Unstructured free play are definitely buzz words these days, but what’s the big deal? Why are so many parents and educators creating time for unstructured play? Read on to hear about the benefit of unstructured play for children and how adults can encourage more of it.
What characterizes unstructured play?
Unstructured play is when for a period of time during the day, children are free to choose whatever they’d like to do in the space at hand. No instructions are given from adults on what to do (other than safety measures), so children can follow their curiosities as they please! Ideally, the toys and supplies in the environment would be open ended with multiple uses to allow for imagination to flow.
Here is an example of an open ended play space in a Waldorf classroom where simple blocks can be used to build anything the children imagine.
What do the children do during unstructured play?
If you’re coming from a highly planned and scheduled environment for children, it may be hard to imagine what this actually looks like. Here’s a few examples of what children may be doing outside with their unstructured play time:
- collecting natural materials to build fairy houses
- playing a game with imaginary characters like dogs and cats or police and robbers
- cooking up birthday cakes in the mud kitchen
- building obstacle courses for each other out of materials, tools, and other objects in the play yard
- simply swinging with friends and chatting on the swing set
The list goes on and on! I’m sure you can imagine a few of the ideas children in your life would come up with if they had the freedom to play out whatever it is that comes to mind or comes to life through playing with friends.
The main basis is that this period of time (which varies length depending on age) is completely uninstructed by an adult. The adult is of course supervising them, but is by no means confining the children to any certain activity.
So… what do the adults do?
Now you may be wondering, where are the adults and what are they doing? Well, the adults are certainly not surveilling the children to be ready to reprimand them at any moment!
In order for children to become deeply engrossed in natural free play, it is best for the adults to be engrossed in a task of their own “play” as well. For adults this may take the form of something more comparable to work, but still an enjoyable task. The best thing for adults to take part in while children play is purposeful work of their own. Never stepping out of ear or eye shot of the group, the adult may enjoy gardening, sweeping, knitting or sewing, preparing food for a later meal, and the ideas go on.
Just think about it, do you enjoy being watched over while you cook dinner or talk on the phone with a friend? Of course not! Children are the same way. By working on a project of your own, the children in your care will be encouraged to take up their own work of playing. Not only that, but you are modeling skills they will one day need as adults. Sometimes children will even join in on the sweeping or weeding with you. Adults can also set up a fun craft in the play space that children can complete should they choose to (and often they will)!
What is not considered unstructured play…
- Centers set up around the room where children sit for 5-10 minutes and then rotate to the next center.
- Creating a craft with a specific sequence or end goal, especially one in which all children are making the same thing
- Coloring in printed out coloring pages
- Adult led games or sports
- I would even venture to say, a brief recess period on a confined playground, isn’t truly unstructured play.
- Using toys that guide the child’s ideas rather than being a tool for the child’s ideas.
Benefits of Unstructured Play Time
All of the benefits of unstructured play from early childhood through adolescence would be hard to quantify as the benefits are manifold! But below I have broken down what I believe to be a few of the most significant benefits of unstructured play for children.
- Freedom for Imagination
Highly curated and guided activities, toys, and even play grounds narrow the child’s innate imaginative capacities. Open ended time, toys, and play spaces leave so much room for the child to come up with new ideas, even if a little boredom must first be overcome!
- Flexible thinking and problem solving
You will be amazed to see what the children in your care discover and come up with when there is no pressure on timelines or end goals. They try one idea and if it doesn’t quite work they adjust to continue to refine the idea they had in mind! Even if that means simply filling a bucket with sand for the young child, or building an intricate fort from found objects for the adolescent. When expectations of what needs to be accomplished are taken away, children have the freedom to explore ideas and trouble shoot. They build resiliency through trial and error and capacity for persevering with an idea, even if it doesn’t work out on the first try.
- Strengthening social skills in real time through conflict resolution and collaboration
The truth is, conflict is a central part of human connection. From small scales to larger issues, we face conflict with the people around us everyday. It is vital to the future of humanity for children to be given the time and space to work and play together, inevitably engage in conflict, and resource themselves and their surroundings to find a resolution and move forward. Of course conflicts happen in any setting, but in unstructured free play time, children are already more at ease and therefore capable of navigating conflict through listening to peers and compromising as needed. Their capacity to problem solve in social interactions opens as much as in physical projects. The collaboration children engage in when they are given the freedom to generate and execute their own ideas is also stunning! These young people are so capable.
Of course an adult may be needed to help facilitate conflict resolution, but I would venture to say it is not required nearly as often during free play as it is during more directed play times.
- Nervous system regulation through entering a “flow state”
Think of a hobby you love to spend time on. In my case that would be knitting or painting. When I get into my craft, time slips away and I enter into a deep state of relaxation. Children experience this in many ways, and unstructured play is certainly one. With no pressure on a timeline or expectation of an end goal, children can pursue their interest of the day with a limitlessness.
Unstructured play is like taking a deep exhale. Children relax and regulate themselves by becoming engrossed in whatever it is they love in that moment. This is deeply nourishing for their body and soul, and needs to be prioritized everyday.
- Deep sense of trust built between children and care givers
While the adults or caregivers are working on their task at hand, whether that be cleaning or crafting, children can see them in the space and know where the safe adult is if needed. But by not hovering over our children and giving them the space or distance they need, we as adults are extending to them the trust they desire. We trust they will be safe and kind, and by setting this precedent they often are. Of course there will be times when adult intervention is needed to redirect or resolve an issue, but we need to trust that our children will make the right choices out of their own hearts, not because we are constantly coaching them from the sidelines on what to do or say. By giving children this initial drop of trust, they have the opportunity to return it to us, and over time it grows and grows to become a deep well of mutual trust and respect. This is a lifelong gift.
So how do I create an unstructured play time and space?
My first word of advice is: don’t over think it! Less is more. Keep the indoor or outdoor play space simple. Your children will enjoy simple objects that can be used in a multitude of ways. Blocks can become anything from a race car to a veterinary office. Shovels and a wheelbarrow can build anything from a sandcastle to delivering “mail” around the play yard. Allow the opportunities to be endless!
Try not to hover. It may be hard at first but your children will use their judgement and come find you when they need you!
Find tasks you enjoy to model your “flow state” alongside your children.
Set aside chunks of time to play after you’ve done something all together (like a meal or some homeschool work). This creates the rhythm of inhale and exhale.
Get ready to enjoy happy, imaginative, and kind children who feel supported and regulated by your choice to incorporate more unstructured free play!
Let me know some of the awesome things you and your children enjoy during their unstructured free play time.
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