The case for more play in school

Play isn’t just a break from learning. It can also be how learning happens. But many kids have less time for recess and unstructured play than ever before. 

In this episode, we explore why play matters for focus, social skills, and emotional regulation. We also look at what’s getting in the way of play. Plus, we share practical ways families and schools can bring more play into kids’ daily lives.

• Listen: From fidget to focus: Why movement matters for kids with ADHD

• Read: 19 brain breaks to help kids with focus

Julian Saavedra: Have you noticed that your kids have less and less time for play at school? Maybe their school cut back on recess to fit in more instructional time. Or their after-school program focuses more on homework and less on just having fun.

With so much focus on academic performance, playtime is sometimes pushed to the side. But here is the problem: Play is not a break from learning. It is actually one of the ways learning happens.

So, today we are talking about why play is essential to learning and development, what is getting in the way of more play, and how families and schools can work together to make sure kids get the play they need to thrive.

Welcome to "The Opportunity Gap," a show where we talk about how to navigate the education system. I am Julian, your host. I am an assistant principal with over 20 years of education experience.

And what I see every day is this: When kids lose opportunities to play, we do not just lose joy — we lose focus, we lose opportunities for emotional regulation, creativity, and most importantly, we lose connection.

Now, if you grew up the way I grew up, in the summertime, my grandmother would watch us when my mom was at work. And my Nana would say, "All right, kids, eat your breakfast, and then y'all got to go outside and play."

And when she meant go outside and play, she meant you are not coming back in the house until it is lunchtime. So, maybe it was kind of a choice and maybe a little bit forced, but I cannot tell you how much I learned from being out there and playing.

So first, let us define what we mean by "play" to make sure we are all on the same page. By definition, play is a joyful activity kids choose to engage in because it is interesting or fun.

There are two different types of play that we are going to focus on. First, similar to what I explained with my grandmother and my brothers and sisters, we would do what we call "free play." Free play is fully kid-directed. We figured it out on our own.

We made up all these different games, whether it be some sort of fort game or some sort of chasing game, but we made up the rules ourselves. It was completely open and flexible and it was free play.

The other type of play that we talk about a lot is "guided play." Guided play is where adults may set up the rules, but the students are directing it. So, why does play matter? Why is it important?

As an administrator, one of my jobs is to do the research. I have to stay current on everything. And all of the research, so much of it really talks about the benefits of play and how unstructured play especially is really, really good for learning.

And learning not just for little kids — this is for everybody. It is really important for us to have unstructured time that allows learning to be boosted, it allows social skills to be built, and it really fosters resilience. So, play is super important and the research backs it up.

(04:52) The cognitive and social benefits of physical activity and self-directed play, especially for children with ADHD.

Julian: Play that involves physical activity — meaning you are outside running around or you are moving or you are doing something where your body is getting that movement — it is really good for your brain.

Studies show that immediately after physical activity, people perform better on tests of working memory and other executive functions. So, ding, ding, ding — you know what that immediately makes me think? This is "The Opportunity Gap." We talk about kids with learning and thinking differences.

Guess what? Play is incredibly good for them, especially kids with ADHD. I am sure all of you have learned about how getting your kids to be active and moving around to burn off some of that energy, especially our babies with ADHD, is super important.

It really helps them refocus and recenter. And ultimately, when kids have more playtime, it helps them discover the joy and benefits of being physically active. Establishing that at a very early age is going to help set your child up for success later on in life.

And when kids get a chance to lead their own play, as opposed to have the adults do it for them, guess what it does for them? They get to discover their own interests. They get to be the ones where they maybe are in charge.

And so it gives an opportunity for our kids to really try out different interests and different skills and allows them to focus on working with others. That is the other focus that I want to touch on.

Play helps kids practice skills with their peers like listening, cooperation, empathy — all of that comes into play. It comes into play on the playground. Think about it. So much of what we learn in terms of interacting with other people, it does not really happen in the classroom — it is on the playground, when they are interacting with each other.

And as we know, there are so many schools that are beginning to limit the amount of unstructured time at recess. They are suffering because they are not allowing the kids to get a chance to interact. And so the more that we can create unstructured, open playtime, the better it will be for our social skills for our students.

Play also boosts learning. There is a reason why kids learn through play at the preschool level. Kids' brains are built for active experiences, especially younger kids. Again, all the research shows that play helps kids adjust to the school setting by making things more interesting and bringing curiosity.

If I am learning while I am playing, then I am having fun. And if I associate learning with having fun, then that sets me up for a really solid base of how I believe my school experience should go.

