Give them the chance, and kids can find fun almost anywhere. One minute, they’re sailing through a living room of lava in a laundry hamper ship, and the next, they’ve flipped their bicycles and are whipping up imaginary ice cream with the spinning spokes. This kind of fun and games might look like, well, it’s all just fun and games, but actually, it serves some pretty important purposes. Through free play, our kids are learning valuable skills they’ll use for the rest of their lives.
It might seem hard to believe that pretending to be wizards or creating a Grand Prix in the driveway could actually be teaching our kids anything. Many parents tend to associate learning with books rather than the backyard – and if you’re one of them, you may have questions like:
- How does free play help kids learn?
- What kinds of skills can kids learn from free play?
- Why is free play so important for little kids?
How Play Helps Kids Learn Thinking Skills
When kids play freely, they develop critical thinking skills through something called symbolic play – using one object to represent something else. Here’s how it works:
- Object Representation: It starts simply, like when you say “ring-ring” and your preschooler picks up a banana as a phone. This basic skill is the foundation for more complex thinking.
- Imaginative Development: Watch your child turn everyday objects into props – a broom becomes a galloping horse, a box transforms into a spaceship. While this might seem like just fun, it’s actually developing their ability to think abstractly.
As Dr. Stephanie Carlson from the University of Minnesota’s Institute of Child Development explains, “Once they have this ability to represent objects, they are able to play around with those representations.” This skill progression leads to:
- Understanding facial expressions and others’ thoughts
- Grasping complex metaphors in literature
- Developing critical thinking skills through games like Clue
- Broadening perspective-taking abilities through activities like charades
How Play Teaches Problem Solving
Think about the last time you mentally rehearsed an important conversation – maybe asking for a raise or discussing household chores. You were using skills you first learned through childhood play. Here’s why play is crucial for problem-solving development:
- Perspective Taking: Through pretend play, children learn to see situations from different viewpoints and anticipate others’ reactions.
- Cause and Effect: Even in imaginative scenarios, kids are learning about consequences and relationships between actions.
Recent research shows that just 10 minutes of pretend play can improve a child’s executive function – the skills that help manage thoughts, behavior, and emotions. Through play, children:
- Create solutions to imaginary problems
- Practice social scenarios before encountering them in real life
- Learn to adapt their strategies when things don’t go as planned
- Develop flexible thinking patterns that serve them throughout life
The Emotional Benefits of Free Play
How free play helps kids learn thinking and problem-solving skills is clear, but those aren’t the only benefits. It’s also a way our littlest ones can process their experiences and emotions – and then communicate them. Psychologist Dr. Ruth Burtman stresses that, especially for kids in the three to five-year-old range, free play is a communication tool that helps them express themselves. “Children aren’t able to verbalize their internal world, so they play out their emotions. They communicate their needs and struggles, discover ways to cope, and play out their challenges – or even traumas.”
Dr. Burtman says that helping our kids find solutions – even if they’re imaginary – is a great way to help kids handle those concerns through play. Plus, by promoting and supporting free play, you can help your child:
- See the world through the eyes of others
- Handle their emotions without outbursts
- Organize their thoughts and think critically
- Learn how to communicate problems – and how to solve them
