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Saving Free Form Play Recesses

As many readers of the ToysPeriod Blog are aware, several public school districts in the United States are in the process of evaluating their ability to continue offering recess periods to their elementary school students.

Recess periods, for those not familiar with the term, are times during the school day when students are allowed free form play, that is, play formulated by their own imaginations, unfettered by adult preferences and direction.

The threat of recess cancellation has slipped into the potential category (from the heretofore impossible) as a result of lawsuits brought on behalf of families for playground incidents over which administrators and teachers, despite their diligence, had no real chance of preventing.

Playgrounds throughout history have been places where skinned knees and emotional challenges are presented to developing children in the context of their own imaginations.

With playground freedoms come a full range of experiences, some happy, some not so, but always with the goal of preparing the individual to eventually navigate an adult world.

Leading psychologists agree that free form interactive play is essential for the healthy development of all higher beings. Children, of course, are at the top of the developmental ladder. However, horses, dogs, cats, as well as bears and chimpanzees, also make mental, emotional and physical progress through play.

The more sophisticated the being, the more essential play becomes for establishing trust in self, developing confidence in taking initiative, and, mastering control of the body and its musculature.

Language development and the solving of complex social dilemmas are learned within the context of free form play. Free form play also gives each child opportunities to develop impulse control, empathy and a sense of what it is like to cooperate with others.

Having said all that, how do we define free form play?

Free form play is a brand of play that is not forced or coerced in any way.

For example, if a child or adult is ordered to "play" in a certain way, the benefits of the play are largely lost. In order to be fully beneficial, play must be freely chosen and conducted.

Genuine play relies on the exercise of personal imagination, and direct experience.

The Japanese, for example, understand that free form play is, or should be, synonymous with school recess. Japanese schools allow recesses between each academic period, giving the individual child an opportunity to be refreshed. That is, through free form play, the student, having shed tension accumulated during her first academic lesson of the day, is then prepared to benefit in a maximum way from the next. It is not coincidental that many of these recess programs in Japan invite students to create with Lego Mindstorms sets (see previous article). This system of recesses has served Japanese children and Japanese society well. It is not a system that is remotely possible within the structure of today's US public schools.

Play can be accomplished technologically through the use of toys. However, here again, adults cannot command a child to play with specific toys, if they wish to obtain the positive results for children that we have described thus far.

Organized sports, television, computer games, high-tech toys, although all can function as part of the mosaic of development, they alone do not encourage the free-form creation of ideas. Add to that the pressures of early academics, and we have a formula for denying US children what they need to become confident, independent adults.

Finally, any activity whereby the child simply watches things happen cannot be defined as free form play, even if occasionally the player is called upon to act. (We don't want to go too far with this particular example, since it is far from clear at what level of interaction with a game designed by others we begin gaining some of the substantial benefits of self generated play.)

That the recess period should be threatened by an enlightened society not only endangers the health of developing children, but also the wholesome functioning of the schools on any level.

The skinned knee a child suffers in a recess period prepares the child to feel empathy when another child is so injured. The offering of comfort to another becomes a valued memory for both children.

In many US communities, however, personal injury justice is perpetually alert for opportunities to charge institutions with negligence.

As a result, liability insurance premiums are becoming so onerous so as to spark school board dialogs regarding whether or not their schools can provide recesses wherein children may make direct contact mistakes.

We must not allow free form play to be the victim of our system of justice.

If we fail to support our schools in this important area, it is possible for us not only to lose school recesses, but much, much more.

Ron - Toy Tech

Friday, 5:01 pm | January 15th, 2010

Comments

Wendy Hamerill on Friday, 8:40 pm | January 15th, 2010

This is one of the most insightful articles I've read anywhere regarding free form play.

As a psychologist, I can tell you that there is no greater crisis in child development today than the absence of safe free form play in our children's daily lives.

Well adjusted adulthood is crucially dependent on free form play activities across Nature's intelligence spectrum.

Whether it be due to the lack of safety in our schools and streets, excess organization of team sports, or over dependence on computer games and passive television watching, on a percentage basis, there has never been a period in history where children have had less opportunity to design for themselves, to create for themselves, play activities.

Especially in the 21st century when the need for creative thinking has never been more necessary in the world, it is my hope that free form play does not continue to drop as a percentage of our children's experience growing up anywhere on Earth. Should that happen, it is uncertain whether healthy, well adjusted adult lives will be possible in the kind of hectic, technological world we have offered our children.

Gomez on Monday, 12:01 pm | January 18th, 2010

This is sick.

The thought of recess being taken away because kids get hurt is really nauseating. I don't know about anyone else, but I believe that life has risks. I want my kids to participate in life. That means they get to take risks.

That doesn't mean I don't get a not in my stomach when they get hurt, but when a kid stabbed my daughter in the face with a pencil (true story) leaving a permanent 'tattoo' of graphite under her beautiful skin, I didn't sue the school (or the kid's parents, for that matter). I took her to the dermatologist, who suggested it would fade over time, and that any attempt to remove the graphite might leave a scar worse than the discoloration.

She still has a small mark on her cheek three years later. Funny thing - I still let her participate in art projects.

tim on Friday, 6:57 pm | February 26th, 2010

This website is cool toys i get me and my brother some toys to play once and the while. how old do you have to be on this website o let me tell you i am in the 3rd grade i am very very smart i pass my my test this year i like it this time i cant wait tell i get in 4th grade i have 4 brothes and i love them they help me with my homework most of the time it rock i know alot about math everthing.

Ben - Toy Tech on Saturday, 11:07 am | February 27th, 2010

Hi Tim and thanks for checking us out. To answer your question, ToysPeriod is a family safe web site, so no matter how young you are, it is OK to be here. As far as the reading level, we did a test recently to see what age someone would need to be to 'get it' and it said that this web site is high school level, so about 13-15 years old. So, maybe some good reading practice for you. Keep up the good work in school.