Free Play

Play in which a child has the ability to freely choose what they play and how they play it is called free play. This can happen outside or inside, but the key point to remember is that the child is in control of their play environment. He or she decides what happens and how it happens. There are many benefits to this type of play.

With my children, I often see that they quite frankly need or crave free play. It fills them up and lets them breathe. Without it, they seem irritable and frustrated.

If you spend some time thinking about it, it shouldn’t be a surprise. Kids learn when they play. I often jokingly tell my husband, “The kids are working right now.” when they’re busy at play in their space. If this is true, then just like any employee, they really don’t want their boss looking over their shoulder all day long or dictating how they should be doing their job. And I know I certainly enjoy my job the more time I have to explore, grow, and feel more confident in accomplishing what needs to get done.

The reality is that a lot of kids are really quite overscheduled.

If you have school aged children, then you can likely relate. It’s a rush to get out the door, kids don’t get home until late in the afternoon and then there is dinner, homework, activities, and more. One thing that always surprised me when I was teaching was how generally unhappy kids were with their jam-packed schedules. I’d often hear, “Ugh, I have (fill in the black) tonight.”An overscheduled child likely isn’t getting much time to have their free play. I’m guessing it wasn’t just the kids who were saying that, either.

I’ve come to realize that free play often needs an idea to spark a kids’ mind.

Just the other day my daughter received some new Harry Potter dolls for her birthday. I told her, “Wouldn’t it be cool to build them Hogwarts in the den?” That one little push sent her away for hours and quite frankly days building structures with blocks, pulling out her dolls accessories, and recreating different scenes from Harry Potter. It’s likely she would’ve thought of this on her own, but that little nudge or idea really got her brain turning and it led to a ton of free play. One reason I feel like she was able to do this so successfully was she had multi-dimensional toys to use and an open space to use them.

Ron, Harry, and Hermione enjoying their lunch in The Great Hall.

Another thing I’ve noticed is that the less kids use it they start to lose it.

It’s honestly scary how after a stretch of too much TV or some screen time how quickly my kids seem to forget how to play and amuse themselves. I’m a huge advocate of minimal screen time. In our house, the TV is off most of the day. It gets turned on only when we give it permission to be turned on. Since they were quite young, I’ve always used it to signify a switch in the day- a show before naps and bedtime, always followed by books in bed. My kids sometimes get to use our iPad and when they do it’s an app like ABC Mouse and Starfall. If they are using the iPad, they’re sitting at the table doing so and they have a clear timer on to make sure they aren’t on it for too long. Our iPad time is definitely not an everyday thing. It’s more like a few times a month thing. A lot of people I know think I’m really stritch about this. Admittedly, the topic of technology and kids is a hot topic for me, but I really noticed my kids are happier when the screens are on less and the play is happening more.

One type of toy that has really helped with enriching my children’s playtime are small miniature items, typically found with 18 inch doll sets. We’ve accumulated so many types of these small pieces. We keep them in a clear box so that they can be used in all types of scenarios, as seen in the photo above with Harry Potter and his friends. I know these toys are generally associated with play for girls, but my son loves all the little pieces and so does almost any boy who visits our house. To be honest, my children don’t really use dolls but they do use stuffed animals, action figures, and other various figurines with these pieces all the time. Everyone gets a kick out of miniature items, just be sure your children are old enough to not put them in their mouths!

******link some examples