Taking Play Seriously
From the New York Times:
“If you look at what produces learning and memory and well-being, play is as fundamental as any other aspect of life, including sleep and dreams.
Educators fret that school officials are hacking away at recess to make room for an increasingly crammed curriculum. Psychologists complain that overscheduled kids have no time left for the real business of childhood: idle, creative, unstructured free play.
Public health officials link insufficient playtime to a rise in childhood obesity. Parents bemoan the fact that kids don’t play the way they themselves did – or think they did.
And everyone seems to worry that without the chance to play stickball or hopscotch out on the street, to play with dolls on the kitchen floor or climb trees in the woods, today’s children are missing out on something essential.”
- by Robin Marantz Henig on 02/17/2008