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"Once we were all experts at play; as children it was our preoccupation and our main mode of learning. Play was the way we built our muscles, and it was through play that we knitted our friendships. Through play we learned to navigate the social world. We learned the rules. And play helped us imagine our future. Even if we did not grow up to be Jedi knights, or beautiful princesses we learned to envision adult power and responsibility. But imaginative play and rough and tumble play, because they are the work of children, tend to slip beneath our notice as adults."
-- Scott G. Eberle, Vice President for Interpretation at Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester
According to The New York Times' article "Taking Play Seriously" published in February , 2008, "Scientists who study play, in animals and humans alike, are developing a consensus view that play is something more than a way for restless kids to work off steam; more than a way for chubby kids to burn off calories; more than a frivolous luxury. Play, in their view, is a central part of neurological growth and development - one important way that children build complex, skilled, responsive, socially adept and cognitively flexible brains.
-- Full Article
"... Parents should let children be children–not just because it should be fun to be a child but because denying youth's unfettered joys keeps kids from developing into inquisitive, creative creatures..."
-- Full Article
"Play is a major avenue for learning to manage anxiety. It gives a child a safe space where she can experiment at will, suspending the rules and constraints of physical and social reality. In play, the child becomes master rather than subject... Play allows the child to transcend passivity and to become the active doer of what happens around her."
-- Alicia F. Lieberman, author, the Emotional Life of a Toddler
"It is becoming increasingly clear through research on the brain as well as in other areas of study, that childhood needs play. Play acts as a forward feed mechanism into courageous, creative, rigorous thinking in adulthood."
-- Tina Bruce, professor, early childhood educator
"Adults who criticise teachers for allowing children to play are unaware that play is the principal means of learning in early childhood. It is the way through which children reconcile their inner lives with external reality. In play, children gradually develop concepts of causal relationships, the power to discriminate, to make judgements, to analyse and synthesise, to imagine and to formulate. Children become absorbed in their play and the satisfaction of bringing it to a satisfactory conclusion
fixes habits of concentration which can be transferred to other learning."
-- BASS Early Years Advisory Team
"Close observation of children at play suggests that they find out about the world in the same way as scientists find out about new phenomena and test new ideas. Young children may not be able to verbalize new ideas forming in their heads, but they may still apply similar processes to scientists. During this exploration, all the senses are used to observe and draw conclusions about objects and events through simple, if crude, scientific investigations."
-- Judith Roden, lecturer, Canterbury Christ Church University College
"Play acts as an integrating mechanism which enables children to draw on past experiences, represent them in different ways, make connections, explore possibilities, and create a sense of meaning....It integrates cognitive processes and skills which assist in learning. Some of these develop spontaneously, others have to be learnt consciously in order to make learning more efficient. We would like all children to become successful."
-- Bennett et al. (1996)
"Play for young children is not recreation activity... It is not leisure-time activity nor escape activity... Play is thinking time for young children. It is language time. Problem-solving time. It is memory time, planning time, investigating time. It is organization-of ideas time, when the young child uses his mind and body and his social skills and all his powers in response to the stimuli he has met."
-- James L. Hymes, Jr., child development specialist, author
"Play is an essential part of every child's life and vital to their development. It is the way children explore the world around them and develop and practise skills. It is essential for physical, emotional and spiritual growth, for intellectual and educational development, and for acquiring social and behavioural skills. Play is a generic term applied to a wide range of activities and behaviours that are satisfying to the child, creative for the child, and freely chosen by the child. Children play on their own and with others. Their play may be boisterous and energetic or quiet and contemplative, light-hearted or very serious."
-- Hampshire County Council and the Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership
"We know a tremendous amount about how young children learn, based on 30 years of wonderful science. The research shows that real learning has to take place in context--and that play is the best teacher..."
-- U.S. News & World Report
The Importance of Pretend Play
Play: Why It's So Important
Benefits of Play
Pushing Kids Too Hard Can Be Childish
Kindergarten Cram
Crisis in the Kindergarten -- Why Children Need to Play in School
10 Reasons Play Can Make You Healthy, Happy, and More Productive
Children Have to Grow Up Too Fast
Putting the Skinned Knees Back Into Playtime
The National Institute for Play -- www.nifplay.org
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