#structured play

Before any Trial begins, each participant declares — in writing — what is:

Forbidden. Conditional. Permitted. Preferred.

Nothing is added once desire is in motion.

Structure protects agency.

In earlier times, play-based learning was often a child-initiated, open-ended activity. But for many young children of today, play has become an adult-directed and highly structured activity. This shift could well inhibit and risk the growth of a child’s abilities to cope with the ground reality of the digital age.

Research clearly indicates that unstructured play activities during the early growing years impacts and shapes the neural network of the child’s brain. The American Academy of Pediatrics says that unstructured playtime is one of the healthiest activities for young children: “The challenge for society, schools, and parents is to strike the balance that allows all children to reach their potential, without pushing them beyond their personal comfort limits and while allowing them personal free time.”

It is mostly through unstructured play activities that young children learn how to work together, adapt to different situations, experiment, explore, construct meaning, and begin to learn what they like, discover what they are good at and how to express their individuality.

On the other hand, structured play activities for preschoolers expose children to situations where some of these skills may be nurtured, but the nature of these programmed activities limits the opportunity for individual expression and the experience of unexpected outcomes necessary for creative discovery.

Peter Gray, the author of the book “Free to learn” insists that unleashing the instinct to play freely will make our children happier, more self-reliant, and better students for life. As well as overcome boredom, have the time to daydream and immerse themselves in hobbies, and the time to read comics.

In fact, he went on to even suggest “What I learned through my play has been far more valuable to my adult life than what I learnt in school. Children should experience twice as much unstructured time as structured play experiences.”

What exactly is unstructured play?

These are activities that children dream up on their own without adult intervention. These types of unstructured play activities rarely have predetermined goals or objectives but instead, allow children to create their own rules and establish their own limits.

Unstructured play is how children develop creative thinking and behaviour skills and realize the importance of these for their future well-being. Creativity is vital for improving the economy and quality of life under the accelerating rapid change we continue to experience.

A perception still lingers that the ability to think creatively is a gift that is difficult to teach and define and is relevant only to the arts. However, facts indicate something entirely different. Imaginative and creative thought, as well as the skills needed to access and use this ability, exist in everyone and their development is teachable.

If such wrongly held perceptions continue to persist, you will not be wrong to conclude that if children are not provided with the opportunity for participating in unstructured play activities they may not only lose the opportunity to learn vital skills linked to social interaction and individuality but also limit their creative development!

Benefits of unstructured play

Unstructured play activities are an ideal vehicle for supporting a child’s creativity and imagination as it offers an environment for risk-free exploration. It also ensures ‘whole child development:

Create opportunities for your child to master elements of the world on her own terms.

Develop self-determination, self-esteem, and the ability to self-regulate — all vital elements necessary for all-around emotional development.

Foster social competence, respect for rules, self-discipline, aggression control, problem-solving skills, leadership development, conflict resolution, and playing by the rules.

Stimulate the senses and enhance cognitive understanding.

Builds strength, coordination and cardiovascular fitness and moderate childhood obesity and eliminates other associated health complications.

Enable your child to create her own happiness, promote inventiveness, and develop self-reliance.

What is structured play?

Every day, parents make important decisions that impact their child’s health, growth and development. Some of these decisions are big while others may be small ones. But doubts always arise when it comes to structured play activities and recreation.

The choices available in structured play activities are wide and sometimes seem overwhelming — especially when so many of us have no help and are unable to reach out to our extended family to clear our doubts. Don’t worry, here are a few tips that will clarify many of your doubts and will help you take the right decision.

In a nutshell, structured play activities support children in learning and developing fundamental movement skills through adult instruction. These are usually called the ABCs of movement skills. Where ‘A’ stands for (moving quickly & easily). The letter ‘B’ refers to balance (staying steady while moving). ‘C’ denotes coordination (being able to use different parts of the body together). And finally ‘S’ symbolises speed (the ability to move quickly).

A range of structured play activities is designed to help children develop these movement skills. For example, gymnastics promotes agility, while basketball builds speed. Both also develop balance and coordination. By acquiring these movement skills, your child will gain confidence, and competence, and will feel comfortable when trying out new activities in different settings, such as participating in sports she may not have been exposed to before.

Striking a balance is vital

For well-being and proper growth, your child would need to be involved in both types of play — structured as well as unstructured. Here are a few ways by which you can strike a good balance between the two:

Set aside some time for your child to spend in unstructured play.  If she doesn’t have the time to play or doesn’t seem interested in it, find a creative solution for it.

Ask your child what she wants to do. Ask her to imagine and tell what she is thinking and respond accordingly.

Look out for opportunities for your child to play outdoors.

Let your child engage in structured activities. Your child must have a few choices as her basic movement skills need to be transferable from activity to activity.

As the seasons change, bring out the relevant sports equipment so that she plays in all seasons, without complaining about the rain or heat. 

Strike a balance between unstructured and structured play. On the one hand, set aside some time for your child to just play and be actively engaged with her, then leave her alone to play by herself. All the while ensuring that your child is having a great time. It’s only through fun play activities that your child will learn as she grows.  

