May 1, 2003
Playing To Princeton
With parents fretting about whether or not their child will
get into the "right" nursery school before the baby is even
born, or wondering whether a kindergarten infraction will prevent junior
from matriculating at Princeton, there is a growing concern voiced by
some parents that any time not spent on a child's development is wasted
time. They worry that in the competitive environment of school and college
admissions there isn't time for children to play. In recent months, we've
talked to parents who are plotting their grade school aged children's
activities through high school to make them appealing candidates to desirable
schools. We've talked to parents who truly believe that their toddler's
not being accepted at the "right" daycare center will have a
lifelong impact on the child's social and economic life.
While we won't deny that acceptance at schools is competitive and that
certain schools may, in fact, position children for future advancement,
there are far too many people who have made tremendous successes without
these advantages to think that it's productive to make a child's life
completely focused on the future - especially when that comes at the cost
of creative and open-ended play.
Those who would want to see how a total focus on facts and knowledge could
dampen a child's creativity and spirit might pick up Dickens' Hard Times.
It might be reassuring to know that some of the same issues were being
considered in the 1850s. However, most modern parents have little time
for non-essential reading, and particularly not for relatively obscure
Victorian novels. So let's boil it down to this: children need to play
in an engaged and open-ended fashion. Doing so will not lead them down
the path to failure, so long as play is balanced with a solid educational
foundation. In fact, since all play is educational, it's very possible
for parents to achieve both things - a fun play experience for kids and
reinforcement of educational principles.
One only needs to look at the success of LeapFrog and their LeapPad reading
system to understand how this can work. This product has not been successful
because children were shackled to it and were told to learn to read "or
else." It's worked - and become one of the consistent best-sellers
in the U.S. - because of its ability to engage children at their skill
and interest levels. Children are naturally curious about the world and
LeapFrog has turned that into a system that has made it fun. Moreover,
when children grow up in a home that values learning and reading - and
where parents and caregivers model those values for children - their natural
inclination is to pursue that. Though the toy is a good one and sound
educationally, it is the environment in which the child encounters it
that has the most impact in establishing a pattern of curiosity and discovery
through play.
Likewise with video games, many parents feel that they are a waste of
time. Video games are a valid form of recreation for kids, providing that
the games being played are appropriate to the child's level of skill and
interest and reflect parents' values. The recreation and challenge provided
by a video game, in moderation with physical activity and schoolwork,
can offer emotional release and simple escapist pleasure for kids. What
adult doesn't at some point pick up a "trashy" novel or watch
"mindless" TV just for relaxation? It's the same for kids. Their
lives today are often as full and scheduled as their parents and they
need the downtime.
Nonetheless, it's not all escapism really, though it may seem that way.
Take, for example, the Pokémon games. These have been incredibly
successful because kids think they're fun. And they are. At the same time,
the skills needed to win at this game and become a Pokémon Master
are quite elaborate. Kids need to read, catalog, organize information
and then use it selectively as a specific game situation requires. Though
these aren't skills that are taught per se, they are underlying elements
of the preschool and early grade school curricula that are essential when
kids get to math, reading and more advanced work. Because it's presented
in a context that kids find entertaining, they willingly try again and
again until they build their facility at the game. Essentially, these
kids are drilling in thinking and information. It's just that becoming
a Pokémon Master seems to have a more direct and immediate reward
than memorizing one's times tables.
The point is that there are a lot of skills that children need for success
in the world that go beyond organized activities and memorization of information.
There are the socialization skills that come as children learn to play
within their own peer group without direct adult intervention (though
play, especially for young children, should always be supervised to ensure
safety). There is the importance of learning that one's actions have consequences.
And then there is the need just for the imagination to run free. All of
man's greatest achievements have come about because people have been free
to conceive of new possibilities. In the adult world, we call this "brainstorming,"
or some other grown-up word, but it's really just an extension of what
to a child is called play.
It starts as young as six months as children explore their worlds through
all the senses, and hopefully it just keeps growing as children gravitate
to toys and experiences that suit their developmental levels and interests.
Play is ongoing, and in a perfect world it continues throughout life because
it keeps us engaged in and curious about our world.
Many times adults are nervous about or dismissive of play because they
don't understand it. What they observe doesn't seem "productive"
to them and so they try to channel their children into something that
looks "better" to them. But, as in everything, it's important
to look beyond the surface. What looks like mindless playing of Pokémon
can really be a child's applying a wealth of information to choose a course
of action in a specific situation - a wealth of information that is mind-boggling
to any adult who has tried to play Pokémon seriously. (Most adults
don't have the interest in learning all this stuff, and that's why it
seems so involved.) For children, play is the way in which they come to
understand the world, their culture and their roles in it. It is through
play that children begin to become individuals—and that's something
every parent wants for his or her child.
As adults, our role is to provide structure and context for children's
experiences. We need to offer a balance of physical, mental and spiritual
experiences for children, and we need to give children the space to expand
through play.
Oh, and this has one more direct benefit - active play in the context
of solid education and socialization helps create that "well rounded"
applicant whom every school is looking for.