Play is not wasted time for children. That there are all these things that
children learn and play and - that cannot be taught. They could really only be
learned in play. They're learned in experience and for children experience
comes from play. How to get along with other kids, that's probably the most
important thing any of us has to learn is how to get along with peers. How do we -
how do you in a social situation get your needs met while making sure that
the other people involved are getting their needs met. First of all the word
"play" is a word that we use in a lot of different ways. So what play means to me
and most play researchers is, it's an activity that is defined by the
confluence of four different characteristics. So one characteristic is
that it's self-chosen and self-directed, and I really emphasize that because, you
know, we - we talk about our kids playing baseball or soccer when it's not self
chosen and to me even if it's self-chosen, it's not self-directed, so I don't
consider that adult-directed activities to be play. Play is the activity that
children are choosing for themselves and directing themselves. It's really how
children learn to create their own activities, how children learn to direct
their own activities. The second characteristic of play is that it's
intrinsically reinforcing, it's intrinsically motivating. You're doing it
just because you want to do it. You're not doing it to get a trophy, you're not
doing it to get praise from your parents or a teacher, you're not doing it for
grades, you're not doing it to improve your resume, you're
just doing it because you want to do it. And play is how children explore and
learn what they like to do. It's how they develop their passions,
their interests, and those who are lucky maybe go on and pursue careers at what
they enjoy doing as children in play. So that - the third characteristic of play is -
seems a little counterintuitive to many people and that's that it is always
structured. We don't - we talk about unstructured play, but there's no such
thing as unstructured play. It's always structured, and is structured by the
child or the children themselves if there's a group playing together. So play
is really - it's not, it's not random, it's freely chosen, but it's not random
activity. Children entering into play are putting themselves into a defined
activity that they have in mind and they're structuring their behavior in
accordance with a set of rules which may - which may be implicit or may be explicit,
so play, the structure of play, and the creation of rules about play is
how children learn to create and abide by socially agreed upon rules. And the
fourth characteristic of play is that there's always an element of imagination.
Some play is more imaginative than others but all play involves some kind
of stepping out of the real world. You're in this pretend world, it's a play castle
you're making if you're building a castle, if you're little children playing,
you know, goblins, or witches, or Wonder Woman, or whatever it is, you're
pretending to be somebody that you normally aren't,
and you're following out that role. The most important material, if you will, for
play for any kid is kids to play with. You know, we - we, some people might like to
think that kids are naturally attracted to the great outdoors, but that's sort of
a cultivated interest. Kids are naturally attracted to other kids and the most
important stimulant for play is other kids to play with, as long as there's
something there, they'll find something that you don't have to have elaborate
toys, you just have to have space and opportunity. Everybody's concerned about
learning, they're not concerned about happiness, so now I've learned to say
that because children learn so much in play, that can't - they can't learn in any
other way. Things that can't be taught they learn in play. That automatically
invites at least another question, "Oh, what do they learn?" And then I get to
talk about the value of play, and then I can slip in, "Oh and by the way it also
makes children happy," you know, as an incidental side benefit.