As a parent, you know the challenges your child may face if she reacts to structured or unstructured play activities not so enthusiastically. Motivating her can be a difficult task, but as you understand the mindset of your child best, you can meet her halfway, so that she develops a fully rounded personality.  

Most importantly, have fun spending your time constructively playing! Avoid focusing on the learning first and trying to sugarcoat it with playfulness — start with prioritizing play-based learning and watch it evolve, inevitably and naturally. Good luck and happy parenting!

About My Gym

My Gym involves children in dynamic games, physical activity and movement that help in building neural networks in the brain. Making it easier for children to acquire intellectual skills, navigate complex social situations, and nurture emotional development.

To find out more about how My Gym plays a key role in supporting “whole-child development,” please visit any of our centres. Choose a day when you will be relatively free and come over with your child in tow. Your child could be an infant (as young as 6 months), a toddler or a preschooler, age is not a bar for enrolling.

My Gym has specially designed whole-child development programs that lay a firm foundation for personal, academic and future growth by involving your child in age-appropriate structured and unstructured physical activities, as well as developing thinking and problem-solving skills.

Please note: My Gym classrooms are thoroughly sanitized every day — the tables, the chairs, the children’s activity stations and everything else the child might touch is made safe and clean. Please wear a mask, wash hands frequently, and practice social distancing.

In response to some feedback I received on an article I posted about children not having enough free-play time, today’s musing considers the concept of “everything in moderation.” 

(here's a link the article: http://www.qz.com/311035/were-ruining-our-kids-with-minecraft-the-case-for-unstructured-play/

While the article references Minecraft in the title, I don’t believe the authors were looking to launch a pro/con debate about the popular game. The main point of the article is that opportunity for unstructured free-play is the main ingredient for creativity, innovation and imagination, yet American children aren’t getting any.  By depriving children of long periods of uninterrupted free-time, we are making a huge mistake on behalf of our children.

The authors suggest that when children expect to be entertained by toys and activities they, in essence, never have a chance to experience boredom.  And if boredom never sets in, children are deprived of the opportunity to work through the initial frustration and irritation that often follows a sense of “feeling bored.” They propose that children have become conditioned to expect constant excitement and novelty, and that it is this conditioning which leaves open-ended materials, such as wooden blocks, piled, untouched in the corner, not, as might be inferred, a lack of interest in the materials themselves.  The authors offer that children need frequent opportunities to work through this “boredom” before they become interested in more materials that facilitate open-ended, free-play.  The main point of the article is to begin providing more regular intervals of free time so children can “unlearn the habits of being passively entertained or enriched with skills.” 

As a sidebar, it is my opinion that “everything in moderation” might be becoming a catch-all rebuttal phrase.  Now, first, let me clarify that there are times when someone posts that comment in response to a position statement or picture or article I share with folks on the page, and I step back and offer an honest, “touché” because I feel their comment was a valid, thought out response to what might have been a one-sided post.

But there are other times I feel it is used without pausing to consider that many children simply aren’t getting everything.  And I don’t mean thing-things, I mean specifically in response to the content of this article (pause) the scale is unbalanced when there are lots of over-structured, adult-directed time and activities on one side, and NO opportunities for free-time, open-ended play on the other. 

When this is the case, the position of everything in moderation becomes a moot point as it only makes sense when in fact children have opportunities to experience that which is on both sides of the scale.  And in too many instances, they are not.  The scale is too heavy on one side.

And now don’t overreact here people! I am not suggesting that her comment was in any way inappropriate or out of line, I’m just saying it made my brain start whirling around with ideas about the phrase and how we use it. If you have followed me (stalked!) for any length of time, you know I am a stickler for LANGUAGE and how various phrases and buzz words impact our profession.

If you have never had the experience of messing around with open-ended materials until you are done, when you finally are given the chance, you need time! Adults and children both.  Expecting anyone to immediately know what to do with new materials, no matter how creative or intriguing they might be, is unrealistic.

Additionally, free-play can be confusing to adults who expect kids to “get something” out of the play.  While early childhood experts are able to articulate the many benefits of open-ended, free-play, these benefits might not be initially apparent to adults outside of our field.  Sadly, they are sometimes not seen by people IN our field, but that my friends, is another article.

I think the author’s concluding thoughts were quite powerful, that we cannot simply put a box of blocks, for example, in a room full of kids and expect them to “instinctually” dive into free-play!  They need to be permitted to experience boredom and everyone involved needs to figure out how to ride out the wave of confusion that sometimes accompanies it.  Adults need to remember that children and adults can be together but apart – and, although it can be a blast to the ego, a loving reminder that children figure many things out without our endless hovering and “teaching.”

Do children need to relearn how to play? Yes.  The good news is that this article suggests three ways adults can begin to assist.  Make sure that 1) children receive frequent opportunities to engage in unstructured free-play, 2) adults need to know what unstructured free-play looks like and be realistic about what it delivers and, 3) children need to see models of unstructured engagement from adults!

 Are we facing a problem? Yes.  Do we have the means to fix it? Yes.  And the suggestions in this article provide solid, easy starting spots.  But we have to make the first move.  What will yours be?