The article, "The Power of Play: A Pediatric Role in Enhancing Development in Young Children" by Dr. Micheal Yogman et al. in the September 2018 edition of the Pediatrics journal provides a wealth of studies on the importance of play for young children's development. In fact, the authors hope that the piece will up-skill pediatricians in their play knowledge so that they can "write a prescription for play at well visits," (Yogman et al., 2018). I am so thrilled to have more advocates for play both in homes and in schools and because this piece is a clinical report from the American Academy of Pediatrics it holds some serious weight.
The authors first highlight the importance of play and the connection between play and learning, suggesting that play in educational settings may be key for developing the creativity and language skills that are required of today's learners. "To encourage learning, we need to talk to children, let them play, and let them watch what we do as we go about our everyday lives. These opportunities foster the development of executive functioning skills that are critically important for the development of 21st century skills, such as collaboration, problem solving, and creativity, according to the 2010 IBM’s Global CEO Study," (Yogman et al., 2018). Authentic learning for young children requires opportunities to speak, think, create, collaborate, and explore- all of which are inherent in play.
The authors then review different types of play and their sequences of development before sharing research on children's brain development and functioning as well as the many other benefits of play. The brain research is what initially drew me to this article- I'm always looking for evidence that play creates powerful connections in our brains. The authors share many animal studies which, although not directly applicable to humans, provide important evidence on how play impacts mammals.
Our brains may be literally shaped by play; "Play has been shown to have both direct and indirect effects on brain structure and functioning. Play leads to changes at the molecular (epigenetic), cellular (neuronal connectivity), and behavioral levels (socioemotional and executive functioning skills) that promote learning and adaptive and/or prosocial behavior," (Yogman et al., 2018).
The authors share several rat studies with powerful evidence for play before sharing research play's impact on human brains. Stating how curiosity- developed through play- supports memory and learning, the authors shared, "During states of high curiosity, functional MRI results showed enhanced activity in healthy humans in their early 20s in the midbrain and nucleus accumbens and functional connectivity to the hippocampus, which solidifies connections between intrinsic motivation and hippocampus-dependent learning." What does that mean? Brains work better when they are curious- and play is a state of curiosity! The authors also discuss two studies that support the hypothesis that play lowers stress levels in children and can buffer toxic stress- researchers found that children had lower cortisol levels compared to a control group after engaging in a year long play-based intervention with their teacher.
The authors also discuss the large and well established body of research on the benefits of play for pretty much anything else you would want- executive functioning, health and wellbeing, and even the development of cultural values- just to name a few! Clearly, the benefits of play are well documented and there are even benefits for the adults, "One study documented that positive parenting activities, such as playing and shared reading, result in decreases in parental experiences of stress and enhancement in the parent–child relationship," (Yogman et al., 2018).
Maybe my favorite thing about this piece is that the authors don't shy away from saying what this means for early childhood education settings- more play.
The authors call for a clear shift away from didactic instruction in early childhood, "Instead of focusing solely on academic skills, such as reciting the alphabet, early literacy, using flash cards, engaging with computer toys, and teaching to tests (which has been overemphasized to promote improved test results), cultivating the joy of learning through play is likely to better encourage long-term academic success," (Yogman et al. 2018).
This article advocates clearly for play in our schools and it's a breath of fresh air to see this coming from outside the world of education.
This article is a bold argument for the importance of play and a clarifies the a strong link between play and children's development. I could probably spend a solid week digging into all the amazing research that's shared and linked in this piece! I hope this summary gives you some brilliant takeaways to share with you teams and families. Best news? You can access the full piece yourself - FREE- by clicking on this link.
References
Yogman, M., Garner, A., Hutchinson, J., Hirsh-Pasek, K., Golinkoff, R. M., Baum, R., Gambon, T., Lavin, A., Mattson, G., Wissow, L., Hill, D. L., Ameenuddin, N., Chassiakos, Y., Cross, C., Boyd, R., Mendelson, R., Moreno, M. A., Radesky, J., Swanson, W. S., … Smith, J. (2018). The power of play: A pediatric role in enhancing development in young children. Pediatrics, 142(3). https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2018-2058
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