During my 36 years in Early Childhood Education, I have seen trends in the field come and go. The importance of play for young children has never been emphasized more than today. The latest brain research supports the significance of play in developing neural pathways, enhancing cognitive function, emotional regulation, and social skills. Young children’s brains are different; they learn best through hands-on experience. During play, children engage in problem solving, decision making, and creative thinking. They are also continually creating connections to what they already know.
One of my favorite videos of my son, Wes, shows him playing outside at two years old with our neighbor’s cat. The cat was laying on the driveway, and Wes appears intensely focused while picking up dried leaves and arranging them on the cat’s belly. To an adult brain, this could look silly, or possibly even dangerous. However, through an early childhood education lens, we can see a great deal of learning going on. Wes was developing empathy for animals by watching the cat’s reaction. This was helping him understand boundaries and preferences, as well as cause and effect. Wes was also advancing his fine motor control and hand-eye coordination which are crucial pre-writing skills. Additionally, Wes was gaining a wide range of benefits simply from playing outdoors, including improved sensory integration, cognitive development, emotional resilience, motor skills, and an overall boost in mood.
Jonathan Haidt, author of The Anxious Generation, discusses how play-based childhoods, where children engaged in free play with minimal intervention from adults, largely disappeared after 2010. During that time, he argues, a “great rewiring of childhood” occurred, contributing to physical and mental health challenges for today’s children. One of Haidt’s key recommendations to counter what he calls “the mass destruction of human potential” is to give young children greater independence, more opportunities for free play, and real-world responsibilities. He emphasizes that we must reverse the pattern of overprotecting children in the real world and under protecting them online. According to Haidt, free play is one of the most “nutritious” things we can give a child.
At All Saints’, we understand that play is children’s work. Young learners are concrete thinkers who need hands-on experiences to connect new information to what they already know. They thrive when given autonomy and meaningful choices in their learning. Our teachers serve as guides, nurturing children’s curiosity while providing time and space for real world inquiry and problem solving. By integrating children’s interests and offering freedom within structure, we help children develop ownership of their learning and grow into lifelong learners. My prayer for our school family is that we can slow down and recognize the importance of play as foundational. Through rich play experiences, students gain the skills they need to confidently move into more abstract learning. We are not just getting children ready for kindergarten; we are preparing them for life.
Gigi Khalsa, Head of School