Play Today * Playful Learning

Some say play is frivolous. Jill Mays, an occupational therapist, knows perhaps better than anyone why—and how—play is absolutely critical to children's learning, development, and emotional well-being. We think one of her former patients would agree. Read on:

I first met Jack when he was in preschool and worked with him for several years. A chubby blonde who was happiest curled up on the couch and browsing books about lighthouses, Jack had trouble with everyday activities, like getting dressed. When there was a lot of noise or activity, he became easily overwhelmed and would shut down almost entirely, unable to say or do anything.

Jack had sensory processing disorder and a learning disability. ‘Sensory processing’ refers to our ability to determine what sensory information to pay attention to and then how to handle and react to it. For most people, this process takes place on a largely unconscious level and in milliseconds. Our brains are amazing things! 

Movement is critical for activating this system, but with low core strength and poor coordination, Jack fatigued quickly. Our work initially focused on strengthening and building his endurance. As Jack moved into first grade, the emphasis shifted to coordinating his body movements. By the middle of first grade, he reached a tipping point when he learned to “pump” on a swing. At recess, Jack would charge out to the playground, making sure he reached the swings before his classmates. His teacher had never seen him run before.  Jack spent the entire recess swinging.   

His motor abilities grew exponentially from that point on. Not only that, his teacher noted that his recess swing sessions helped him focus better in the classroom and improved his learning. Many years later, I read in the local newspaper that Jack was on the high school varsity football team! From the day I met him, he had progressed from a lone couch potato to a lone swing enthusiast to a team player in a physically demanding sport—a moving testament to the power of play.

This story is adapted from an excerpt in Your Child’s Motor Development Story by Jill H. Mays. See Jill's other guest post, In the wake of tragedy, six tips for coping through play.

When asked about his school day recently, my nine-year-old son was faster than usual to share. “We have a new PE teacher and class is more fun than last year.”  My seven-year-old piped in, “We play games like capture the flag and ultimate soccer.” Nodding my head between bites of grilled chicken, I knew I wanted to meet this physical education teacher who was generating such enthusiasm at our dinner table. 

Lindsay Frank—or Ms. Lindsay, as her students call her—believes in the value of play, and this sets her apart.  Rather than focusing on drills, as she was taught by her education professors, she wants her students to take advantage of their natural desire for fun. 

Her inspiration comes from a 6th grade PE teacher who made PE so wonderful that Ms. Lindsay could not imagine a better calling.

The Nike-initiated report Designed to Move: Framework for Action convinced Ms. Lindsay she was heading in the right direction. For generations, physical activity and childhood were considered to be as connected as yin and yang or milk and cookies, but as Designed to Move’s research shows, “physical activity is systematically designed, innovated, and engineered out of daily life.” Elevators replace stairs, motorized scooters replace bikes, and “here’s the iPad” replaces “go outside.” 

Ms. Lindsay’s PE students recognize that she is unusual, and national trends toward organized sports and repetitive drills support their perspective. Outside of school, kids are enrolling in traditional team sports at younger ages, but as KaBOOM! CEO Darell Hammond points out:

This trend isn’t necessarily setting the stage for an active lifestyle later on in life -- 70 percent of kids give up sports entirely by age 13. When asked by Michigan State University researchers why they quit sports, kids almost universally said, "It's not fun anymore."

With almost half of her students under the age of 10, Ms. Lindsay is working with them at a time when they are shaping their future preferences and motivations. By making the activities in her class accessible to all students, appropriate for their ages, and, most importantly, fun, she helps them develop positive attitudes toward physical activity, which teaching them essential life skills, such as confidence, cooperation, and creativity.   

And the way I see it, these skills are far more important than throwing a perfect pitch.

Here are two of Lindsay Frank’s favorite games:

Everyone is "it":
Upon a starting signal, students are encourage to try and tag
as many fellow players as they can. Tagged players must kneel on the ground,  remember who tagged them, and stay until they are freed when the person who tagged them is tagged. Fun comes when students tag each other at the same time and must play rock-paper-scissors. The loser has to kneel and the winner gets to stay in.

Ultimate Soccer:
Players are divided into two teams. There are no boundaries, no goalies, and no positions. Players must work together to score on soccer goals. Anyone can defend the goal, but they cannot use their hands unless they are in the goal. If a goal is scored, the person who retrieves the ball from the goal may throw it out or kick it to continue the game. Because there are no rules about where players should be on the field, players get to find out by themselves if they prefer to kick the ball on or try to defend the goals. It is a continuous play game with little lag time so players are constantly moving.

Would you send your child to a school that gives its students hammers instead of standardized tests? Brightworks, a K-12 school in San Francisco, takes experiential learning to a whole new level. As it proudly proclaims on its website: "Our students fly kites, experiment with wind tunnels, and build turbines."

Founded by renowned tinkerer Gever Tulley, the school abides by the philosophy that tinkering and play are at the heart of learning. Student achievement is measured not by testing, but by exploration, expression, and exposition.

See Brightworks in action:

Would you send your child here?