Do Children Have Space to Play? (And Does It Really Matter)?

*My thoughts as a Forest School leader looking at child psychology whilst also understanding the complexities of health.

That’s an interesting question in and of itself. What do we mean by space? Physical space? Time in their schedules? Let’s have a think.

I believe 3 things:

1.        The work of a child is play.

2.        All children should have the right to play.

3.        We should be creating time and space for children of all ages to play.

Play in mud, play with blocks, play dress up, play with games, play with sticks, play with flowers, play make believe, play with water, play role play, play on their own, play in a group, play with you, play with their invisible friend… to name a few.

Children learn through play.

They process through play.

They work through situations in their lives and emotions thought play.

They bond through play.

They work through their internal world through play.

How many hours of fun can a tree swing create? Pure childhood.

But do we allow children to play?

Are we creating that time and space for them?

Are schools promoting play?

Are governments promoting play?

Are town planners promoting play?

Are we – the parents promoting play?

Play is too flimsy right? It has no tangible goals. We cannot measure it’s “success” so we brush that under the carpet.

I heard on a podcast recently our children are “broken” apparently. Wow.

Their mental health has never been worse, that is true I guess.

Every inch of a modern childs life is scheduled.

To that point, there are sometimes some very real societal reasons for this. Often, both mum and dad need to work which means the children have breakfast club, school, after school clubs – there is logistically no space in their day for free play - completely unstructured time to just play.

They play at school right? Sure, until the bell goes and within SECONDS they have to stop play and line up. It’s squeezed out.

What about playgrounds? There are a lot of new build estates being built, you always see a playground on them. Usually a small thing in the corner, on the fringe of the estate away from everyone else (keep them quiet). Or there are signs everywhere “NO BALL GAMES”.

Children are just squeezed to the side until they are older and more useful to us.

I’ve shared this before but when I work with children on their health, the first thing I suggest to the parents is cut some of their extra curricular events and let them rest and play. Parents look at me as if that is so flimsy. Guess what, they come back to me every time with improvements.

Play is the way a child’s brain gets into “flow state”. A state where they aren’t thinking or worrying about anything. They are creating, building, processing, growing.  It’s not good when adults don’t allow or make space for this to happen.

I don’t feel it's my gift to have any voice on what the government say about play or even the schools (if you do have a say there please do consider pushing this further) but we as parents can create more space.

Maybe cut one thing out of their diary.

Guard some time during the weekends to just let them be.

And don’t get involved! Don’t try to guide the play or control the play or manipulate it in someway. Step away. Don’t interrupt either. If they are in flow state let them be in flow state because that’s where the magic happens. The snack can wait.

Play doesn’t need to “look” a certain way.

It also doesn’t cost anything.

To note: if you feel your child struggles with play, that’s ok. It maybe because they don’t do it a lot so they also don’t know what it’s “meant” to look like. Put some toys out and step away. Get out some lego and go and put the kettle on. They will get into it. Maybe only for 10 minutes but the more you create those opportunities the more they will do it.

On a side note, us adults also need to play.

What do you do to play? How do your children see you play?

It might be:

• Building lego

• Playing a sport

• Gardening and being creative outside

• Knitting/sewing

• Home design/décor/interior design

• Singing/playing a musical instrument

In conclusion, play is good for children, for their mental health, their physical health, their relationships and development. As the adults in their lives, let's ensure we gift them with time and space to play.