. Nonetheless, the study also revealed a need for increased efforts in educating parents about the value of playful learning, often referred to as ‘guided play,’ particularly concerning its impact on learning objectives in reading and math. These insights are detailed in the journal Frontiers in Developmental Psychology.
“Parents understand that play can be more powerful for learning than direct instruction,” said first author Charlotte Wright, a senior research associate at Temple University College of Liberal Arts, Philadelphia.
“Until recently, people generally considered play to be the opposite of work and learning. What we see in our study is that this separation no longer exists in the eyes of parents.”
PARENTS RATE FREE PLAY THE MOST
Parents were interviewed aged between 18 and 75, with children aged between two and 12. They were White (68.9 per cent), Hispanic (14.4 per cent), Black (10.3 per cent), Asian (3.4 per cent), mixed race (2.6 per cent), or American Indian or Native Alaskan (0.4 per cent). Their household income ranged from less than USD25,000 to more than USD100,000 and their level of education ranged from lacking a high school diploma (4.4 per cent) to having a postgraduate degree (11.9 per cent).
The results showed that parents tended to rate free play as best for learning, followed by guided play, games, and direct instruction, respectively. This held true, both when these types of education were explicitly named, or when they were only implied in given scenarios.
The higher the parents’ level of education, and the higher their household income, the more they tended to rate free play as the most effective method for learning.
Likewise, parents of girls were more likely to rate free play as most educational than parents of boys.
EXAMPLE OF GUIDED PLAY
The current research consensus is that guided play is more effective than free play for children to learn skills such as mathematics, language and literacy, and the spatial awareness necessary for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) skills.
Guided play, possible in the home and in the classroom, differs from free play in being initiated by the adult, while letting the child drive her learning towards a specific goal.
For example, learning in Montessori classrooms and children’s museums is always initiated by an adult who reflects on learning goals. But children themselves drive the exploration within such guided learning environments – giving them choice and voice.
The authors gave an example of guided play where Raouf’s father, Ola, said to Raouf if they can build a tall tower with the toy blocks. Ola then follows Raouf’s lead as Raouf tries to build the tower, asking questions to support him when necessary. Adults therefore become the support team – not the directors – of guided play.
The authors concluded that “many US parents hold perceptions that do not align completely with evidence-based research, such as attributing more learning value to free play compared to guided play.”
The results also showed that when parents were better informed about current theory on child cognitive development, they tended to value guided play more.
One possible reason could be that the concept of different kinds of play, such as guided versus free play, was only recently introduced in research and may not yet be evident to the public.
Guided play also requires that parents engage with their children during the experience, which might lead them to undervalue guided play in favour of free play.
IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATING PARENTS
“While free play is crucial for children’s well-being, recent research emphasises that guided play is a more effective approach to support children’s learning in reading, STEM, and learning-to-learn skills like attention, memory, and flexible thinking,” Wright said.
Senior author Dr Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, a professor at the same institute added, “We need to help refine parents’ knowledge about the importance of play so that they can create guided play opportunities in everyday experiences like doing laundry, taking a walk in the park, or playing with a puzzle.”
“As parents come to see these as ‘learning’ moments in everyday play, their children will thrive, while they will have more fun being parents,” Hirsh-Pasek concluded.
We need to help refine parents’ knowledge about the importance of play so that they can create guided play opportunities… like doing laundry, taking a walk in the park, or playing with a puzzle.