All right, so let us talk about why is play disappearing from so many school days? Number one, so much of our playtime now is fully monitored by adults. Now listen, I am an administrator, but I am also a dad.

And I understand that it is really hard to just want to give your kids free rein to do whatever. And not myself — not me — but I know some people that we like to joke are kind of like helicopter parents.

They want to watch everything. They want to make sure everything is set up properly. And so there are not many of us that are having our kids go outside, knock on a friend's door, and see if they are home to hang out. We are creating those structures ourselves.

Number two, there is a big pressure, and I know you feel it because I feel it too — there is a pressure to maximize academic learning time in schools. And so focus on math, the focus on literacy, the focus on ensuring that our test scores are increasing are now impacting the mandatory recess that schools used to have.

In many cases, a lot of our younger kids are losing out on the traditional recess block and instead they are having more instructional time. They might be calling it "intervention time" or whatever hosts of other things that are happening, and our kids are only getting 10 or 15 minutes of recess break time.

And if we think about our students with ADHD, or students with learning and thinking differences, yes, those interventions are super important. But unstructured play is equally important.

And so in some cases, some of our kids are only getting one break per day. You know your kids sometimes are coming home really tired and exhausted. Part of that might be that their entire day is packed in with so much stuff.

And that comes to our third reason: over-scheduling. The pressures of academics, the pressure of society, the need for families to have aftercare because so many of us are working so much, it is creating a space where our kids have every second of every day scheduled. And there are very few opportunities in between for our kids to just be kids.

(08:35) Strategies for parents and schools to prioritize recess and unstructured play in an overscheduled world.

Julian: All right, so we know the benefits of play, we know why it has been going away, now we want to know, what can we do? What can schools do? And what can you as parenting adults do?

One: Advocate for recess if your school does not have enough of it. I will say, at the time of this recording, Philadelphia, where I do work, just passed an ordinance that schools are not allowed to take recess away for disciplinary purposes.

And ultimately, that came from the advocacy of Philadelphia parents. So, maybe take a look at that and see, how did they go about doing that? What did they do to advocate to make sure that recess was built into the schedule?

Think about in your own household. Are you providing fully unstructured time? Add in some quick play breaks as you are doing your chores or when you are just doing errands, or whatever you might be doing. See if you can add in a couple breaks so that kids get used to having that unstructured time.

This is a big one for me: Be careful of screen time. It is really convenient to throw an iPad in front of your kid when you have a whole bunch of stuff to do. You are trying to get dinner ready, you are trying to get things done, and you just need a second. I get it, I am there, I understand.

But if you can find a balance where sometimes there is just screen-free, "Here you go, here are some boxes, here are some scissors, here are some markers, go make something."

And at first they might look at you like you are crazy, like, "What? What are you talking about? I don't want to do that. I'm bored." Now, in my household, the word "bored" is not allowed, but the benefits of that purposeful experience of boredom really helps your kids develop an opportunity to have that unstructured play.

And last but not least, play as a family. Get out there and have some fun together. Like, if you get out there and play with the kids, then it shows how much you value it in your own household.

I know my son loves to play with action figures, and right now he is really into He-Man. I know I said that — He-Man. He-Man is from when I was a kid. So, he and I are just going down this deep rabbit hole of all the He-Man lore and it brings me back to when I was his age.

But we can spend an hour just playing action figures. And he gets to lead and it is a chance for us to talk to our kids, but it also shows them that we value play.

I really appreciate everybody listening today. I appreciate you watching and learning, and I hope that you really understand the importance of play. The research tells us the more that you can incorporate play, the better it is going to be for a child's development.

So, whatever you can do to create that unstructured time into your day with your children, find a way to do it. And do not forget — play as a family. That is how you model the behavior that is desirable. And it is really important for all of us to have playtime, especially adults, so why not do it with your kids?

Thanks for listening today. We love hearing from our listeners. So, if you have any thoughts about today's episode, you can email us at opportunitygap@understood.org. And be sure to check out the show notes for links and resources to anything we mention in the episode.

This show is brought to you by Understood.org. Understood.org is a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering people with learning and thinking differences, like ADHD and dyslexia. If you want to help us continue this work, donate at understood.org/give.

"The Opportunity Gap" is produced by Julie Subrin and Gretchen Vierstra. Video is produced by Calvin Knie and edited by Jessie DiMartino. Briana Berry is our production director. Jordan Davidson is our editorial director.

From Understood.org, our executive directors are Laura Key and Scott Cocchiere. Thanks again for listening. Until next time, OG family.