Play's power for kids and adults

A recent study reveals that engaging in nondirected activities is critical to children's development - and their parents benefit greatly too.

- By Mark Potterton

Play can happen in glitzy, state-of-theart classrooms or under the shade of a marula tree. It can be stimulated by expensive Lego or a few stones. I have watched children playing on piles of building sand or in puddles of muddy water.

Children in preprimary school can spend the day in the sandpit if you let them. They need hands-on opportunities to engage in practical investigations where the product is not important; rather, the practical elements of the journey are freely enjoyed and explored for their intrinsic interest.

The power of messing around

Expert Kathryn Peckham observes in her book Developing School Readiness that although practical paint mixing or ingredient weighing may never result in the colours imagined or the correct recipe followed, the experience comes in the freedom to adapt plans and trial practical techniques as the play takes different tangents.

This is beautifully observed in two-yearolds with their thick brushes dabbed in paint and sploshed on the paper. Watching children role-play dressed in period costumes at school is also fun. This play continually adapts and changes as new ideas are added and children join or leave the activity.

Through these experiences, children shift their thinking and actions to accommodate the thoughts and opinions of others. They learn to manage the limitations of the context as well as the new opportunities that present themselves.

There is no rigid path to follow, and children experience adaptability as both useful and successful. With no requirement to achieve any outcomes, children can try something for as long as they are motivated to do so, returning to it once new perspectives have been considered. In reflecting, they renew motivation and encourage ideas, promoting a reflective approach to learning.