Play is a critical factor in all areas of child development – physical, social, emotional, and cognitive. However, it is increasingly being noted that children today seem to be losing their ability to play. Children want to be entertained and can’t seem to play on their own. And children who do play are acting out scenes they’ve seen on television and in movies, not playing out of their own imaginations.

Many child development specialists, psychologists, teachers, and health professionals are starting to speak out on the subject. Groups such as The Alliance for Childhood and the International Association for the Child’s Right to Play are educating parents and policy makers and advocating on behalf of children’s need to play. Many books are also addressing the importance of play, creativity, and imagination, some even refuting marketing by toy companies that claim their toys are based on brain research. Einstein Never Used Flash Cards by Dr. Roberta Michnick Golinkoff and Dr. Kathy Hirsh-Pasek and Endangered Minds: Why Our Children Don’t Think and What We Can Do About It by Jane Healy, PhD are two good examples. The research is clear: children need to play and play is how they learn best.

True play is child initiated and led, the child is an active participant in creating his/her play experience. Children today are accustomed to detailed toys that “do” something in an attempt to entertain them or teach them a specific skill. Press a button, and it talks, walks or lights up. Besides evidence that some of these toys may, in fact, be overstimulating our children, they undermine play itself. Pushing a button and watching it happen, is not play. With this type of toy, the child is a passive participant with a toy who sets the agenda. Consider the message we are sending our children about play and learning. Do we simply want them to memorize colors, shapes, and state capitals? Or do we also value independent thinkers and problem solvers?

In the book Einstein Never Used Flash Cards, Drs. Golinkoff and Hirsh-Pasek discuss a study showing how play materials that have more than one purpose influenced preschoolers’ ability to solve divergent problems (problems where there is more than one answer). The children who played with such toys were not only more creative problem solvers, but also showed more perseverance and enthusiasm. The children learned to think beyond the objects, in what we call “out of the box” thinking.

Conscious selection of toys can cultivate this type of thinking and respects the child’s need for actively involved creative play. Simple, open-ended, multi-purpose toys are the key. Toys that are not completely detailed allow the child to use his/her imagination. Those that allow the child to decide how the toy will be played with encourage creativity. Toys that can be turned into many things facilitate abstract thinking. For example, blocks made of tree branches can be used to create unique structures not possible with traditional blocks. Cloths and silks can be turned into capes, aprons, and rivers. Acorns can be used as pretend food or money. Dolls with simple features allow the child to decide if the baby is laughing, crying or sleeping.

I often ask parents to think back for a moment to their childhood. What was your favorite thing to play? What did you like to pretend play for hours on end? Almost without exception, we discover that our favorite play scenarios were those we created out of our own imaginations. We were mommies feeding our babies, superheroes with a towel-turned-cape, explorers of our backyards and neighborhood creeks. Trust these instincts and offer your child endless possibilities for natural creative play.

Dana Johnson, MSW

Dana is a former children’s play therapist turned work at home mom. She owns Three Sisters Toys specializing in natural and Waldorf-inspired toys for children. Her site also offers play information for parents as well as tips for toys and ideas for setting up a nurturing play environment.