Yet some play advocates lean more toward a form of free play that includes no adult-directed learning goal or teacher direction. AnjiPlay, a philosophy that originated in the Zhejiang Province of China about 20 years ago and has pilot programs around the world, provides children with at least two hours of uninterrupted outdoor play each day using materials like ladders, barrels and climbing cubes. Children have additional play time inside, read daily and spend time reflecting on their play through drawings and discussion.
The goal, as stated on the organization’s website, is to enable “deep and uninterrupted engagement” in a chosen play activity. While teachers are on hand, they do not steer or guide students at all.
“Children make the distinction between play that belongs to them and play that is coming from somebody else,” said Jesse Coffino, CEO of Anji Education, Inc., and chair of the True Play Foundation. “I don’t see guided play as play,” he said. “There’s specific learning outcomes that an adult has decided are important.”
This type of child-led free play is beneficial and all too often lacking, said Doris Bergen, a distinguished professor emeritus at Miami University of Ohio’s Department of Educational Psychology whose research has focused on child development and play. Bergen finds it worrisome when “children have too much structured time when they’re young,” adding that they should be permitted to make up their own rules and pursue their own interests at least part of the time. “They need to have some control, and some time where they are deciding what to do … and where to be, and what to use.”
The obstacles to introducing more play opportunities can be formidable: Rigorous academic concepts are sliding down to the preschool years as kids are prepped for more challenging early elementary grades. In addition, research shows teachers may not have support for play-based learning from some school principals who don’t understand that young children learn most readily through play, or teachers may get pushback from parents who fear children won’t be prepared for kindergarten. Play and free-choice time can be even more restricted in classrooms that serve high rates of low-income, Black or Hispanic children, research shows.
Given the constraints many teachers are under when introducing or expanding play time, some experts try not to get consumed in debates over approach. Instead, they say, they advise educators to get going however they can.
“Any amount of play someone brings, we should be celebrating it,” said Sally Haughey, a former early childhood educator who taught in public and private settings for nearly 20 years before founding an organization that trains educators in play-based learning. Teachers who want to include more play can start simply by adding some student-led play time in their day, she added.
“Start with what’s freely chosen and just keep expanding it.”
Even if teachers have a strict curriculum to teach, it’s possible to infuse more play, said Temple’s Hirsh-Pasek. “It’s redoing the mindset of how you teach the curriculum,” she added, like swapping out a worksheet about numbers with a physical activity where kids can jump, run and compare distances to learn about counting, adding and subtracting. More training and support could help. “It’s imperative that we start putting it in teacher preparation right now,” she said.
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Why some schools are prioritizing pre-K playtime - Crosscut
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