Chapter 12: Play and Peer Relationships
What is Play?
What is Play?
Play can be viewed as a spontaneous, voluntary, pleasurable, and flexible activity involving a combination of body, object, symbol use, and relationships. In contrast to games, play behavior is more disorganized, and is typically done for its own sake (i.e., the process is more important than any goals or endpoints).
“Play is behavior that looks as if it has no purpose,” says NIH psychologist Dr. Stephen Suomi. “It looks like fun, but it actually prepares for a complex social world.” Soumi’s research focuses on rhesus monkeys. “Through play, rhesus monkeys learn to negotiate, to deal with strangers, to lose gracefully, to stop before things get out of hand, and to follow rules,” he says. These lessons prepare monkey youngsters for life after they leave their mothers (Soumi, 1997). While Soumi is cautious about drawing parallels between monkeys and people, his studies offer some general insights into the benefits of play.
Figure 12.2 All mammals engage in some sort of play. These examples depict young monkeys playing, puppies playing, and toddlers playing.
Mammals—from mice to humans—engage in some sort of play, which provides an opportunity for juveniles from many species to practice skills necessary for later in life (Smith, 1982). Active, vigorous social play during development helps to sculpt the brain. Studies in rats, monkeys, and humans show that play improves brain development, cognition, and socio-emotional development (e.g., Pellis et al. 2014; Yogman et al., 2018). For human children, play can enhance self-regulation (Savina, 2013), decrease physical aggression and increase prosocial behavior (Fehr & Russ, 2013), increase gross motor skills (Okilanda et al., 2025) language (Prins, 2023), problem solving and critical thinking (Haoyue & Oyam, 2024), and is associated with working memory ability (Freeman & Robinson, 2022).
Importance of Play
Play and everyday creative activities are essential to learning and a crucial component of children’s development (Dios Benítez-Sillero et al., 2022). They help children develop their language skills when they have conversations with others and use their imagination to create stories. Play helps children develop their fine and gross motor skills when they manipulate toys and objects and engage in physical activities such as running, throwing, and climbing.
Play is also important for young children’s mental health and well-being. It is a natural stress reliever and helps to manage emotions and anxiety. It provides a sense of joy and fulfillment, which contributes to self-esteem and confidence. The global scientific community has long been an advocate for children’s unstructured free play. As long ago as 1989, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) named play one of fifty-four fundamental human rights, stating that every child has the right “to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child, and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts” (UN, 1989). Nearly two hundred countries have signed this international agreement.
However, schools have become increasingly focused on academic achievement and structured learning. Overall, play has become less valued than in the past (Waters et al., 2022). Even preschools have reduced playtime in favor of more academic instruction, which can result in a variety of negative consequences for children’s development and well-being (Kahan & Poulos, 2023; Tong Lee et al., 2020). And despite recommendations from developmental scientists and other professionals, restricting play activity in schools remains a standard form of punishment in the United States (Global Recess Alliance et al., 2022; Kahan & Poulos, 2023).
The COVID-19 pandemic further complicated this reduction in play. First, because most educational and childcare institutions closed for weeks or months, children had reduced opportunities for unstructured free play with peers, incurring a developmental disadvantage. Second, after children returned to school, educators were concerned about making up for lost time and raised academic demands while limiting play. Additionally, children’s screen time increased during the pandemic and remained elevated even after restrictions on gathering indoors were lifted (Hedderson et al., 2023; Li et al., 2023; Nery et al., 2023; Scott et al., 2022).
Check Your Understanding
